Seahawks Instant Reaction: 49ers knock Seattle out of playoffs 41-23

The Seahawks’ season came to an abrupt end Saturday as the 49ers pulled away from Seattle in the second half to win their NFC Wild Card game 41-23 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

49ers 41, Seahawks 23: Summary | Box score

The Hawks had their moments, even taking a halftime lead after a big second quarter. It was all Niners after the break, however, allowing the NFC West champions to advance to the divisional round next weekend.

As we do after every Seahawks game, we’ve gathered the thoughts of the voices of Seattle Sports 710 AM on the Hawks loss. See what they had to say below and be sure to tune into the station all day Monday for plenty more Seahawks reaction, talk and analysis, including the Pete Carroll show with the coach live at 9:30am.

Stacy Rost – Bump and Stacy (10am to 2pm)

The 49ers were the best team this year in yards after the catch. They were the main defense and the team no. 2 in DVOA. They were so good they got to their third-string quarterback and that still didn’t stop them from winning 10 straight. In a surprising turn of events, it may have even helped.

But hearing how great an opponent is doesn’t help soften the blow when the opponent wins. Especially not when you were leading at the half as a 10-point underdog, and especially not when they blew a three-point lead afterward.

The Seahawks season is officially over. There will be many important conversations and decisions to be made over the coming months. Will Geno Smith return? What will they do with the no. 5 overall? Some of these discussions are starting tonight. This is a team that struggled with tackling and playing from a front seven for much of the season, and that weakness showed up again in their Wild Card loss.

But let at least one of those discussions—through your well-earned rants—be about what the team did well. Full disclosure: I expected five to six wins, tops, from this team in 2022. They were 31st against the pass over two years and moved on from their two best and most popular players. Instead, they won nine and made the playoffs. This is less about celebrating a moral victory and more about pointing out that in a year where Seattle needed to take a step forward, they did — with a 1,000-yard rusher (Kenneth Walker III), two 1,000-yard receivers (DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett) and a quarterback who set a new franchise record in a single season (Geno Smith).

But the stats don’t look like a Super Bowl win, and that’s what this team and franchise have craved since their last visit nearly a decade ago.

So maybe end with this thought — consider it a strong drug with a little sugar: The Seahawks lost a lot to a better team on Saturday. A team ultimately should have (and won). But for the first time in a long time, Seattle is entering the offseason with the Capitals looking to close the gap.

Mike Salk – Brock and Salk (6-10am)

Total system failure. After a great lead in the second quarter and a half, the Seahawks were completely blown away in every way.

Offend? Two turnovers and a pair of brutal penalties led to a decisive three. I’ve never seen three foul penalties on the field in the same game, let alone one.

The defense? Complete inability to stop the run, pass or big play. Handling issues, communication problems, you name it.

Yes, this Niners team makes it difficult by pressuring you in every phase of the game. But it certainly seemed like the cumulative effect of facing those challenges caught up with Seattle in a big way.

However, this Seahawks team deserves a lot of credit. They did more and went further than anyone thought they could. They have an outstanding young core and the ability to add to it this offseason. They will be back and better than before. And when they get to this country next time, they should have more experience and more talent to weather the storm.

Bob Stelton – Wyman and Bob (2-7pm)

The Seahawks were looking great at the half. They were up 17-16, Geno Smith was 9 of 10 passing for 104 yards and a touchdown. The defense held 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy to 9 of 19 for 147 yards and a TD. Then… the 49ers became the 49ers in the second half.

The Hawks offense had four possessions in the second half. They came up with punts, punts, interceptions and finally a TD in garbage time to trail 41-17 with 1:48 left in the game. Meanwhile, the 49ers had five possessions in the second half and went TD, TD, TD, field goal, end of game. Both sides of the ball fell apart in the second half, and a team as good as the 49ers will make you pay – and that’s exactly what they did!

The bottom line is that the 49ers are simply a better team right now and that’s what we saw in the second half of this game. Regardless of how this game and the season ended, this was an incredible year!

The Hawks were predicted by almost everyone in the football world to be a 4-6 win team that was taking a step back before moving forward. They were much better than anyone thought they would be, and this experience for so many rookies who were crucial to the team’s success this season will accelerate their development even more.

There is plenty of reason to be excited about this team moving forward. I can’t wait to see what they do in the draft and also see how this starting class will go into next season with a year like this under their belt.

It was a valiant effort and a tremendous fight by the Seahawks, but in the end we saw why the 49ers are one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl this year.

To pull off a win, the Seahawks had to be perfect, and they almost were until pulling off a red-zone fumble in the third quarter. That proved to be the decisive blow in a quarter where they only touched the ball once.

There was simply no margin for error, and a 49ers team that led the NFL with a plus-13 turnover margin this season came up with the biggest of the game. You could see and feel the excitement and energy drain from the Seahawks after that turnover and the 49ers’ ensuing punt.

It was always going to be a very difficult task to slow down the 49ers offense, and the defense finally broke down in the second half, but it kept the Seahawks in the game by holding San Francisco to 1 for 5 on third down and three field goals in the first half.

There were a lot of positives to take away from the loss and a lot to feel good about heading into the offseason. Rookie running back Kenneth Walker III was healthy for the first time against the 49ers this season, and he made an immediate impact in the first half with the Seahawks carving up 82 yards rushing on 20 carries. Credit a young Seahawks team for initial resilience after falling behind 10-0 for a halftime comeback. Everything they struggled with in the first two games against the 49ers was handled well. They were 4-for-7 on third down in the first half, including a 4-for-4 stretch that included a 14-play, 78-yard drive and was capped by a 50-yard pass from Geno Smith to DK Metcalf.

Let’s end with another reason for optimism: 32 Seahawks made their playoff debut in this game. The future is bright.