This time, the Seahawks went into Levi's Stadium and handed the 49ers a 13-3 defeat. Two weeks later, Seattle dominated San Francisco 41-6 at Lumen Field in the NFC Divisional Round before continuing its postseason run to a Super Bowl championship.
The Seahawks clearly had the 49ers' number late in the season. While injuries played a significant role in San Francisco's struggles, Seattle proved to be a difficult matchup and is expected to remain one of the 49ers' biggest obstacles in the NFC West during the 2026 season.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald joined Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area at the American Century Championship golf tournament in South Lake Tahoe. Despite Seattle's success against San Francisco late last season, Macdonald made it clear he has tremendous respect for 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.
"Kyle, he's the best in the business," Macdonald said. "I mean, he doesn't have the track record that he has by accident, so we've got a ton of respect for him."
Macdonald noted that division rivalries become increasingly challenging because the teams know each other so well after facing off at least twice every season. That familiarity forces coaches to continually adapt and evolve their game plans.
Preparing for Shanahan's 49ers presents a unique challenge.
"There's a great detail in which they coach, and there's a precision to their offense, and there's a physicality to what they do, and it's complementary," Macdonald said. "Everything's married off each other. All the route stems are married off each other. They vary their pass protections. The run game is diverse but complementary.
"Again, they're constantly evolving, so you have to keep pace with that, and it's not easy to do, and that's why they've been so successful."
The 49ers and Seahawks won't meet until Week 5 of the 2026 season, with the rematch set for Week 12—two NFC West showdowns that will be highly anticipated.
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