Seattle Seahawks

The Seahawks are rolling toward the NFC Championship Game.

Seattle has added 10 points on its first two drives of the second half, increasing its lead to 34-6 over the 49ers with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter.

The 49ers opened the second half by turning the ball over on downs on a 14-yard sack of Brock Purdy by Leonard Williams. The Seahawks went 36 yards in eight plays, with Jason Myers kicking a 24-yard field goal.

On the 49ers’ next possession, Seahawks linebacker Ernest Jones intercepted Purdy.

Six plays and 47 yards later, the Seahawks were in the end zone with Kenneth Walker running 15 yards for a touchdown. It was Walker’s second touchdown of the night, and he has 14 carries for 79 yards.

Sam Darnold is 12-of-17 for 124 yards and a touchdown.

The Seahawks’ scoring drives have covered 44, 42, 80, 36 and 47 yards.

Things have gone from bad to worse for the 49ers.

They began the second half with star running back Christian McCaffrey on the sideline. He is questionable to return with a stinger.

Fox sideline reporter Tom Rinaldi reports that McCaffrey was getting his left shoulder worked on after taking two hard hits on it in the first half. He had nine carries for 29 yards and five catches for 39 yards in the first half.

Brian Robinson started the second half.

The 49ers turned the ball over on downs when Leonard Williams sacked Brock Purdy for a 14-yard loss on fourth-and-2 at the Seattle 44. It sets up another short field for the Seahawks.

49ers tight end Jake Tonges limped off on the first drive of the second half. He started in place of George Kittle, who is out for the season with a torn Achilles. Tonges injured his foot and is questionable to return.

UPDATE 10:23 P.M. ET: McCaffrey returned for the 49ers’ second series of the second half, with the team trailing 27-6.

Sam Darnold is just fine, and so are the Seahawks.

Darnold, was questionable to play with a left oblique injury, completed 7 of 12 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown in the first half. He was not taxed, with one sack the only time he was hit, and with plenty of help from his teammates.

Rashid Shaheed was the X-factor in the first half, leading the Seahawks to a 24-6 lead over the 49ers at halftime.

Shaheed, whom the Seahawks acquired in a Nov. 4 trade with the Saints, returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. Not even an attempted trip by kicker Eddy Pineiro could bring down Shaheed. Shaheed also had a 30-yard run to set up Kenneth Walker’s 7-yard touchdown run with 31 seconds left in the half.

The Seahawks have outgained the 49ers only 151 to 149, with defense and special teams carrying them to a big lead. The Seahawks’ scoring drives were 44, 42 and 80 yards.

The 49ers had a fourth-and-1 at the Seattle 40 on their first drive, but Seahawks edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence stopped Kyle Juszczyk for a 3-yard loss as the fullback tried to get around right end. The 49ers had called for a pass play, but the Seahawks got a timeout before the play, and officials blew the whistle late.

The Seahawks went 44 yards in 11 plays for a 31-yard Jason Myers field goal and a 10-0 lead.

The 49ers were driving on their next possession when tight end Jake Tonges caught an 11-yard pass from Brock Purdy. Ernest Jones punched the ball out, and Julian Love recovered at the San Francisco 42. The Seahawks lit up the scoreboard again five plays later, with Darnold hitting Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the back of the end zone for a 4-yard score. It was Smith-Njigba’s only reception of the first half.

Cooper Kupp has three catches for 34 yards, and Walker has run for 41 yards and a touchdown on eight carries.

Brock Purdy is 12-of-19 for 103 yards, with Tonges catching five for 59 in George Kittle’s absence. Christian McCaffrey has nine carries for 29 yards and five catches for 39 yards.

The only bad news for the Seahawks was the loss of running back Zach Charbonnet, who left with a knee injury and is questionable to return. Charbonnet was injured on a 1-yard run with 3:01 remaining in the half. He departed for the training room after a visit to the sideline medical tent.

The 49ers are officially in trouble.

They trail the Seahawks 17-0 with 1:50 left in the first quarter.

It’s been an avalanche as the Seahawks scored on the opening kickoff, added a field goal after stopping the 49ers on downs and used a 49ers’ fumble for another touchdown.

Rashid Shaheed took Eddy Pineiro’s kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, giving Seattle a 7-0 lead only 13 seconds into the game. It’s been all Seahawks since.

The 49ers had a fourth-and-1 at the Seattle 40 on their first drive, but Seahawks edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence stopped Kyle Juszczyk for a 3-yard loss as the fullback tried to get around right end. The 49ers had called for a pass play, but the Seahawks got a timeout before the play, and officials blew the whistle late.

The Seahawks went 44 yards in 11 plays for a 31-yard Jason Myers field goal and a 10-0 lead.

The 49ers were driving on their next possession when tight end Jake Tonges caught an 11-yard pass from Brock Purdy. Ernest Jones punched the ball out, and Julian Love recovered at the San Francisco 42. The Seahawks lit up the scoreboard again five plays later, with Sam Darnold hitting Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the back of the end zone for a 4-yard score.

Darnold’s oblique does not appear to be bothering him as he is 5-for-7 for 46 yards and a touchdown.

The Seahawks opened Saturday night’s playoff game with a bang.

Rashid Shaheed returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. Only 13 seconds into the game, the Seahawks have a 7-0 lead.

