Niners-Seahawks on Divisional Round Saturday: What We Learned from Seattle's 41-6 win

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1. Seahawks steamroll 49ers, march into NFC Championship Game. The party in Seattle started with the opening kickoff and didn’t stop rocking until the final buzzer. The Seahawks throttled their division rival in all three phases. Special teams scored a touchdown and two field goals, and the offense moved the ball at will. It was Mike Macdonald’s smothering defense, however, that shone brightest. Seattle dominated all three levels, leaving the Niners to scrap for every inch. The secondary smothered targets, forcing Brock Purdy to hold the ball. The front collapsed the pocket and destroyed the run game. The second level flew to the ball, pummeling ball carriers. Linebacker Ernest Jones was all over the field, forcing a fumble and intercepting a pass. All of the key Seahawks played with rage. Demarcus Lawrence forced two fumbles with a sack, three QB hits and two tackles for loss. Leonard Williams enveloped Purdy for a fourth-down sack. Devon Witherspoon sped to the ball, gobbling up a team-high seven tackles and a pass defensed. Seattle generated three turnovers and three turnovers on downs. Macdonald’s defense has been an absolute force down the stretch, dismantling Kyle Shanahan’s offense in back-to-back games. The Seahawks didn’t allow the Niners a touchdown in eight straight quarters. 
2. 49ers finally succumb to injuries. The zombie Niners are finally dead. It felt semi-miraculous that Kyle Shanahan’s team made it this far, given all the injuries they’ve sustained. The magic dust dissipated in Seattle. A defense that had been pieced together was run over by Seattle and couldn’t get off the field. Sans George Kittle, the offense was blanketed, with receivers unable to generate separation. Adding to the trove of injuries, Christian McCaffrey dealt with a stinger that kept him out in pain for spells Saturday. Jake Tonges, the Niners' leading receiver on the night (59 yards), also dealt with an injury. With no run game to speak of, San Francisco’s most productive players were Brock Purdy scrambling for his life, tossing prayers for completions. Those make for fun plays but weren’t sustainable against Mike Macdonald’s defense. Purdy, who’d played sensational against other opponents, was bottled up, going 15 of 27 for 140 yards with an INT and taking two sacks. He’ll be seeing Seattle defenders in his nightmares all offseason. In the end, the injuries were too much to overcome against a superior opponent in Seattle.
3. Walker III plows through the 49ers. Saturday night was a statement for anyone questioning the Seahawks' running game. The offensive line blasted open holes, and Kenneth Walker III jaunted his way through, ripping through tacklers and dancing past defenders. Walker gobbled up 116 yards on 19 carries with a trio of touchdowns before sitting out the final half of the fourth quarter. He added three catches for 29 yards. Walker avoided negative plays, generating a 63.2% success rate on his runs with just one stuff. Walker generated +34 rush yards over expected, with three runs of 10-plus yards. Walker joined Shaun Alexander as the only Seahawks players with at least three rushing touchdowns in a playoff game in franchise history. When the offensive line is moving bodies, and Walker is hitting holes, Klint Kubiak’s offense is a different beast.
4. Darnold looks fine after oblique injury. Sam Darnold entered the weekend with questions hovering after an oblique injury popped up during practice. The QB didn’t look affected by the issue, able to zip the ball over the middle and bounce back the few times he was hit. Darnold was only pressured on five dropbacks and took two sacks. The Seahawks didn’t need Darnold to do a ton of heavy lifting, with the ground game churning and the lead in double-digits for the bulk of the contest. However, when needed, he made clutch throws, particularly between the numbers. Darnold went 3 of 4 on third downs for 42 yards and a 108.3 passer rating. For the contest, the starter finished 12 of 17 for 124 yards with a TD before taking a seat in the fourth quarter. On seven drives with Darnold under center, the Seahawks punted just once and scored four TDs.
5. Shaheed proves his worth. Rashid Shaheed hasn’t been prolific as a receiver since joining Seattle at the trade deadline, but oh my, has he been valuable. The speedster took the opening kickoff 95 yards to pay dirt, spearheading the blowout. Two drives later, Shaheed forced a 23-yard defensive pass interference penalty inside the 10-yard-line that set up a Jaxon Smith-Njigba touchdown. Later in the first half, the wideout sped his way on a 30-yard end-around scamper that would help set up another score. That’s 21 points directly attributed to big plays by the wideout.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Seahawks-49ers (via NFL Pro): Kenneth Walker averaged 13.51 mph when crossing the line of scrimmage, his third-fastest in a game in his career.

NFL Research: The Seahawks’ 35-point win vs. the 49ers is tied for the largest in franchise history in a playoff game (35-point win in Super Bowl XLVIII vs. Denver in 2013).