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# ‘We’re Relentless’: Deadline Brilliance Fuels Seahawks’ Beatdown of 49ers, Return to Contention
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/deadline-brilliance-fuels-seattle-seahawks-beatdown-san-francisco-49ers-super-bowl-contention/
- Published: 2026-01-18T07:00:47.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:48:00.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: Analysis, Game Day, Seahawks, Ernest Jones, Leonard Williams, Rashid Shaheed, John Schneider

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="4413"\]

![ San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) is sacked by Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) during the second half in an NFC Divisional Round game at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/usatsi_28032704-format-original.jpg)

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) is sacked by Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) during the second half in an NFC Divisional Round game at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images \[/caption\]

SEATTLE, Wash. - Leading by 18 points early in the third quarter of Saturday night’s Divisional Round contest, Leonard Williams and the Seattle Seahawks could sense the desperation mounting for the opposition as the San Francisco 49ers expectedly lined up to go for it on 4th and 2 just past midfield at the 44-yard line.

Primed with the chance for the first kill shot to put the dagger in the coffin of their hated rivals, Williams leaned on advice from an unexpected source in rookie guard Grey Zabel, who repaid the favor after seeking guidance from the newly-minted All-Pro way back in training camp in the dog days of August. While teammate Demarcus Lawrence joked with him about seeking lessons from a rookie, the willingness for the veteran to keep an open mind learning from a young player who has plenty of wisdom to share wound up paying major dividends under the lights in Seattle’s biggest game in more than a decade.

Expecting center Jake Brendel to slide protection towards him, Williams shot out of his stance upfield as if he had been unleashed from a cannon without paying a lick of respect to the possibility of a handoff in a short-yardage situation, devouring Brock Purdy in the pocket before the quarterback could even finish carrying out a play fake for a back-breaking 14-yard sack and turnover on downs.

“He’s a smart kid,” Williams explained post-game. “Since camp, since OTAs, we’ve been going back and forth communicating. Giving each other tips on what works, what doesn’t work, and sometimes it’s good to get insight from a guy on the other side of the ball. He said to me at one point that he can tell I was getting a slide, the center sliding to me a lot. He was like, ‘Hey, why are you taking the inside move, when the slide is coming to you? You should just try to burn the B-gap.’ So that whole drive, I was taking off, trying to burn the B-gap, and it worked.”

Moments later, the Seahawks cashed in on outstanding starting field position thanks to Williams’ sack with a Jason Myers field goal to extend the lead to 21 points and the rout was on. Continuing to pile it on over the final two quarters with all three phases clicking on all cylinders, the home squad turned in a historic performance with a 41-6 annihilation of the 49ers, punching a ticket to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since January 2015 while tying the franchise record with a 35-point margin of victory.

Boasting one of the three youngest rosters in the NFL while also having a host of talented veterans such as Williams leading the way, Saturday’s unforgiving throttling of an opponent that has largely had Seattle’s number for the past five-plus seasons provided the perfect representation of the foundation that has been assembled by general manager John Schneider and coach Mike Macdonald to quickly re-transform the franchise into a title contender. There’s a rare synergy between the vets, rookies, and everyone in between that can be felt on and off the field that has cultivated immense success.

All of those players found their way to the Emerald City in a variety of different ways. As just one example, Zabel, who helped spearhead another dominant performance on the ground with 175 rushing yards by Ken Walker III and company on Saturday night, arrived as a heralded first round pick in April. Next to him, former college teammate Jalen Sundell took a 180 degree different path signing as an undrafted free agent shortly before the 2024 season, eventually working his way up the depth chart to become a quality starter at the center position.

On the opposite side of the football, Williams spent his first eight-plus seasons in New York with the Jets and Giants before being traded to the Seahawks in October 2023, signing a long-term three-year extension the following spring after coming to town in exchange for a second and fifth-round pick. Since then, he’s been selected to two Pro Bowls and earned Second-Team All-Pro honors, nearly hitting 20 sacks over the past two seasons as one of the game’s most disruptive defensive linemen.

While all of those moves have obvious differences, Schneider stands out as the one common denominator. Carving out his own chapter following the departure of long-time partner Pete Carroll, he has been at the center of a remarkable overhaul that didn’t feature his team bottoming out. Instead, after back-to-back nine win seasons that resulted in just one playoff appearance, he took full control of personnel decisions starting with the hiring of Macdonald, already having brought several key pieces on board before making that bold move such as Williams, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Devon Witherspoon for the new coach to have at his disposal and expedite the rebuild.

After bringing Macdonald on board, Schneider continued to evolve his approach with a coach who shared his vision, and that vision slowly started to manifest itself on the field. Stellar drafting has brought the likes of Zabel, Byron Murphy II, and Nick Emmanwori to further stock the cabinet with exciting young talent. Behind the scenes, he also made shrewd moves in free agency, including signing quarterback Sam Darnold and defensive end Demarcus Lawrence last March.

But most notably, continuing the trend this October by trading a fourth and fifth-round pick to the Saints for speedy receiver and return specialist Rashid Shaheed, Schneider has struck gold annually acquiring premium talents at the deadline without ransoming the team’s future draft pick-wise. On a night where the Seahawks reaffirmed their place as a juggernaut in the NFC, recent deadline acquisitions in Williams, Shaheed, and Ernest Jones took on a starring role, putting the executive’s masterful work into full focus for a national audience.

