In Week 7 of the 2026 NFL regular season, the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Seattle Seahawks in front of a primetime audience.
Let’s see how the national media reacted to it in this week’s sampling of power rankings:
ESPN: 4
(Down from 2)
Best offseason addition: RB Kenneth Walker III
Despite his disappointing return to Seattle on Sunday, Walker has perhaps been the biggest reason the Chiefs are atop the AFC standings. He is second in the league with 701 rushing yards; his production has made life easier for
quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has excelled at play-action passes. At this point last season, the Chiefs realized they didn’t have any explosion in their running attack. Now the Chiefs’ biggest strength on offense has been when Mahomes hands the ball off to his new teammate. — Nate Taylor
— Nate Taylor
The Athletic: 3
(Down from 2)
Something spooky: An offensive blip
That was the first time in Patrick Mahomes’ career that his offense didn’t reach the end zone in some fashion. And frankly, it could’ve been even more lopsided if not for a Sam Darnold interception in the end zone. Still, the Chiefs should be fine. That game probably said more about Seattle’s defense than it did about Kansas City’s offense.
— Chad Graff and Josh Kendall
Pro Football Talk: 5
(Down from 2)
They badly need help at receiver.
— Mike Florio
CBSSports.com: 4
(Down from 2)
They are just too limited on offense without a big-play threat receiver. They need to make a move to get Patrick Mahomes some help.
— Pete Prisco
Yahoo! Sports: 4
(Down from 2)
The Chiefs are allowed one bad game, in a hostile road environment against a great defense. They couldn’t get anything going in a 20-3 loss. But it was troubling how little Kansas City did on offense once Kenneth Walker III was taken out of the equation. Walker had 36 rushing yards. Nobody else made an impact; no other Chief posted more than 44 yards.
Rashee Rice was out and that affected the offense. However, the Chiefs still have to be considered a candidate to make a trade for a receiver before the deadline to alleviate their recurring issues in the passing game.
“So you got to feel it on that plane ride home and understand that it sucks. But then how can you build off of it?” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said, via Chiefs Wire. “The biggest thing is as we get back and get back to that film study on the Broncos, you got to see where you made your mistakes and how they’re going to try to execute, and then do stuff to combat that and play better. So, obviously, it sucks right now, but we’ll be full steam ahead, trying to do our best to find a way to win this next week.”
— Frank Schwab
USA Today: 6
(Down from 2)
They don’t get the benefit of the doubt San Francisco does, and this could be a generous ranking after the first game of Patrick Mahomes’ career in which he never took a snap in the red zone. The offense’s 213 yards was also a new low under the three-time Super Bowl MVP … granted Mahomes could use better blocking and some help at wideout, especially against a unit like the “Dark Side.”
— Nate Davis
Sports Illustrated: 6
(Down from 2)
What we saw on Sunday was the epitome of how incredible Kenneth Walker III has been over the first six weeks of the season. You can cover up a lot of question marks by rushing the ball for more than 130 yards a game.
— Conor Orr
Sporting News: 3
(Down from 1)
The Chiefs met a frightening Seahawks defense on the road at night that gave Patrick Mahomes and Kenneth Walker III chills they hadn’t experienced together this season. It’s not often they look so flat and lost but it’s good to get some out of it out of their system ahead of a huge division clash in Denver.
— Vinnie Iyer
FOX Sports: 3
(Down from 2)
The Chiefs were bound to stumble at some point, but that was one ugly way to do it. Patrick Mahomes managed just 165 passing yards and an interception against the tough Seattle defense. And RB Kenneth Walker III was held to just 36 rushing yards by his former team. Given how bad that was, it’s probably worth noting that the Chiefs haven’t exactly played a tough schedule. They are now set up for a very interesting rematch this week with the best team they beat: the Broncos.
Stat To Know: During the 20-3 loss to the Seahawks, Kansas City never reached the red zone, the first time that has happened in a Patrick Mahomes NFL start, with Sunday being his 153rd career start, including the playoffs.
— Ralph Vacchiano