49ers kicker Eddy Pineiro tried to trip Shaheed, but failed to slow him and drew a penalty that was enforced on the extra point.

The Seahawks sent fourth- and fifth-round draft picks to the Saints for Shaheed on Nov. 4. He returned a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns in the regular season for Seattle.

Now, in his first return in his first playoff game, he has his first playoff touchdown.

So, it will be a bit before everyone gets to see if Sam Darnold is right. Darnold will start despite an oblique injury.

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is active and in uniform. His absence from the field during pregame warmups may have sparked a late shift in the betting line.

Seattle had been favored by seven for most of the week, and it was still seven just a few hours ago. The line has made a late move to minus-6.5.

Darnold made a late arrival, and is throwing, in advance of the 8:00 p.m. ET kickoff.

Two weeks ago tonight, the Seahawks beat the 49ers in Santa Clara, 13-3. The 49ers won in Seattle to start the season, 17-13.

Quarterback Brock Purdy has a 4-0 career record in Seattle. He and Darnold will be the two key figures tonight, with all eyes on whether Darnold is affected in any way by the oblique injury he suffered at practice on Thursday.

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is active for Saturday night’s divisional round game against the 49ers. That didn’t seem to be in question despite his questionable injury designation.

The question is: Will Darold’s oblique injury allow him to do what he needs to do for as long as he needs to do it?

According to a report, Darnold has not thrown since the injury occurred while he was warming up for Thursday’s practice.

Drew Lock is the team’s backup, with Jalen Milroe among the inactives. The rookie Milroe will serve as the emergency third quarterback.

The Seahawks’ other inactives are linebacker Jared Ivey, offensive lineman Josh Jones (knee), offensive guard Bryce Cabeldue, offensive lineman Mason Richman and defensive end Rylie Mills.

The 49ers will have wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, who missed the past two games after aggravating his knee injury in the Week 17 game against the Bears.

The 49ers’ inactives are defensive lineman Robert Beal, safety Ji’Ayir Brown (hamstring), defensive lineman Kevin Givens, running back Isaac Guerendo, offensive lineman Brandon Parker, defensive lineman Sebastian Valdez and wide receiver Jordan Watkins.

The clue was hiding in plain sight (even if I missed it), from the transcript of Friday’s Mike MacDonald press conference.

Asked whether quarterback Sam Darnold, who injured an oblique muscle during practice on Thursday, threw on Friday, Macdonald was evasive: “It’s a walk-through tempo, so it’s part of our plan right now on how we handled today.”

He didn’t say yes. He didn’t say no. And the answer reportedly was no.

Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Darnold hasn’t thrown since suffering the injury. Backup Drew Lock took the remainder of the reps on Thursday and all of them on Friday.

The Seahawks remain optimistic that Darnold will be able to play. We’ll find out sooner enough whether he can start, and then whether he can finish.

When the Jets selected quarterback Sam Darnold with the third overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, they thought he’d win playoff games for years to come. Eight years later, Darnold will try to win his first playoff game today, while playing for his fifth NFL team.

Darnold led the Seahawks to a 14-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs this season, and he’ll lead them against the 49ers today. If the Seahawks win, it will be the first time Darnold has ever won a playoff game.

Last year Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record in the regular season, but he turned in a disappointing performance in his first playoff game, losing 27-9 to the Rams.

Darnold and Tom Brady are the only two quarterbacks in NFL history to have back-to-back 14-win regular seasons. But unlike Brady, Darnold has had no success in the playoffs. Today is, he hopes, the day he finally changes that.

Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold appeared out of the blue on Thursday with an oblique injury, which has him listed as “questionable” for Saturday night’s game. The signs point to Darnold playing, but coach Mike Macdonald — in his first visit with reporters since the injury happened — left the door open for Darnold either not starting or perhaps not being able to finish.

“We’re really optimistic he’s going to be able to play,” Macdonald said. “Right now we’re going through all the protocol, one, just out of caution to make sure we’re ready to go, and we’ll test it out tomorrow, kind of make the final decision. We’re optimistic he’s going to play. If he doesn’t or at some point he doesn’t, Drew [Lock] is ready to go. That’s why Drew is here. He’s doing a great job.

Macdonald later said it’s a “possibility” Darnold doesn’t play.

“I think right now he’s confident he’s going to be able to go do his thing at 100 [percent], and we are too,” Macdonald said. “With these things, something could change between now and then or happen in-game. We’ll just have to roll with it.”

And it’s clear they’ll roll with Lock, not rookie Jalen Milroe, if Darnold’s injury takes him off the field.

“He doesn’t take all the reps throughout the week, but he’s doing the same thing he does every week,” Macdonald said of Milroe. “He’s been our emergency third [quarterback] for a good bit, so he’s got to be ready to go if need be.”

If Milroe is the third quarterback, he’ll be able to play only if both Darnold and Lock are injured (or, in theory, ejected).

Macdonald said Darnold feels better on Friday than he did on Thursday.

“I think if you talk to him, he’s confident he’s going to be able to play,” Macdonald said. “We feel the same way.”

It looks like Darnold will go. The discomfort could potentially require a painkilling injection. Which, as Tyrod Taylor knows, can go sideways.

So while optimism and confidence are the buzzwords for the Seahawks, it’s something to watch. Before the game and during the game. While Darnold not playing would become a major problem for the NFC’s No. 1 seed, Lock would have the opportunity of a lifetime land in his lap.