Halftime Observations: Rashid Shaheed, Seahawks Sprint Out to 24-6 Lead vs. 49ers in Divisional Round

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Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Rashid Shaheed (22) returns a kickoff for a touchdown as San Francisco 49ers place kicker Eddy Pineiro (18) attempts to trip him up during the first half in an NFC Divisional Round game at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images [/caption]

SEATTLE, Wash. - Rewarding fans for their patience waiting 10 years for a Divisional Round home game, the Seattle Seahawks couldn’t have asked for much better of a start, going up 17 in the first quarter to take a 24-6 advantage into the half against the San Francisco 49ers at Lumen Field.

Here are three quick observations from Seattle’s commanding first half performance thus far:

1. Rashid Shaheed creates his own seismic activity with energizing special teams heroics right out of the block.

While a handful of fans may still have been trying to quickly get to their seats, Shaheed wasted no time igniting the 12s in the first home playoff game in half a decade. Getting a running start out of the end zone before catching Eddie Pineiro’s kickoff at the five-yard line, the speedy wideout bolted back inside to follow behind blocks by linebacker Patrick O’Connell and tight end Brady Russell before breaking through an ankle tackle, pitting him one on one against the kicker. With no chance to make a play, Pineiro tried to make a diving “slide tackle,” or in simple terms, attempted to trip the returner.

Pineiro missed badly, though officials still threw the flag to penalize him for his illegal efforts, and Shaheed turned on the afterburners down the sideline to finish off a 95-yard kickoff return with a rapidly rising roar reverberating from the stands and green pom poms being waived frantically by a sellout crowd. Putting the Seahawks up 7-0 just 13 seconds into action, he set a new franchise record with the longest kick return in a postseason game, starting the Divisional Round festivities with a bang.

2. Oblique? What oblique? Sam Darnold emphatically answers any and all health concerns after missing much of pre-game warmups.

Leading up to the opening kickoff, Darnold’s status remained under the microscope after he landed on Seattle’s final injury report on Thursday with a new oblique strain, and questions lingered when he didn’t participate at all in pre-game warmups. Instead, Drew Lock and Jalen Milroe attempted all of the throws while the starter remained M.I.A. But he wasn’t announced as an inactive and took the field in full pads moments later, looking plenty healthy lofting passes in individual and team drills, a good omen in the foreshadowing department.

Aided by Shaheed’s efforts with seven points on the board before he even needed to take the field, Darnold started off with several easy throws to get himself in a rhythm, including a short dump off that Ken Walker III turned into an 11-yard gain and a first down. Seattle eventually scored a field goal after the drive fizzled out in the red zone, but the quarterback amended for that missed opportunity on the next series. After being sacked on first down for a 10-yard loss, he dropped a perfect dime to Cooper Kupp on a corner route for 21 yards to move the chains. Following a defensive pass interference penalty drawn by Shaheed, the signal caller rolled out to his left to test the oblique injury and aced the test, firing a dart to throw Jaxon Smith-Njigba open at the back lefthand corner of the end zone for a four-yard touchdown.

3. While not quite as dominant as Week 18, the Seahawks still turned in a stellar defensive effort for 30 minutes.

14 days after holding Kyle Shanahan’s offense to just a field goal - the fewest points they had scored since the coach’s debut back in 2017 - the Seahawks picked up right where they left off coming out of the bye. Despite a Jason Myers’ penalty failing to reach the landing zone on the kickoff after Shaheed’s return and giving San Francisco great starting field position at the 40-yard line, the defense held serve on 4th and 1, blowing up Kyle Juszczyk on a trick fullback option play that wound up being fumbled out of bounds for a turnover. On the next possession, tight end Jake Tonges had a first down after reeling a catch in from Brock Purdy over the middle, only for linebacker Ernest Jones to rip the ball out of his hands and safety Julian Love to recover the fumble. That turnover set up Darnold’s touchdown to Smith-Njigba for instant offense, extending the lead to 17-0 at the time.

If there was a downside to Seattle’s first half performance defensively, Purdy had far less pressure on him in the pocket than the last encounter and escaped multiple times to either scramble or make throws on the run. He had an 18-yard scramble and had several completions come after bouncing outside of the pocket, including lobbing a first down throw across the field to Tonges after escaping multiple defenders in pursuit, allowing Pineiro to nail a 56-yard field goal and trim the lead to 17-6. But away from those plays and a couple nice catches by Christian McCaffrey, the Seahawks once again delivered the goods with their “Darkside” unit, limiting the 49ers to two third down conversions on five opportunities and 149 total yards.