In their 50-year team history, the Seattle Seahawks have never hosted a playoff game in the divisional round without advancing to the conference championship game. So to say the game this weekend has a historic element to it would be an understatement.
This Saturday evening, the #1-seeded Seattle Seahawks host a divisional playoff game at Lumen Field. Weather forecasts call for mild conditions, with light winds, no clouds, and temperatures in the mid-40s around kickoff.
Seattle has not hosted a playoff game since January of 2021, when they hosted the LA Rams in the wild card round and were outplayed and outcoached in a humbling defeat that would become the final playoff game for Russell Wilson in a Seahawks uniform.
The Seahawks have not hosted a playoff game in the divisional round since January 2015, which coincides with the last season they advanced to the Super Bowl. The years Seattle makes it to the final game of the season have interesting parallels – they have never hosted a divisional round game in a year they didn’t advance to the Super Bowl. Seattle has only won a divisional game that they weren’t hosting once, and it was way back on New Year’s Eve in 1983, when they were in the AFC. The fact that they are hosting one this season is a big deal, as they have never won a road game in the NFC divisional round.
Hosting a divisional round game bodes well for their ultimate goal, but it’s not a get out of jail free card – Seattle will still need to punch their ticket to the conference championship round. And you guessed it – they have never played in an NFC conference championship game outside of Seattle, so history is on their side this year.
Seattle doesn’t just win divisional round games when they host them; they crush their opponents and leave no doubt why they were the top seed.
In their January 2006 divisional game, Seattle took a 7-3 lead into halftime over the other Washington, and despite losing MVP RB Shaun Alexander to a concussion, they added to their lead in the second half and went into the final frame leading 17-3. Washington cut the lead to 17-10, but that was as close as they got. Seattle added the final nail in the coffin, advancing with a 20-10 victory that was far more dominant than the final score indicated. Seattle also got revenge against Washington for defeating them in overtime early in the season, so it was doubly enjoyable.
2006 was a tough act to follow, but Seattle was even more dominant in their January 2014 showing. Hosting the New Orleans Saints in a rematch of the week 13 MNF game that announced Seattle’s horrifying defense to the world, the Seahawks welcomed the Saints back into their house of horrors and destroyed any chance they had to compete by halftime when they led 16-0. No one was coming back from that deficit against this team in these playoffs, but the Saints tried anyway. Seattle entered the fourth quarter still ahead 16-0, and the 23-15 final victory did nothing close to showcase how dominant Seattle’s defense had been. They welcomed a great offense into their house and held them without a point for three quarters, and only by some mercy let them leave with some of their dignity still intact.
2014 would be a tougher milestone to level up from, but Seattle managed to do just that. Hosting a fellow division winner for the first time in the divisional round, Seattle played host to the Carolina Panthers in January of 2015. In the Panthers, they faced a team that had just destroyed the Saints a few weeks prior and was playing better than their 7-8-1 record would indicate, and were fresh off a playoff win over Seattle’s rival, Arizona. With a good defense and great rushing attack, few teams could line up with Seattle the way Carolina could, and the Panthers had played Seattle to a 13-9 near draw in the regular season, but that was before Seattle got their defense turned back up to championship level, which they should have been all season.
In their playoff rematch, Seattle cruised to a 24-10 lead entering the fourth quarter, and they put an exclamation point on their inevitable victory with a 90-yard pick-six by Seattle safety Kam Chancellor to put Seattle up 34-10. Carolina would end the game with a touchdown to make the score look somewhat more respectable, but everyone watching knew what they saw: Seattle dominated Carolina, and the Seahawks were playing with their food. The Panthers were the first division winner to travel to Seattle in the postseason, and they came away looking like they didn’t deserve to be on the field with the Seahawks.
Now that we are in January of 2026, a whole twelve years have gone by since Seattle’s first and to date only Super Bowl victory, which would be an excellent time for the Seahawks to make a return trip.
The first opponent standing in the way is the San Francisco 49ers, who have literally become an internet meme as they continue to suffer season-ending injuries to key players. Seattle lost to San Francisco in the first week of the season, then got their revenge in the final week of the season by sending the 49ers to the 6th seed on their home turf while claiming the division and the top seed for themselves. Seattle finding a team they played earlier in the season standing in front of them in the divisional round is nothing new – Seattle has never hosted a divisional game against an opponent they didn’t face at least once in the regular season.
San Francisco is both healthier and more injured this week than they were in the week 18 game played between these two teams just two weeks ago, which seems both impossible and inevitable given how their season has gone.
TE George Kittle suffered a season-ending Achilles injury last week, linebacker Tatum Bethune left late in the game against Seattle, and was lost for the season. Because the 49ers use some version of Dodgeball rules, they get players back just when they appear to be down for the count. LT Trent Williams is expected back for this game, which would be a huge boost for the offensive line that has struggled without him. WR Ricky Pearsall is questionable, and would be a much-needed option in a passing attack short on weapons.
Seattle is not without their own injury concerns. QB Sam Darnold popped up on the injury report late in the week, listed with an oblique injury. Seattle’s own LT Charles Cross is slated to return from a hamstring injury but popped up with a knee injury, and linebacker Ernest Jones IV missed some sessions with an illness. It’s something to keep an eye on as Seattle will need all three ready to go if they are going to do what is expected of them and send the 49ers back to San Francisco in the coroner’s car they have been begging for since Nick Bosa was ruled out for the season in September.
Since they won’t stop coming back from the grave, the 49ers might as well be called the “28 Days Laters” or the “Living Deads” or the “Evil Deads”. Or, given their proximity to a power plant with mystical powers (if you read Weekly World News anyway), perhaps they should be called the “Fighting Chernobyls”.
No matter what you call the 49ers, we can’t see them being called winners once the game concludes.
Seattle must deconstruct San Francisco in front of a national audience this Saturday. This isn’t just a legacy game for Seattle as a franchise; it’s a chance for Jones and Devon Witherspoon to prove they belong in the conversation of best defenders in Seattle’s history. It’s a chance for Mike Macdonald to put his name in the same sentence as Pete Carroll and Mike Holmgren. And it’s a chance for Sam Darnold to silence his critics – especially about his big game antics. We know what’s been repeatedly said about Darnold – he can’t win the big one, he plays his worst in the game’s biggest moments. Sam – no more shrinking in the spotlight.
Seattle can’t just win this week; it needs to be a statement.
And that statement should be that they are the latest in a legacy of Super Bowl-contending teams dating back two decades. They can’t just beat the 49ers; they need to be the team that finally buries them once and for all.
Be the first to comment