SEATTLE (AP) — Rashid Shaheed returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, Kenneth Walker III ran for three more scores and the Seattle Seahawks advanced with authority to the NFC Championship Game, after beating the San Francisco 49ers 41-6 this Saturday.
Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass and earned his first playoff victory in his first season with the Seahawks (15-3), who will host either the Chicago Bears or the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday, with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake.
The Seahawks took a 7-0 lead 13 seconds into the game thanks to Shaheed, who received the kickoff and ran the ball 95 yards to the goal zone. It was the fourth kick return returned for a touchdown to start a playoff game since 2000 and the longest kick return in franchise postseason history.
Darnold, who was questionable due to an oblique injury, led the Seahawks on two more scoring drives before San Francisco got on the scoreboard with the first of its two field goals.
After failing in his playoff debut last season with the Minnesota Vikings, suffering nine sacks in a 27-9 loss to the Rams, Darnold completed 12 of 17 passes for 124 yards and connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a touchdown in the star receiver’s playoff debut.
The 49ers (13-6) were never competitive and suffered the second-most lopsided playoff loss in franchise history. San Francisco lost 49-3 to the New York Giants in the Divisional Round of the 1986 season.
