The Seattle Seahawks are suddenly one of the best teams in the NFL. Seattle's impressive breakout season has been one of the best stories in the NFL this fall. Second-year head coach Mike Macdonald has completely changed the Seahawks in a short period of time. Now Seattle has an impressive 13-3 record heading into a heavyweight matchup with the 49ers in Week 18.
This game will have the most stakes of any regular-season matchup during the entire 2025 season.
Both Seattle and San Francisco are separated by just one game at the top of the NFC West division standings. The winner of this game will secure a division title, while the loser will become a wild card team in the NFC playoffs.
Beyond that, whichever team wins this game will also become the No. 1 seed for the NFC playoffs. It is the greatest advantage any team could hope for, which gives both sides plenty of motivation to go all out.
So will the Seahawks be able to take care of business this weekend? Or will they limp into the playoffs as a 13-win wild card team?
Below we will explore three Seahawks bold predictions before their important Week 18 matchup against the 49ers.
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Sam Darnold is more productive than Brock Purdy, but struggles with turnovers
Darnold has found himself a new home in Seattle.
The veteran quarterback was once considered a bust, but is now the franchise quarterback for the Seahawks.
Darnold became just the fifth quarterback in NFL history to have back-to-back 13-win seasons. That puts him in the same category as Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers. In other words, exactly what the Seahawks hoped they were getting when they signed Darnold to a huge contract this offseason.
He has played well for the Seahawks, which is a big part of why they have 13 wins. Darnold has 3,850 passing yards with 25 touchdowns and 14 interceptions headed into Week 18. He doesn't have quite as many yards as he did with the Vikings last year, but he is more efficient and has the luxury of a great running game.
Darnold faces off against Brock Purdy this week in what should be an excellent quarterback duel.
Purdy and Darnold are two very different QBs, and I think they'll show many of their differences in this game.
I'm predicting that Darnold will be more productive than Purdy, going for more passing yards and touchdowns. However, I think he'll also commit more turnovers, which should create some problems for Seattle's defense.
But at least he will (hopefully) play better than he did in Week 18 last year.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba goes nuclear, breaks Calvin Johnson's single-season receiving record
JSN has emerged as one of the NFL's most productive wide receivers during the 2025 season.
The third-year receiver has 113 receptions for 1,709 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns headed into this weekend's matchup.
Smith-Njigba gets plenty of targets as Darnold's primary weapon in the passing game. His success is a combination of his unique talents, Darnold throwing the football, and Seattle's excellent offensive scheme.
I believe that JSN could make NFL history in Week 18, but he'll need some luck as the 49ers are bound to prioritize stopping him.
Smith-Njigba is incredibly close to breaking Calvin Johnson's single-season receiving record. Megatron set the bar high with 1,964 receiving yards back in 2012.
Cooper Kupp came incredibly close to breaking that record in 2021, logging 1,947 receiving yards.
I'm going very bold and predicting that JSN will break Megatron's record. He'll need 255 receiving yards to tie the record, so 256+ to set a new one.
The Seahawks may need to force overtime to make this happen. But I want to believe!
Seahawks defense keeps CMC in check, leading to close win
It is no secret around the NFL that Mike Macdonald's defensive scheme is one of the best in the league. In fact, it arguably was the biggest factor in him getting hired in Seattle.
Even 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan admitted that the Seahawks have an incredible scheme. He even explained the essence of why Macdonald's system has so much success in the modern NFL.
“He knows how to stop the run and not give up any big plays with a 2-shell defense,” Shanahan said on Tuesday, per David Lombardi.
When it comes to limiting explosive plays from San Francisco's offense, the obvious first choice is shutting down Christian McCaffrey.
CMC is practically the last man standing on the 49ers' offense with George Kittle still banged up. Stopping him will be the key to this entire game.
I'm predicting that Seattle will limit McCaffrey to under 125 total yards of offense in Week 18. That's still al pretty good day for CMC, but qualifies as keeping him in check.
Let's also say that McCaffrey will not have an explosive rushing play of more than 20 yards.
If that happens, I think there's a great chance that the Seahawks win this game.
