The 49ers–Seahawks rivalry is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

between the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

and the Seattle Seahawks in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). While the teams first met in , the rivalry did not develop until the early 2000s, specifically in , when the Seahawks were placed with the 49ers in the NFC West, allowing for two annual meetings between the teams. The Seahawks lead the series 30–20. The teams have met twice in the playoffs, a 23–17 Seahawks win 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 The National Football Conference - Western Division or NFC West is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It currently has four members: the Arizona Cardinals, the Los Ang ...

division rivals in 2002, the rivalry has grown considerably. The rivalry was previously insignificant, due to both teams having little history against one another and both suffering long stretches of mediocrity. 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, especially games at

Lumen Field Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL, t ...

, where their worst loss to the 49ers there was by only ten points in . The rivalry intensified in 2011, when long-standing college rival coaches—former USC coach

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC from ...

and former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh—took over as head coaches, with Carroll becoming the Seahawks' coach in , and Harbaugh becoming the 49ers coach in . Both teams drafted young, mobile quarterbacks to lead their franchises, Seattle's Russell Wilson and San Francisco's

Colin Kaepernick Colin Rand Kaepernick ( ; born November 3, 1987) is an American civil rights activist and football quarterback who is a free agent. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League (NFL). In 2016, he knelt du ...

. 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 Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for th ...

on the line, with the Seahawks winning 23–17. The game ended when Seahawks'

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

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 Michael Alex Crabtree Jr. (born September 14, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football at Texas Tech, where he was a two-time unanimous All-Am ...

and claiming to be the "best corner in the game". Seattle went on to defeat the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

43–8 in Super Bowl XLVIII to win their first Super Bowl championship.Seattle Seahawks wins Super Bowl for first time in its history
CNN, February 3, 2014 San Francisco had represented the NFC in a losing effort in

Super Bowl XLVII Super Bowl XLVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Baltimore Ravens and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

the previous season. And in 2018 Richard Sherman, joined San Francisco and taking them to

Super Bowl LIV Super Bowl LIV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2019 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion Kansas City Chiefs defeated the National Football Conferenc ...

and coming a quarter short sparked the rilvery for a short while then it died down again. The Seahawks lead the all-time series 30–20. After drafting Russell Wilson in 2012, the Seahawks completely dominated the rivalry, holding a 17–4 record against the 49ers before Wilson's departure in early 2022.

Game results

, - , , style=", 49ers
37–21 , Kingdome , 49ers
1–0 , Seahawks join NFL as an expansion team and are placed in the NFC West. The following season, they were moved to the AFC West, where they remained through . , - , , style=", Seahawks
35–24 ,

Candlestick Park Candlestick Park was an outdoor stadium on the West Coast of the United States, located in San Francisco's Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally the home of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants, who played there from 1960 ...

, Tie
1–1 , , - , , style=", 49ers
19–6 , Candlestick Park , 49ers
2–1 , , - , , style=", 49ers
38–7 , Kingdome , 49ers
3–1 , 49ers win

Super Bowl XXIII Super Bowl XXIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Cincinnati Bengals and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

. , - , , style=", 49ers
24–22 , Kingdome , 49ers
4–1 , , - , , style=", Seahawks
38–9 , Kingdome , 49ers
4–2 , , - , , style=", , style=", 49ers
31–24 , style=", 49ers
28–21 , 49ers
6–2 , Seahawks move to the NFC West as a result of NFL realignment. Seahawks open Seahawks Stadium (now known as

). , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
24–17 , style=", Seahawks
20–19 , 49ers
6–4 , , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
42–27 , style=", Seahawks
34–0 , Tie
6–6 , , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
27–25 , style=", Seahawks
41–3 , Seahawks
8–6 , Seahawks lose

Super Bowl XL Super Bowl XL was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Seattle Seahawks and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

. , - , , style=", , style=", 49ers
20–14 , style=", 49ers
24–14 , Tie
8–8 , , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
23–3 , style=", Seahawks
24–0 , Seahawks
10–8 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Seahawks
34–13 , style=", 49ers
33–30(OT) , Seahawks
11–9 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", 49ers
23–10 , style=", Seahawks
20–17 , Seahawks
12–10 , , - , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", 49ers
40–21 , style=", Seahawks
31–6 , Seahawks
13–11 , , - , , style=", , style=", 49ers
33–17 , style=", 49ers
19–17 , Tie
13–13 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", 49ers
13–6 , style=", Seahawks
42–13 , Tie
14–14 , Seahawks draft Russell Wilson. 49ers lose

. , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", 49ers
19–17 , style=", Seahawks
29–3 , Tie
15–15 , Seahawks win

. , - , - style="background:#f2f2f2; font-weight:bold;" , 2013 Playoffs , style=", , , style=", Seahawks
23–17 , Seahawks
16–15 , 2013 NFC Championship Game. Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman deflects a last-minute pass intended for 49ers wide receiver

to propel Seattle to Super Bowl XLVIII. , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
19–3 , style=", Seahawks
17–7 , Seahawks
18–15 , 49ers open

Levi's Stadium Levi's Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, just outside San Jose in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home venue for the National Football League (NFL)'s San Francisco 49ers since 2014. T ...

. Game in San Francisco played on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...

. Seahawks lose

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champions of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Conf ...

. , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
20–3 , style=", Seahawks
29–13 , Seahawks
20–15 , , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
25–23 , style=", Seahawks
37–18 , Seahawks
22–15 , , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
24–13 , style=", Seahawks
12–9 , Seahawks
24–15 , , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", 49ers
26–23(OT) , style=", Seahawks
43–16 , Seahawks
25–16 , Former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman signs with 49ers. Seahawks win 10 straight meetings (2014–18) and 8 straight home meetings. , - , , Tie 1–1 , style=", Seahawks
27–24(OT) , style=", 49ers
26–21 , Seahawks
26–17 , 49ers win in Seattle (their first win in Seattle since 2011) in the final game of the season to clinch the NFC West and top seed. 49ers lose

. , - , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
26–23 , style=", Seahawks
37–27 , Seahawks
28–17 , 49ers “home game” took place at

State Farm Stadium State Farm Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Glendale, Arizona, United States, west of Phoenix. It is the home of the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL) and the annual Fiesta Bowl. State Farm Stadium replaced Sun Devil ...

in Glendale, Arizona due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

-related restrictions on contact sports in Santa Clara, and no fans attended either game. , - , , style=", , style=", Seahawks
28–21 , style=", Seahawks
30–23 , Seahawks
30–17 , Final start in the series for Russell Wilson. , - , , style=", , style=", 49ers
27–7 , style=", 49ers
21–13 , Seahawks
30–19 , 49ers clinch the

division title with win in Seattle. 49ers sweep the Seahawks for the first time since 2011 and sweep the NFC West for the first time since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. , - style="background:#f2f2f2; font-weight:bold;" , 2022 Playoffs , style=", , style=", 49ers
41–23 , , Seahawks
30–20 , NFC Wild Card playoffs , - , - , Regular season , style=", , Seahawks 13–10 , Seahawks 16–9 , Includes Seahawks with a 1–0 record at

in 49ers’ home games. , - , Postseason , Tie 1–1 , 49ers 1–0 , Seahawks 1–0 , 2013 NFC Championship Game, 2022 NFC Wild Card playoffs , - , Regular and postseason , style=", , Seahawks 13–11 , Seahawks 17–9 , , -

References

General

49ers vs Seahawks Results

Specific

{{DEFAULTSORT:49ers-Seahawks rivalry National Football League rivalries San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks San Francisco 49ers rivalries Seattle Seahawks rivalries