It is very rare in any NFL, or even college football game for that matter, that a team returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown but that is exactly what the Seattle Seahawks just did a few minutes ago.
This game has been one of the most highly anticipated of the entire playoffs because San Francisco seems, to many, to be the only team capable of knocking Seattle out of the NFC side of the playoffs.
The game is still on right now but it is not looking hopeful that San Fran has much of a chance in this one. At the end of the first quarter it is 17-0, which is not a spread that you normally see in a semi-final.
San Francisco seems extremely rattled as they have fumbled the ball on both of their just 2 possessions that they have had in the game. In their first fumble, you can tell that San Francisco is extremely worried because it was on a 4th and 1 and they decided to go for it instead of punting. It is a tough call at the 40 yard line like they were in because a punt isn't really going to benefit a great deal and a 55 yard field goal attempt is something you would only do if the game was nearly over.
If San Francisco can't figure something out in the 2nd quarter, this is going to be an absolute blowout.
The live betting lines have been adjusted to predict a Seattle victory by 15.5 points, so the experts in Vegas have basically already called this one. From the way things are looking, they have a good point. The 49ers look like they don't have any idea what to do and have no answers for this explosive Seattle team. The Seahawks just look unstoppable on both offense and defense.
don't sweat the flag, it was a penalty against San Francisco and it was obviously declined
Going back to the opening kickoff touchdown return though. This is a very important historical event. In the history of the NFL, which spans 105 years, there has only been 4 previous instances where a kickoff was returned for a touchdown in the playoffs.
You have to keep in mind that what "the playoffs" actually means has changed over the years because there wasn't always a bracket system like it is today. It doesn't really matter though because there have only been 4, now 5 times in the history of the game where an opening kickoff has been returned for a touchdown.
All of these have happened since 2007 except for one back in 1987. The kickoff rules changed in 2024 that are meant to eliminate high-impact collisions where the receiver is blind-sided by a rushing tackler so one could make the conclusion that kickoff returns for TD's are more likely to happen now but still, you have to make it past 11 guys that are really specially trained at preventing you from doing exactly that, so this is a pretty damn special event in NFL history.
Rashid Shaheed is going to go into the history books now in a very eventful way. No matter how the rest of his career plays out his name will forever be etched in metaphorical stone as someone that did something that is extremely unlikely to happen ever, especially when playing against what is meant to be the best teams in the league.