| First meeting | September 26, 1976 49ers 37, Seahawks 21 |
|---|---|
| Latest meeting | December 10, 2023 49ers 28, Seahawks 16 |
| Next meeting | 2024 |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 52 |
| All-time series | Seahawks, 30–22 |
| Postseason results | Tie, 1–1
|
| Largest victory | 49ers, 38–7 (1988) Seahawks, 41–3 (2005) |
| Longest win streak | 49ers, 5 (2022–present) Seahawks, 10 (2014–18) |
| Current win streak | 49ers, 5 (2022–present) |
The 49ers–Seahawks rivalry is an American football rivalry between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks in the National Football League (NFL). While the teams first met in 1976, the rivalry did not develop until the early 2000s, specifically in 2002, when the Seahawks were placed with the 49ers in the NFC West, allowing for two annual meetings between the teams.[1][2] The Seahawks lead the series 30–22. The teams have met twice in the playoffs, a 23–17 Seahawks victory in the 2013 NFC Championship Game and a 41–23 49ers triumph in the 2022 NFC Wild Card round.
History
Since the teams became NFC West division rivals in 2002, the rivalry has grown considerably.[1] The rivalry was previously insignificant, due to both teams having little history against one another and both suffering long stretches of mediocrity.[3] For example, while the Seahawks won four straight division titles from 2004 to 2007, the 49ers finished in third or fourth place each season and did not have a winning season from 2003 to 2010. Likewise, the Seahawks suffered four straight losing seasons from 2008 to 2011. Despite their stretch of mediocrity, the Seahawks have remained competitive in games against the 49ers in those years.
"It don't get much better than the 49ers...it felt like a Super Bowl when we were playing during that time."
—K. J. Wright, Seahawks LB[4]
The rivalry intensified in 2011, when long-standing college rival coaches—former USC coach Pete Carroll and former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh—took over as head coaches, with Carroll becoming the Seahawks' coach in 2010, and Harbaugh becoming the 49ers coach in 2011. Both teams drafted young, mobile quarterbacks to lead their franchises, Seattle's Russell Wilson and San Francisco's Colin Kaepernick.[5] Both coaches turned their respective franchises into perennial playoff contenders, and from 2010 to 2014, either the Seahawks or the 49ers won the NFC West championship.
The two teams met in the 2013 NFC Championship Game in Seattle with a trip to Super Bowl XLVIII on the line, with the Seahawks winning 23–17. The game ended when Seahawks' cornerback Richard Sherman, whom Harbaugh previously coached at Stanford, tipped an end zone pass that led to a game-ending interception. Sherman had his famous postgame interview immediately afterwards, calling out 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree and claiming to be the "best corner in the game".[6] Seattle went on to defeat the Denver Broncos 43–8 in Super Bowl XLVIII to win their first Super Bowl championship.[7] San Francisco had represented the NFC in a losing effort in Super Bowl XLVII the previous season. In 2018, Richard Sherman joined San Francisco and took them to Super Bowl LIV while coming a quarter short sparked the rivalry for a short while then it died down again.
The Seahawks lead the all-time series 30–22. After drafting Russell Wilson in 2012, the Seahawks dominated the rivalry, holding a 17–4 record against the 49ers before Wilson's departure in early 2022. After Wilson's departure, the 49ers have turned the rivalry around, winning the last 5, which is the longest win streak for the 49ers against the Seahawks.
Game results
| San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks Season-by-Season Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1970s – 1990s (49ers, 4–2)
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2000s (Seahawks, 10–6)
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2010s (Seahawks, 14–7)
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2020s (49ers, 5–4)
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Summary of Results
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See also
References
General
Specific
- 1 2 Steward, Carl (October 12, 2003). Written at Seattle. "Ports of call build budding rivalry". Oakland Tribune. Oakland. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
chalk up tonight's 5:30 ESPN game as the first official game in what could and should develop into a heated regional rivalry. Both teams, to be sure, could use a hated enemy.
- ↑ Banks, Don (May 22, 2001). "Seattle moved to NFC in approved realignment plan". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on June 8, 2001. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ↑ Iyer, Vinnie (June 18, 2013). "49ers-Seahawks rivalry: Get ready for a long-running drama". Sporting News. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ↑ Bell, Gregg (October 2, 2019). "Seahawks-Rams Thursday is big. But for K.J. Wright, it's not old Seahawks-49ers big". The News Tribune. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
- ↑ Farrar, Doug (December 5, 2013). "Second-year starting quarterbacks Kaepernick, Wilson are key men in revived Seahawks/49ers rivalry". SI.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
- ↑ Eagle, Ben (January 19, 2014). "Richard Sherman calls out Michael Crabtree in all-time postgame interview". SI.com. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
- ↑ Seattle Seahawks wins Super Bowl for first time in its history, CNN, February 3, 2014