The Seattle Seahawks are in the win column again after a complete shutdown of the Kansas City Chiefs offense. While the final score was 20-3, the game was much more lopsided than that, and better red zone offense would’ve led to an even more emphatic scoreline.
Given the San Francisco 49ers loss earlier in the day, this was a massive opportunity for the Seahawks to get back into the NFC West race and turn their season around. They took full advantage and reminded everyone that when they keep the mistakes
to a minimum, they’re still one of the NFL’s best.
Let’s get to Winners and Losers!
Seattle Seahawks Winners
There’s nobody better at wide receiver right now than Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Could I lead with anybody else? By halftime he had 6 catches for 129 yards and a touchdown, and it really should’ve been 8/142/1 if not for a couple of screens that were thrown as laterals. His final stat-line was 9/150/1 to continue his outrageous follow-up season to his Offensive Player of the Year 2025 season.
We will soon be talking about JSN not just as one of the best receivers in the NFL, but one of the best receivers to have ever played the game. And in an ideal world, he’ll spend every single one of those seasons as a Seattle Seahawk.
Emanuel Wilson grinds out a workmanlike 100-yard performance
If Kenneth Walker not getting 100 yards (or really being all that effective at all) was not some earth-shattering surprise going up against the vaunted Seattle run defense, who had Emanuel Wilson going for 100? The bulk of his bulldozing came in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs defense was worn out and Wilson had time to work. His 21-yard touchdown run gives him his fourth overall TD on the year, and he’s well on pace to set a career high in rushing yards.
Wilson’s role is simple: north-south, physical runner who can give you some help as a receiving back. He’s not flashy but he’s a playable back with the right blocking and right play-calls. When Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price return, Wilson should still get some touches.
Sam Darnold, even with the interception, played very well
By the time I hit publish on this article I will be under the covers and snoring my life away. I fully expect some dissenting voices as far as putting Sam on the Winners list because of how bad that end zone interception was. There’s no excusing the pick, but it was also more or less the only blemish on a highly efficient night. He got the ball out quickly, on time, and accurately. He scrambled for critical first downs, didn’t take any sacks, and outside of the pick he also wasn’t forcing doomed passes into tight coverage.
Darnold looked comfortable and in control of the offense almost all night, and his deep balls to Jaxon Smith-Njigba were a thing of beauty to watch. I can live with Darnold’s brain cramps when he’s largely productive and playing winning football. It’s the preceding two weeks in which Darnold becomes a liability more than the solution. Tonight, Darnold looked a lot more like 2025 Darnold, and he did so against a Steve Spagnuolo defense.
Brian Fleury (somewhat) quiets the critics
Speaking of Seahawks under fire, Brian Fleury needed the offense to look cohesive and functional. I won’t pretend it’s perfect and I won’t pretend it’s optimal to constantly have to convert third and medium or long, but would you rather they show they can convert in obvious passing situations or not? I thought so.
Fleury had answers for situations in which the offense had struggled, and he outfoxed Spags. A lot of the offensive woes have been poor player execution, but I don’t think Fleury has put the Seahawks in the best positions to succeed. He did a much better job settling Sam Darnold early, using play-action more efficiently even in lower volume, and using the run game to help limit the possessions in the game. Kansas City had few opportunities to respond, whereas the Seahawks did enough with their possessions. There’s still a lot to work on as far as getting plays in quicker and not short-circuiting in the low red zone, but I was very happy with the flow of the game.
Perhaps that mini-bye was the breather Fleury and Sam needed to figure some things out. I’m eager to see if this is more than a one-off and the start of legitimate improvement after a rocky start.
George Holani did some dirty work you’ll appreciate later
Holani had a pivotal third down conversion when he broke two tackles on a checkdown. That’s not the play I want to focus on. Holani had a key block on Darnold’s second scramble for a first down, but he also slowed down Nohl Williams on the interception runback, which allowed Charles Cross to make the tackle. In effect, Holani helped save at least a touchdown and assured the Chiefs could only muster up a long field goal attempt (which was missed).
That’s winning football. That’s 12 as One. Holani didn’t wow with his touches outside of his catch, but he won in the margins when he didn’t have the ball.
A.J. Barner gets more involved
You wanted the Barnyard? You got it three times and it worked every time. Barner also had four catches for 42 yards, so he finally was more involved in the passing game as a receiving threat. He was a tipped ball away from probably scoring a touchdown in the second quarter. Happy National Tight Ends Day, A.J!
The offensive line did its job and then some
No sacks, only two quarterback hits allowed, and zero holding penalties. Anthony Bradford coming back provided some stabilization if only for communication purposes, not necessarily blocking performance in itself. This was a tough assignment dealing with Chris Jones and George Karlaftis while facing Spags’ blitzes, and the Seahawks OL won the challenge.
