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The Seattle Seahawks clinched the top seed in the NFC playoffs and a strong path to the Super Bowl with a win over the San Francisco 49ers in the season finale on Saturday night.
Seattle finished with their best regular season record in franchise history, earning 14 wins for the first time.
The Seahawks won by 10 points despite outgaining the 49ers 363 yards to 173 yards and playing 64 plays to San Francisco’s 42.
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Jackson Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks fails to catch the ball against G’Air Brown #27 of the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL game at Levi Stadium on January 3, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Matthew Huang/Icon Sportswire)
Seattle missed a field goal in the fourth quarter and wasted two red zone drives by turning the ball over on downs in the first quarter, but dominated defense to prevent those missed opportunities from coming back.
The 49ers also wasted their best drive of the night when quarterback Brock Purdy was stopped facing a 10-point deficit on Seattle’s three-yard line in the fourth quarter, securing the game for the Seahawks.
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Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, in his first season on the team, completed 20 passes on 26 attempts for 198 yards and helped set up the only touchdown of the entire game in the first quarter.
Darnold avenged a disappointing Week 18 game for the Minnesota Vikings last season when he completed just 18 of 41 passes for 166 yards in a top-seed battle against the Detroit Lions.
Darnold said in a postgame interview with ESPN that “learning from mistakes and staying cool in the pocket” made the difference in his performance on Saturday compared to a year ago.
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Jackson Smith-Njigba #11 of the Seattle Seahawks picks up the ball during the second quarter of a game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi Stadium on January 03, 2026 in Santa Clara, California. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had just 127 yards passing with a late interception, and took a big blow on his final pass of the night, then took a while to get back up. He was eventually able to walk off the field, and Seattle called a timeout.
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