SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Seattle Seahawks will enter the NFL playoffs with the No. 1 seed in the National Football Conference. More importantly, they’re being led into the postseason by a defense that proved it can stop even the most potent offenses.
Zach Charbonnet scored on a 27-yard run in the first quarter, and Seattle shut down the San Francisco 49ers’ high-powered attack for a 13-3 victory in the showdown between NFC West rivals Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium.
Seattle (14-3) won its first division title since the 2020 season and is now two home wins away from returning to the same venue for Super Bowl LX next month after beating San Francisco (12-5) in just the fourth regular-season finale in NFL history where the winner was guaranteed a No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
Seattle reached the Super Bowl its previous three times with the No. 1 seed, including the franchise’s only title season in 2013 behind one of the best defenses in recent memory.
“We all have respect for the Legion of Boom, but I feel like we deserve some recognition at this point, too,” defensive tackle Leonard Williams said. “We call ourselves the Dark Side.”