The San Francisco 49ers have seen their NFC West rivalry with the Seattle Seahawks cool a bit in recent years. But in 2019, it’s starting to return, as both teams are hotly contesting the division once more.
The bitter rivalry between these NFC West foes is about to reach a boiling point on Monday Night Football in Week 10. The San Francisco 49ers are 8-0, but the 7-2 Seattle Seahawks will bring everything they’ve got to dethrone the Niners as the only undefeated team in the NFL.
While history has favored the Seahawks, 16-25 overall versus San Francisco, the 49ers own Mondays under the lights with a league-best 49 wins.
Whatever the outcome, this game should provide highlight fodder for years to come.
As a primer for this exciting matchup, let’s indulge our appetite by looking back at the top 10 most notable moments this rivalry series has brought us. Some broke our hearts, while others broke our coffee tables. A number of plays influenced what happened in the playoffs, while others were simply insane moments between the two squads.
This NFC West rivalry budded earlier in the 2010s, particularly when then-head coach Jim Harbaugh’s Niners were must-watch television versus head coach Pete Carroll’s Seahawks. While San Francisco’s downfall ended the period of that rivalry, head coach Kyle Shanahan’s takeover could revert these two teams back towards a heated rivalry phase again.
While the series dates back to 1976, Niner Noise found the first such moment between the Seahawks and 49ers 15 years ago.
No. 10: Seahawks shut 49ers out in 2004
Since 1976, the Seahawks have shutout the 49ers twice, a favor the Niners have never reciprocated. The most recent time this happened was in November of 2007 and the first time was September of 2004.
Any guess as to the starting quarterback in 2004? If you said Tim Rattay, you’d be somewhat right. This would be his second missed game, so San Francisco tapped Ken Dorsey, the current Buffalo Bills quarterbacks coach, to lead the team.
It was ugly.
The 49ers got pummeled 34-0 that day, and the shutout was the first in the NFL in 27 years and 420 games.
Take a look for yourself:
Not the kind of records the team was looking to set.
Luckily, bad luck has rained on both teams alike.
No. 9: Marshawn Lynch fumbles at goal line
With a win against the Seahawks in the 2014 NFC Championship game the 49ers would advance to the Super Bowl. Ultimately, that was not meant to be, but this game provided many memories.
Seattle was leading 20-17 with 8:28 left on the clock and they opted to go for it on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line and running back Marshawn Lynch fumbled the ball.
This fumble was as much of an uncharacteristic event for the Seahawks as much as it was for Lynch. Both were extremely talented and disciplined, especially at the goal line. Nevertheless, the 49ers came up with the football.
The joy of the turnover would be shortlived, as quarterback Colin Kaepernick handed the ball back to the Seahawks on the ensuing drive with an ill-advised pass.
In hindsight, that pass is not the only bad one in the history of this series.
No. 8: Jim Harbaugh passes on Richard Sherman in 2011 NFL Draft
Hindsight is 20-20, they say.
But is it, though, when you consider then-Niners head coach Jim Harbaugh coached cornerback Richard Sherman at Stanford? Harbaugh knew what Sherman had, he knew the product, the talent and tendencies.
So why pass on him?
We can only speculate Harbaugh knew something the rest of us didn’t, or perhaps there was tension between those two that Harbaugh felt might spill into the locker room.
In a 2014 interview with Doug Farrar of Sports Illustrated, Sherman gave some insight into that relationship when comparing Seattle’s head coach, Pete Carroll, with Harbaugh:
"[Carroll] is the polar opposite…he’s not soft, but he’s easygoing. He’s loose. As loose as you can get out there. He allows his players to be who they are within the confines of the team, as long as it doesn’t hurt the team, he allows guys to be themselves. If you’re a loose guy and dance at practice like I do, he allows you to be that guy. As long as when you’re on the field you do exactly what you’re supposed to do."
Whatever happened between Harbaugh and Sherman is ancient history now, but it’s not unreasonable to wonder what the 49ers would’ve looked like had Sherman joined the team from the get-go.
Initially, the advantage went to Carroll… until his first game against Harbaugh.
No. 7: Jim Harbaugh vs. Pete Carroll, the first matchup
Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll had a rivalry which reached back to their college coaching days and it spilled over into the NFL. When they both ended up coaching for NFC West teams, it was only a matter of time before the two crossed paths.
Sportswriters, analysts, pundits, players and fans were salivating to see the fireworks.
NFL Network’s Adam Rank provided his quick take on the pending encounter:
"“What’s your deal?” That is what Carroll said to Harbaugh after his Cardinal went for the two-point conversion to reach 50 in Stanford’s romp over USC in the coach’s last battle (Stanford went on to score again to win 55-21) in 2009. Harbaugh retorted with, “What’s your deal?” Burn! These two teams square off in Week 1 and I cannot wait. To use one of the most tired sports cliches, these two teams just don’t like each other."
The Harbaugh-led 49ers would go on to defeat Carroll’s Seahawks 33-17 that day in 2011, and once again, Harbaugh came out on top. From there, things only got worse as both sides fired shots at each other during their respective tenures.
Harbaugh drew the ire of the Seahawks when he called them out for having 10 performance-enhancing drug violations in three years. Said, Harbaugh, “If you cheat to win, you’ve already lost.”
Harbaugh was a purist and believed there was a more respectable way to get shredded.
