When the Seahawks needed a big-time play to slam the door shut on the 49ers' playoff hopes, Leonard Williams delivered - and he did it with a little help from an unlikely source.
Early in the second half of Saturday night’s NFC Divisional Round matchup, the veteran defensive lineman knifed through San Francisco’s offensive front and took down Brock Purdy for a fourth-down sack. That moment didn’t just stall a drive - it was a statement. The kind of play that lets everyone know: this game is over.
But the story behind the sack is what really sets it apart.
After the game, Williams revealed that the key to the play came from rookie left guard Grey Zabel - yes, a rookie offensive lineman offering up a bit of pass-protection intel to one of the team’s most seasoned defenders. According to Williams, Zabel had picked up on a subtle tendency from 49ers center Jake Brendel, who was consistently sliding to help the right side of the line in protection. That left a vulnerability - specifically, the “B gap” between the right guard and right tackle.
Zabel didn’t just notice it - he spoke up. And Williams listened.
“He said to me at one point that he can tell the center sliding to me a lot,” Williams said after Seattle’s 41-6 blowout win. “And he’s like, ‘Hey, why are you taking the inside move when the slide is coming to you?
You should just try to burn the B gap.’ So that whole drive, I was just taking off, trying to burn the B gap.
And it worked.”
It worked to perfection. Williams flew into the B gap between Dominick Puni and Colton McKivitz, and by the time Brendel realized what was happening, it was too late. Purdy had nowhere to go.
That kind of cross-unit collaboration isn’t something you see every day in the NFL. A three-time Pro Bowler taking advice from a rookie? That speaks volumes - not just about Williams’ humility, but about the culture Mike Macdonald is building in Seattle.
“I’ve got to give a shout-out to the rookie, Grey Zabel,” Williams said. “He’s a smart kid.
Since camp, since OTAs, we’ve been going back and forth communicating, giving each other tips on what works, what doesn’t work. And sometimes it’s good to get insight from a guy on the other side of the ball.”
That’s the kind of environment where players don’t just coexist - they elevate each other. It’s a locker room where experience and youth aren’t divided by hierarchy, but connected by trust.
“I’m not above myself enough to take advice from someone,” Williams added. “And I think that’s how this team is.
If somebody has some good insight, I think we’re all willing to learn from each other, willing to grow. It doesn’t matter what year I am.
I’m learning from a young guy.”
That sentiment didn’t go unnoticed. On Monday, during Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard pointed to that moment as a sign of something bigger.
“That’s when you know,” Huard said. “We’re 60 minutes away from a Super Bowl, because this culture is humming.”
And that’s the thing. Talent gets you to January. Culture gets you to February.
What we saw Saturday night wasn’t just a dominant defensive performance - it was a snapshot of a team that’s bought in from top to bottom. A team where a rookie’s observation can unlock a game-sealing play. A team where a veteran isn’t too proud to listen.
That’s the kind of synergy that wins playoff games. And if Seattle keeps playing like this - with that kind of trust, that kind of communication - they’re going to be a problem for whoever stands in their way.