Right out of the gate, Shaheed electrified a sellout, pom pom-waving crowd as he glided through the teeth of San Francisco’s kick coverage, evading a trip by kicker Eddie Pineiro as the last line of defense before coasting into the end zone for a 95-yard touchdown return to put the Seahawks up 7-0 less than 15 seconds into the game. The latest special teams theatrics gave him an incredible three return touchdowns in the past six games as his elite track speed has made him look like prime Devin Hester since coming to town and wowed teammates such as Cooper Kupp in the process.

“He’s a cheat code. I’m so angry at him for being so fast. It drives me crazy,” Kupp joked. “Just jealous at the end of the day, because he’s special. I remember the first day he got to the facility, I remember asking him ‘is it cool lining up and knowing that you can run past anyone that lines up across from you’, and he says ‘yeah, it’s pretty cool.’”

As for Jones, the veteran linebacker basked in the limelight days after being announced as an All-Pro for the first time, starting with a forced fumble prying the ball out of tight end Jake Tonges’ hands in the first quarter that safety Julian Love recovered as the crowd erupted and the press box shook. Darnold promptly made the 49ers pay for their mistake on the ensuing drive, linking up with Smith-Njigba for a four-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 17-0 before the opening quarter had even concluded.

Later in the third quarter, Purdy telegraphed a pressured throw to tight end Luke Farrell and Jones found himself in the right place at the right time, intercepting the pass that seemed to find him more than the player found the ball in coverage. That turnover led to one of three rushing touchdowns for Ken Walker III, netting 14 points off of his efforts.

“That's big. That's the style we want to play, that complementary football,” Jones said. “Getting turnovers on defense, that's something we strive to do, and the offense being able to capitalize and get touchdowns out of that. It builds our confidence. We just want to go get the ball more now and give them more opportunities to go get as many points as we can.”

When asked about how Schneider has seemingly pushed all the right buttons, Macdonald cited his ability to maximize talent acquisition for the Seahawks at the deadline by acquiring needle moving All-Pro caliber players such as Williams and Jones, comparing the general manager’s process to how the organization operates as a whole beyond personnel decisions.

In other words, while there’s a number of different ways to describe Seattle’s philosophy employed under Macdonald and Schneider’s leadership, there’s a non-stop quest to improve that permeates throughout all levels of the building at the VMAC that has now trickled onto the field with a refined championship roster.

“Two All-Pros in trades, that's pretty good,” Macdonald smiled. “Obviously, trading for Leonard \[Williams\] was before we were here, but I think it's just the same attitude, we're relentless. I mean, what do you want to call it? You want to call it chasing edges? That's the language that we use. Our philosophy is we're just constantly chasing it. What are the things that we can do to make our team better all the time? Whether it's through acquisition or a period in practice or maybe it's something pregame, scheme, personnel. All those things, it's a relentless attitude to try to always make the team better.”

On the field, Shaheed, Jones, and Williams stood out as the biggest difference makers on Saturday night, with each of them delivering multiple impact plays. But what has made their previous midseason arrivals truly special has been their influence in building a special locker room environment for a team as tight-knit as any in Seahawks history.

Look no further than Williams harvesting intel from Zabel. On many teams, including ones that the defender played for in New York earlier in his career, that dynamic would not even be possible, as rookies would be shunned from trying to offer advice to seasoned veterans or would not feel empowered to speak up when they observe things that could be helpful to the success of a teammate.

But that’s not the case in Seattle, something that Shaheed didn’t need long to figure out after packing his bags and departing New Orleans three months ago. After just one game in his new threads, with him already meshing well with teammates and fitting the type of character Schneider and Macdonald desired to go with his obvious athleticism and football skills, he knew the Seahawks were building something “special,” sensing that they could compete for a Super Bowl.

It’s just another example of how Schneider has aced the roster construction process in every facet. As Williams noted, he hasn’t just built a team that has the pieces in place for sustained success to win a ton of games on the field. He has done so outside the lines as well assembling a group of players who love being together and want to go to battle for each other, with Saturday’s blowout victory bearing the fruits of he and Macdonald’s relentless labor.

“Utmost respect to John Schneider. I feel like he has done a great job of bringing in the right personnel, not just talent wise, but personality wise, which has helped create that family identity,” Williams remarked. “And I think that's the type of vibe like, he gives off as well, him and his wife. And, you know, I think they do a great job of making it feel like family here. And it makes everyone feel comfortable. It helps us lean into that loose and focused vibe where it's fun to go to work. You know what I mean? Like, I've been places where, you know, you're kind of like have to drag yourself out of bed to go to work. It's kind of hard sometimes here. It's like we love being around each other.”

There's still much work left to do, as the Seahawks didn’t begin OTAs in April wanting to simply win the NFC West, earn the No. 1 seed, or win a single playoff game. They’ve stacked days, never getting too far ahead pursuing their goals and treating every game with the same approach, something that veterans such as Williams and Jones have helped instill in younger players who lacked prior playoff experience.

Set to face either the Bears or Rams at Lumen Field next weekend, they will have to be dialed in once again with the understanding that none of the points scored on Saturday night will carry over to the NFC Championship Game. Championship teams have to excel in regard to consistency, and any slipups this time of year in the preparation process will most certainly lead to a locker room cleanout. That message will undoubtedly be echoing in the hallways in Renton in coming days.

But as demonstrated during the midst of an eight-game winning streak dating back to Week 12, no team has been more consistent to this point than the Seahawks. The thrifty acquisitions of Williams, Jones, and Shaheed have been catalysts for that steadiness throughout, and if the 12s are destined to enjoy a second Lombardi Trophy coming back to town next month, they will be headliners behind the journey to achieve that ultimate goal, a testament to Schneider’s brilliance that has rapidly lifted the franchise back into the realm of the NFL’s elite.