No. 6: Colin Kaepernick shreds the Seahawks
The 49ers knew they had to make a statement in the early moments of that 2014 NFC Championship game against Seattle.
San Francisco led by three. With the Seahawks in tight man coverage and the 49ers on their own 32-yard line, Colin Kaepernick dropped back to pass, the pressure disintegrated the play and Kaepernick scrambled for a whopping 58 yards.
He juked and dodged several defenders, only to be brought down by Seahawks defensive back Kam Chancellor at the Seattle 10-yard line. That play set the tone for the game and allowed the 49ers to remain competitive throughout.
While the 49ers have never shutout the Seahawks, they did come close in the 2012 regular season.
No. 5: 49ers allow zero Seahawks touchdowns in Week 7 of 2012
The 49ers won this 2012 game 13-6, but it would be the last of a four-game win streak against the Seahawks, a franchise record in the 15-year-old series.
Being held to two field goals must have lit a massive firestorm in the Seahawks’ once-legendary “Legion of Boom,” because from here on, the Niners only won two of 14 games against their NFC West rivals.
It seems like a bittersweet moment. The 49ers won, they were a team on the rise with a fiery head coach who worked wonders with quarterbacks. You can watch game highlights here.
49ers fans would have to wait until 2018 for a key turning point in this series, and even that was met with mixed emotions and results.
No. 4 Sherman signs with the 49ers
For almost a decade, Richard Sherman had been the bain of the 49ers. With Jim Harbaugh long gone and the Pete Carroll honeymoon over, Sherman made a trip down the West Coast to find himself a new employer after the Seahawks parted ways with him following the 2017 season.
And he got it.
The move was met with skepticism, cynicism as much as optimism.
After the 2017 season came to a close, 49ers fans dared to dream again when we saw what newly acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo could offer. So maybe having Sherman on the right side of the equation wouldn’t be such a bad thing after all.
Not only did this move rock both sides of the rivalry, but in a way, it rattled the NFL as well. Sherman made a bold decision to accept an incentive-based offer with few guarantees from the 49ers with no agent involved.
This was a classic Sherman move: bold, decisive, effective. For once, it would actually work in favor of the Niners.
Despite injuries and other setbacks in 2018, things were looking up for San Francisco.
No. 3: Richie James’ 96-yard punt return in 2018
By this stage of the 2018 season, fans had already accepted the bitter, ugly truth the year, which offered so much hope, initially was lost. By now, Jimmy Garoppolo, running back Jerick McKinnon and a dozen other elite starters were done for the year with varying injuries.
But that didn’t mean there was no reason to enjoy small, golden nuggets that came San Francisco’s way. In Week 15, with the Niners trailing 6-0 late in the first quarter, wide receiver Richie James took one to the house, and it was awesome!
The 49ers went on to win the game 26-23 in overtime and recorded their second win in 14 games against the Seahawks. This was their last meeting, and James’ score was a key-tipping point in this victory.
You know where I’m going next…
No. 2: Richard Sherman tips 49ers out of NFC Championship
Oh, boy. What can I say that hasn’t been said about this one.
For the masochists out there, here’s a quick recap: Colin Kapernick marched the team to the Seattle 18-yard line in the waning minutes of the 2014 NFC Championship and with the Niners trailing. With only 29 seconds left, and San Francisco on 1st-and-10, Kaepernick threw a corner fade to wide receiver Michael Crabtree, Richard Sherman tipped the pass and linebacker Malcolm Smith intercepted the ball.
Game over. Seattle advanced to the Super Bowl, where it would go on to dominate the Denver Broncos for the Seahawks’ first ever Lombardi Trophy.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1172679013942218752?s=20
This play would end up No. 58 on the NFL’s top 100 greatest plays.
You’re probably wondering, which play could possibly top that? I went back and forth on it and I stand by my rankings.
There is one moment that carries more weight.
No. 1: Seahawks obliterate 49ers in Week 16 of 2012
If you recall, in their first encounter that year, the 49ers held Seattle to two field goals. That did not sit well, and the Seahawks came back with a vengeance during the final week of 2012. It’s not so much they beat the 49ers 42-13 as much as what this did for the rivalry.
Again, from this point on, the Seahawks set their targets on the Niners and showed no mercy. Since then, the 49ers only won twice while the Seahawks won 10 in a row.
During this massacre, there was one point that sealed the 49ers’ fate and ignited Seattle’s fire to obliterate San Francisco. If there was a moment for the Seahawks that’s the equivalent of “The Catch,” a moment against a bitter rival that sparked a legacy, it’s this one.
Scoreless early into the second quarter, and after a long, taxing drive that was riddled with questionable penalties on both sides, the 49ers lined up for chip-shot field goal on 4th-and-3 on the Seattle 3-yard line.
Kicker David Akers went for the kick, it was blocked by defensive tackle Red Bryant, the ball was recovered by none other than, you guessed it, Richard Sherman. And he proceeded to take it 90 yards for a touchdown:
The reason I picked this as the top moment and likened it in magnitude to “The Catch” is it was that big. The Seahawks made up their mind they were out to crush the 49ers, and this game was not the same afterward.
You know what happened the following year in the NFC Championship game, and you know how the next six years went after that. It can be traced back to this moment in time. That’s a bold statement, and I stand by it.
Fear not, however. The next six years could be vastly different. Brighter days are ahead and everything seems to be pointing toward a changing of the guard in favor of the 49ers.
And it could start as early as Monday Night Football.