SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The job isn't finished. Not even close. But, man … what an achievement.

While the nation saw the Seattle Seahawks win the NFC West and secure a first-round bye Saturday, 12s saw the conclusion of the most astounding regular season in franchise history.

This was not a team seen as a threat to sit atop the conference when the season began. This is not a roster brimming with certain Hall of Famers or surefire All-Pros.

It is a whole not just greater than the sum of its parts, but maybe, just maybe, greater than any other team in the NFL. The job isn't finished, but there's no reason to think that it won't be come February.

All the things that we've been working at since we walked in the door, especially this year, is coming to life," Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said. "It is so much fun to go to work every day and to coach this team. It's an absolute honor to coach these guys. … I don't want this to end."

Seattle beat San Francisco 13-3 in the regular-season finale Saturday to improve to 14-3 and guarantee home-field advantage through the NFC championship should it advance that far. To compare this Seahawks team to the one that lost to the Niners (12-5) in Week 1 is to compare a ripple to a tidal wave.

The Seahawks have seen their defense evolve into the best in the conference and possibly the best in the league. They have leaned on quarterback Sam Darnold who, despite his turnover propensity, has figured prominently into nearly every victory. They have watched a running game blossom from middling to monstrous in the past three weeks, and have developed special-teams units that can alter a game.

These Seahawks aren't the type that are going to snag magazine covers like those Legion of Boom squads. But they're every bit as capable of making opponents run for cover when they play.

Saturday's win at Levi's Stadium sealed the NFC West and the No. 1 seed. And in doing so, the Seahawks have given fans every reason to think they could triumph in that same venue on Super Bowl Sunday.

How does it feel to win the division?

"That was the goal we talked about since our first meeting," said Seahawks receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, whose team missed the playoffs last season and, according to sportsbooks, was expected to win fewer than 10 games this year. "One down, a couple more to get."

To achieve that first goal, though, Seattle had to beat a Niners team that had won its last six games while averaging 35.6 points per contest over that stretch. And though it seemed as if the Seahawks were going to take a swift lead when they had a first-and-goal from San Francisco's 1 on their opening drive, a Darnold sack followed by two short runs and an incomplete pass on fourth down left the Seahawks scoreless.

But they forced a three-and-out on San Francisco's first possession, then scored a touchdown in three plays on their ensuing drive. Then, they forced another three-and-out, making the once vaunted Niners look vulnerable.

A missed 47-yard-field goal by Jason Myers on Seattle's next drive kept the score at 7-0. A successful 45-yard field goal after forcing a San Francisco turnover on downs made it 10-0. The Niners managed three points of their own at the end of the second quarter, but to the more astute observers, this was one of the more lopsided 10-3 halves in league history. Might have been the most lopsided 13-3 final, too.

The truth is, the Seahawks played their finest defense in their most important game of the season. They held the 49ers to 173 yards while accumulating 361 of their own. Was there another short missed field goal by Myers in the second half? Yes. But there were also 180 rushing yards on 39 carries, a Drake Thomas interception in the fourth quarter that all but sealed the win, and Darnold going 20 for 26 for 198 yards and no turnovers.

This was convincing — as was a season in which the Seahawks set a franchise record for points (483) and are currently second in points allowed at 17.2 per game. Now, after a first-round bye, they get to host at least one playoff game at Lumen Field in front of what might be the most raucous fans in the league. If they win that and the next one, they're back in the Big Game.

The last time the Seahawks were in this position was 11 years ago, when players such as Marshawn Lynch, Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson and Kam Chancellor starred for one of the most high-profile professional sports teams of the new millennium. This was brought to the attention of Seattle defensive lineman Leonard Williams on Saturday.

"We all have respect for the Legion of Boom, obviously they had great players, great defense, and won championships and things like that, but I feel like we obviously deserve some recognition at this point," Williams said. "We call ourselves 'The Dark Side' on defense and we want to get that out there as well. I feel like we've been living up to what we say."

The Dark Side. That works. But this isn't just about the defense. It's also about the passing game, the running game, the special-teams units and coaching staff that has turned the once underdog Seahawks into, well … a force.

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