The Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers 41-6 in the divisional round of the playoffs to advance to the NFC Championship. This was a complete blowout which no one predicted, and now, the Seahawks are one win away from the Super Bowl. We’ll cover all the storylines during the week, but for tonight…
Here are your 6 Studs, and no Duds, for the divisional round!
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STUDS
Rasheed Shaheed
Rasheed Shaheed came the closest to causing another Beast Quake tonight, returning the opening kickoff for a 95-yard touchdown. This was the biggest tone-setting play of the season. The 49ers showed tons of fight in the Wild Card round to knock off the defending champs, and many foresaw their momentum carrying into this game, but Shaheed quieted all of it from the very beginning. He just went from a great weapon to a folk hero in Seahawks lore.
Kenneth Walker III
Kenneth Walker III did everything one could ask for from a workhorse back tonight. He went over 100 yards with 116, went for 6.1 yards per carry, scored three touchdowns, ripped off big plays with explosiveness, and imposed his will on the San Francisco defense by lowering his shoulder and being the hammer, not the nail. After a slow regular season, he’s playing his best football of the year when it matters most, and his lesser regular season workload becomes an advantage. To top it all off, he gave credit to his offensive line, saying “they made [him] look good” in his postgame press conference. As an impending free agent, “K9” made himself a lot of money with the last three massive divisional games being the best of the year.
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Ernest Jones IV
Ernest Jones IV has an uncanny playmaking ability that pairs so well with being one of the smartest linebackers in the NFL, and it showed up as he caused two turnovers tonight. In the first quarter, he forced a fumble on 49ers tight end Jake Tonges which Julian Love recovered and helped lock in the big lead early. Then, he wrestled an interception away from a different tight end to get the ball in San Francisco territory again in the 3rd quarter. His days of being underrated ended last week as he received his first All-Pro nod, and he picked up in the playoffs right where he left off.
Leonard Williams
Leonard Williams could be on this list every week, but this one was exemplary of everything he does. He tied for the team lead in pressures with 5, grabbed a sack, and continually took up gaps in the run game to thwart San Francisco’s gameplan. Kyle Shanahan probably had something clever up his sleeve, but thanks to Williams wrecking it, we’ll never have to know. The Seahawks record-setting rush defense wouldn’t be possible without some of the most freakish athletes on the planet, and there’s not another 6’5”, 300-pound person that moves like him. The “Big Cat” is the anchor that holds the 2026 Seahawks in place ahead of the pack.
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Devon Witherspoon
Devon Witherspoon is the bridge between the Pete Carroll and Mike Macdonald eras. Despite being picked at the tail-end of Pete Carroll’s tenure, he fits Macdonald’s nickel-safety revolution perfectly. Him and Emmanwori are so fast that they can play deep and still come up to stop the run- yet they can also play forward and close distance in the backend, destroying passing wrinkles opposing offenses think they’ve created. He’s one of the few players PFF consistently loves, too, getting an 89.3 grade (which is somehow lower than his 90.3 on the season). Witherspoon is old-school violent with new-school speed, and makes this defense so much better in every moment, especially the biggest ones.
Jalen Sundell
If the Seahawks had a coming out party tonight, Jalen Sundell might’ve been the biggest riser. He’s easy to overlook as a center, but he’s one of the most athletic in the NFL at his position. That allows Grey Zabel to have a world of confidence next to him, beyond their A+ chemistry built in championship winning college teams at North Dakota State. Their duo goes beyond helmet scouting. It’s evident when Shaheed gets down the sideline on an end-around rush, and both of them are 20 yards downfield out in front. It’s also obvious when one takes on the dirty work at the line of scrimmage, and the other sprints out in front of Walker to take on the last man to beat so he can waltz into the end zone. Sundell may have been a UDFA last year, and missed part of this year, but he’s one of the best players on this offense heading into the NFC Championship.
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DUDS
NONE! Who deserved a dud tonight? You just beat your archrivals by 35 points in a playoff game. If you have any gripes to pick with a player, let us know over @TheSeahawksWire on X.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Christian McCaffrey rushed for just 35 yards on 11 carries, and STILL, the Seahawks have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in 27 games and counting. This run defense is impossibly consistent… DeMarcus Lawrence has been a near-lock on the Studs list the last month, and could’ve been tonight.. He tied Williams with 5 pressures and a sack, which was the most picturesque strip-sack on Brock Purdy you’ll see all year… The Seahawks pass rush had Purdy running for his life all night, including 413 yards tracked in the backfield… Cooper Kupp caught every one of his targets and was the textbook possession receiver tonight… Jake Bobo had one catch, but boy was it a beautiful release off the line, which he used his lankiness to haul in on 3rd down, nonetheless… Mike Macdonald’s playoff debut was a bang… and Sam Darnold looked perfectly accurate, despite his hampered oblique.
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Finally, the 12s were absolutely electric through the TV broadcast. Keep exemplifying the “12 as one” motto going into the Lumen Field finale next week, and you might just help bring home a trophy.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks vs 49ers: all Studs, no Duds from Divisional Round win
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