Nick Emmanwori is a monster
I don’t think Emmanwori has played a better game in his young career than Sunday night. He hassled Mahomes into an interception, covered Xavier Worthy down the field, played the run well, he did everything you’d want out of your Apex superstar. There were a couple of times he was caught out of position on an improvised Mahomes scramble to a tight end, but Mahomes does that to everyone.
If Emmanwori had some sort of hip thing before this game that led to a questionable designation, he could’ve fooled me in terms of how healthy he looked. Emmanwori must love synth-pop because he was in full Erasure mode tonight.
Ty Okada lives for Sunday nights
To date, Okada has two career interceptions. Both have come in spectacular fashion on SNF. Seattle has undeniably had issues replacing the depth they lost at edge and running back, but Coby Bryant’s exit has stung far less because Okada (and Rodney Thomas II when Ty was injured) is a more than capable starting safety.
Tyrice Knight continues filling in nicely for Drake Thomas
The first play of the game, T-Knight got juked out by Kenneth Walker. He had Walker in his hip pocket the remainder of the night, closing up holes and doing an exemplary job with his run fits throughout the night. Seattle’s linebacker depth was once a question mark at the start of 2025 (outside of Ernest Jones IV, of course). It is now a position of quiet strength.
Derick Hall leads the pass rush
Whew! I’ve been harsh on Seattle’s edge group for not being productive enough, but after a slow start the Seahawks edges capitalized on Kansas City’s backup tackles. Hall was outstanding and recorded a strip sack, plus he had several pressures. Hell, even Dante Fowler Jr was doing stuff! Mahomes was sacked just once but you could feel that DeMarcus Lawrence, Hall, Uchenna Nwosu, and Fowler were speeding Patrick up.
Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy dominate
Want to know why K9 could barely do anything? Because those two control the line of scrimmage as well as any pair of d-tackles in the NFL. Murphy just about had a sack before Mahomes hurriedly threw the ball away, while Williams was a menace against the run and rushing the passer.
Mike Macdonald thrives in the gut-check moment
This was about as close to a crisis situation as the Seahawks have had under Mike Macdonald. Maybe at least since they were 4-5 at the bye week in 2024. Macdonald had the Seahawks ready from the word “Go” and the end result was a comprehensive beatdown of a previously 5-0 team. This was a fork in the road moment in the season and Seattle met that moment, which is a testament to Macdonald as a coach.
Seattle Seahawks Losers
The red zone offense needs to be better
Three trips to the red zone, zero touchdowns scored. Pre-snap penalties continue to be an issue, and for the life of me they have to stop automatically running on first down when they are goal-to-go. Any NFL offense can run play-action and leak a tight end out after a chip and release or just sneak them across the formation. Seattle refuses to do that. The running game is currently not good enough to do what Brian Fleury and Mike Macdonald want, so lean into your passing game strengths. And, of course, Sam can’t throw a terrible pick in the end zone when he does throw it.
Final Notes
- What was up with Kenneth Walker leaving immediately for the locker room? I know he dapped up his old teammates pre-game, but he seemingly didn’t bother with post-game handshakes or jersey swaps. I guess K9 becomes the latest prominent ex-Seahawk to immediately face his former team and come away with an L, joining Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf.
- Irv Charles is clearly making a positive impact on kick coverage duties. Seattle did give up another big kick return, but otherwise the special teams was great. Charles started the evening with a tackle on a kick return to put the Chiefs in sub-optimal field position. I can see why Seattle wanted his services.
- Tory Horton has a big opportunity ahead of him. Injuries to Rashid Shaheed, Velus Jones Jr, and Charles Cross were the only bummers of the night. I’m not worried about Jones’ injury because Seattle is getting guys back soon, and unless Cross has a severe injury, we’ve seen Josh Jones fill in adequately for him before. Shaheed being out opens the door for Tory Horton to produce on offense in ways Shaheed hasn’t, all while keeping the special teams threat that Shaheed possesses. Horton had a good kick return in the third quarter and is a potent returner in his own right.
- Uchenna Nwosu is probably getting fined for that horse-collar on Patrick Mahomes. Not much debating that one as a penalty and one that will get him some money docked.
- The 12s, as usual, were awesome. There were a lot of Chiefs fans and they had very little to cheer for, while the Seahawks fans were electric under the lights as usual.
- Seattle’s ball security held up. No fumbles for the first time since Week 1. What a relief.
- There’s still a ton of work to be done, but this was a big building block. The Chicago Bears are healthier, more dynamic, and present a greater challenge for the Seahawks defense than Kansas City. There are few times in history where you could say that about any Bears offense, but it’s true. If the Seahawks can beat the Bears next Monday, they’ll be 5-3 and likely heavily favored to beat the Arizona Cardinals at home and a flailing Las Vegas Raiders team in a road game that will function like a Seahawks home game. The NFC West race is still firmly in San Francisco’s control, but Seattle clawed itself back into contention with this result. That’s what champions do, and we may look back on this awesome night as the turning point in Seattle’s season.
