Seahawks Expose 49ers Talent Gap in 41-6 Rout

The undermanned Niners run out of magic

Jan 17, 2026; Seattle, WA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) is tackled b y. Seattle Seahawks cornerback Riq Woolen (27) during the first half in an NFC Divisional Round game at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Ng-Imagn Images | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

The 2025 49ers season of improbable “us against the world” wins and clutch game-saving plays ended in Seattle as the Seahawks dominated San Francisco 41-6 and advanced to the conference championship.

A memorable 49ers season comes to an end. The unlikely win over the Rams was led by Alfred Collins punching the ball out of Kyren Williams’ hands. The thrilling wins over the Bears and Eagles with do-or-die defensive stops. A season that spoke to the character of the team and the quality of the coaching. A team of lesser talent that believed in each other and overcame, that somehow found a way to 12 wins in the regular season and a playoff road win over the Eagles.

In this divisional round game, Seattle knocked the Niners to the canvas on the opening kickoff, as trade deadline acquisition Rashid Shaheed ran past poor pursuit angles and took off for a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown. Soon thereafter it was 17-0 Seahawks in the first quarter as the Niners tried to get back up and make it a game, but simply didn’t have the talent to get it done.

The Talent Gap

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The Niners' next man up wins this season hid what was painfully apparent in Seattle: the 49ers have a ton of roster holes and not nearly enough quality starters. Even with the injuries factored in, this roster requires a lot of new talent. By my count, they need at least 15 new players, including nine new starters. I’ll go into that in-depth in my off-season preview on Monday.

There’s only so much the 49ers can do in the draft. With this many needs, they’ll have to invest in free agency and look into trading veterans out. Free agency will depend on what the Yorks are willing to spend. Trades without picks are hard to pull off.

The Inflection Point

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The hope for this season was that a youth movement could lead the transition. That has begun on defense, but not on offense as rookies barely played. A franchise record in touches for Christian McCaffrey. The moribund run game brought to life once George Kittle returned to full health and Trent Williams experienced a resurgence.

A transition also seems likely on the coaching staff as Robert Saleh and Klay Kubiak are in high demand.

This off-season will bring difficult decisions for Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. They need to start rebuilding their aging core on offense; they have yet to do so. Yet some of the holes on defense are so acute they demand early picks as well. This is both the most important and the most difficult off-season for the Niners in years.

The Big Picture

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It wasn’t that long ago that Seattle was on its last legs under Pete Carroll awash in vanilla. Then they hired Mike Macdonald to take over, drafted exceptionally well, and built a defense that could take down Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay. One down, possibly one to go.

The task now for the Niners is to do the same thing in response. They must build a team specifically designed to beat Seattle and the Rams. It is not something they can do in a year. How quickly they can accomplish that will be tied to how well they draft, which is far from assured.

The critical aspect is this: Are they willing to make the difficult but necessary decisions of transitioning to the next core, or will they continue to kick the can down the road on offense? The answer to that question determines how long it will take before the Niners have the talent edge in a playoff game against the Seahawks.

This game and this season has shown that the core can’t be counted on to be healthy come playoff time, and without all of them contributing, 41-6. This team needs to be rebuilt from the ground up to beat Seattle and the Rams. That can be done; both of those teams just did it, so can the Niners.  

This will be a fascinating off-season. Until then, take the time to smell the roses on the magical run this season. A team that had no business playing for the number 1 seed and earning their way into the divisional round followed Saleh’s mantra, they found a way.

A tip of the cap to the 2025 San Francisco 49ers.