Walker credited his offensive line for the dominant display and was well aware of how Seattle’s rushing attack affected San Francisco.
“You can tell when they’re panting — they’re getting tired, you know, they’re slow to get up,” Walker said. “You can see it’s demoralizing for them.
With the offense rolling and the defense holding strong, Darnold didn’t have to do much in his first playoff victory. He completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and one TD before being pulled midway through the final frame. It was perhaps the best-case scenario for the Seahawks quarterback, who entered the game questionable with an oblique injury suffered on the last day of practice.
Seattle’s 35-point victory is tied for the largest in franchise playoff history, matching the dominant victory in Super Bowl XLVIII in 2013, according to NFL Research. It’s also tied for the second-most NFL playoff game wins over the last 20 seasons.
“They got us pretty good,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Saturday night’s dominance has Super Bowl hopes on the horizon in Seattle. While the Seahawks will certainly enjoy a big playoff victory against a division rival, Macdonald is ready to get back to winning ways after his first career playoff win.
“That was a big win, man,” Macdonald said. “And it’s funny, in the locker room, it’s like, you know, really excited, proud of the effort, and let the guys understand that there’s still a job to do, and we’ve got another week to go here and we’ve got to take care of business every day. So, that’s the focus. Proud of the group. We’ll celebrate tomorrow today and guys will be back on Monday.”
The Seahawks are set to host the NFC title game against the winner of Sunday night’s divisional series between the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears.