I almost made the headline “Anthony Bradford’s return kickstarts Seahawks offense”, and that wouldn’t have been a lie. Finally, the 2026 Seattle Seahawks played a complete game, looking absolutely dominant in a 20-3 shellacking of the previously unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs on the same day that the San Francisco 49ers lost to the Atlanta Falcons. Talk about a perfect way to cap the weekend…in those beautiful throwback jerseys nonetheless!
All season long, the story has been the offense’s struggles
marring elite defensive performances. We still got a goofy Sam Darnold pick just before the half, otherwise the score could’ve been even worse. No worries, the Seahawks defense stepped up in a big way holding former Seattle RB Kenneth Walker III to just 36 yards rushing. Meanwhile, Seattle ran for 153 yards and put up over 400 yards of offense. The mini bye was good to the Seahawks.
Seahawks Droppings
- Seattle muzzled K9 and harassed Patrick Mahomes all game. Walker was one of the leading rushers in the NFL, but had no room to bounce outside against the Seahawks. They only sacked Mahomes one time, but kept him to 19/33 for 165 yards passing and 1 INT. The Chiefs never reached the red zone…maybe that’s a good thing considering the defense’s struggles in that area. Regardless, that defensive performance was exquisite and Mike Macdonald should take a bow.
- Nick Emmanwori is a cheat code. Looking at his stats won’t tell the entire story. He’s been used all over the field this season, showing out as both a pass-rusher and coverage player. Emmanwori’s pressure on Mahomes directly resulted in Ty Okada’s interception. Later in the game, he was matched up one-on-one with speedster Xavier Worthy. No problem as Emmanwori stayed with him step for step on a deep ball that resulted in an incompletion. Sometimes I forget that he’s just 22 years old and that he missed all of training camp. Emmanwori will keep getting better, which is a scary thought for the rest of the NFL.
- Sam Darnold was dropping dimes. The interception was terrible, I’ll just get that out of the way. Those two deep throws to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, though? Beautiful. Sam made huge plays with his legs today as well, getting some key first downs. If he plays games like he did today, the Seahawks will win a lot more games this season.
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba is unstoppable. Literally. JSN reeled in 9 catches for 150 yards and 1 TD. He had those two huge aforementioned deep passes to go along with crossers over the middle. Credit Brian Fleury for finding ways to get JSN open and Darnold for finding him. Rashid Shaheed injured his knee and didn’t play in the second half. That will be something to monitor, but JSN will still get his.
- Seattle’s run game showed up. Emmanuel Wilson ran hard, gaining 100 yards on 24 carries with a game-clinching late TD. George Holani had a key third down conversion as well. Reinforcements should be on the way as Zach Charbonnet could make his season debut in Week 8 and Jadarian Price will be eligible to return from IR as well. That would give the run game even more juice which will in turn help the pass game.
- No sacks on Darnold. Is it a coincidence that in the week Anthony Bradford returns, Seattle rushes for a bunch of yards and Darnold isn’t sacked at all? Maybe, but Bradford – despite what you might read on the internet – is actually a good player. Charles Cross went out late with an ankle injury. Hopefully that heals up quickly.
- Fleury called a great game. Seattle was able to stick with the run game which allowed Fleury to mix it up. His playcalling on that late, game-clinching drive was clutch. That TE screen to AJ Barner was a thing of beauty. He had Darnold getting the ball out quickly which contributed to the protection. Once Fleury has his full stable of running backs, we’ll hopefully see the offense break out even more.
The most frustrating thing about the last few weeks is that the Seahawks were clearly better than both the Niners and Denver Broncos, losing very winnable games because of turnovers and poor offensive performance. Seattle’s performance against the formerly undefeated Chiefs just underscores that point. They need to use this game as a springboard to keep playing complementary football and get this thing rolling.
Seattle is not done. The Niners lost today and sustained more injuries. This Seahawks defense will give them a chance to win every game for the rest of the season. It’s up to the offense to hold up their end of the bargain. If they play like they did today, Seattle will be right in the thick of things.
