The Super Bowl is not until February 14th, and it will be played in Los Angeles. But this Sunday night, the Seahawks will take on the Chiefs in a showdown of two teams expected to fight for a spot in the NFL’s biggest game in the coming months.
Before we get into what makes this game such a big opportunity, let’s look at the first few weeks of the season we have seen from Seattle so far.
Going into the season, expectations for this team were sky-high, and rightfully so. But some concerns started as whispers and have now become obvious. For the most part, they mirror the concerns that held the Seahawks back from reaching their full potential in the first half of the 2025 season.
QB Sam Darnold is not playing like an elite QB, but he wasn’t playing like one this time last year either. For those calling out Darnold for not being more steady in his second season with the team, consider that his offensive coaching staff was completely wiped out in the offseason, the running game which was a strength a season ago, has been nearly virtually non-existent, and his new OC is still figuring out how to call plays for the first time in his career and how to support Darnold with better protection schemes. The previous staff fixed all of that in games; now they are fixing it during the week at practice, not knowing what wrinkles the next defensive coordinator will throw at them or how to respond. That’s not ideal.
I would hope Seattle HC Mike Macdonald would be watching OC Brian Fleury closely during practice and be in his ear about what his defense would do to make Fleury’s offense struggle in a game. If Macdonald can’t take the time to do that, he should send an assistant to the offensive side to talk to Fleury. Anyone watching can see the struggles and that the current offensive coaches are out of their depth. They don’t have the experience they did last year, and maybe that needs to fall on Darnold to change protections at the line based on what he’s seeing. They need to give him that option if they haven’t already. They also need to give Darnold a quick out when the rush is in his face, something that seems to be missing and is typically a staple of the Shanahan system they are running.
Then you have to factor in that Darnold is still playing catch-up on the field, as he was injured on the first drive of week one and missed the rest of the game, as well as the following game. He returned in week three but hasn’t looked like the Sam Darnold we saw at the end of last season and throughout the playoffs. He doesn’t look comfortable, and I don’t blame him; this is not the balanced offense he ran last year. It’s a very one-dimensional attack, and that won’t work. Darnold thrived in Minnesota in 2024 because they had a balanced offense that kept defenses off balance and on their heels. He thrived in the second half of last season once the team got on the same page because they had a balanced offense.
Despite some challenges, Seattle is currently 3-3; they have only one fewer win than this time last year, so all is not lost. There is plenty of time to turn the ship around. Their running backs might be healthy in the next few days, and the coaching staff has over a month of film to pore over and deduce where they need to tighten up.
So bring on the Chiefs!
Kansas City comes to town with the best record in the AFC at 5-0 (2nd in the NFL behind San Francisco), and they have had two close games and three lopsided ones. All of their victories have been against AFC teams; Seattle will be their first NFC opponent.
Seattle has one lopsided win; the other two have been close, and their three losses were decided by three points or fewer. This will be Seattle’s fourth time facing an AFC team this season; they are 2-1 against those opponents so far. Both teams have played the Broncos and Chargers, but that’s the end of the list for like opponents. Both teams easily dispatched LA; Kansas City had no trouble with Denver, while Seattle just dropped an overtime loss to Denver on Monday evening.
Seattle expects to get veteran RB Zach Charbonett back in the lineup this week, and it couldn’t come at a better time as they have been using a 3-5 man rotation the last couple of weeks with pretty depressing plays out of their running backs. Jadarian Price won’t be available this week but might play in the next outing. Charbonett has proven he can be an every-down back in the past, but I would be surprised if the team gives him a full complement of snaps, as this is his first game action since injuring his knee in the divisional round in January.
Mike Macdonald’s defense didn’t really start imposing their will against opposing offenses until closer to Thanksgiving last season, so don’t be surprised if their mini-slump continues for a couple more weeks as the newer faces in the rotations get used to the expectations that come with being a teammate on the NFL’s best defense. There have been some injuries, but nothing major so far, and this unit should be playing at the elite level they are capable of. They looked beyond elite defending the Broncos, giving up only 17 points in five periods, and two of those scores came only because of a Darnold interception in plus territory. They did have some less-than-optimal outings against the 49ers and Commanders, so this is a good chance to prove last week was the norm, not the exception.
Reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III will return to Lumen Field for the first time since leaving Seattle for Kansas City in free agency this past March, and he’s been an absolute terror so far this season. Any previous concerns about his durability or ability to be an every-down back have been emphatically removed from the soundboard, and he now leads one of the league’s most feared rushing attacks. But we shouldn’t be surprised that a guy nicknamed K9 is the lead dog in the rushing department. If you’re firmly in the camp that Seattle had their guy and fumbled the deal, keep in mind that this is not the first time a player who played out of their mind in a contract year only to be snubbed by the team they preferred then goes to a new team and plays lights out on yet another level in a system built around their strengths. It doesn’t hurt being able to play with one of the league’s most respected QBs either.
What will Kansas City bring to Seattle?
In a word, trouble. In two words, a fight. Both teams play hard, play tough, and play until the final whistle blows. The Chiefs have a top-ten rushing attack, and their passing is closer to the middle of the league. The truth is, they don’t have to pass much; they get tons of production out of their running game, so they don’t put the ball in the air as much as other teams. Seattle would love to be a top-ten rushing team, but they’re near the bottom of the league in yards per game on the ground, so they have to pass more often. That leads to more touchdowns, sure, but it usually leads to more turnovers, which is exactly what Seattle is dealing with right now. Teams that pass more usually aren’t doing so because they have a wealth of talent at receiver; they do it. They are playing from behind, or, more likely, because their running backs and offensive line are struggling to produce on the ground. So they go to the air a lot and put the ball at risk of the other team catching it. Seattle lost by a field goal last week and gave the ball away three times. If they’d kept even one of those possessions, they probably would have won. If they had anything close to an average running game, they might not even have the ball in the air on those plays.
The Chiefs have the 5th-highest-scoring offense and the most yards per game. Seattle has the 13th-ranked scoring offense and the 17th-most yards.
On defense, the Chiefs don’t have a wealth of scary players who make guys tremble, but they have a lot of very talented players who play hard-nosed and make life difficult for the offense. They will give up the occasional big play and blitz a fair amount, which can leave their secondary with more holes than you would like. They rush with four 70% of the time, so you can’t count on a blitzer leaving the field open most of the time. Kansas City is near the middle of the pack on passing defense and is a top-five run defense. They allow the second fewest points per game, with Minnesota in the top spot. Seattle is not far behind, with the top-rated pass defense and a top-ten run defense. Seattle allows the 9th fewest points per game.
Seattle has a concerning level of giveaways, but they’re also among the leaders in takeaways, so it tends to wash out. Kansas City rarely gives the ball away and doesn’t have many takeaways. So you have a very efficient, high-scoring team that doesn’t give up much and won’t give you much back. You have to be very careful with this sort of opponent.
Two elite defenses on the field, an elite rushing attack, and one is hoping to get their offense on track.
This will be a dogfight. Possessions will be hard to come by, drives will be long, defenders will get worn out, and the first team to make a big mistake could be the deciding factor.
In essence, it’s the perfect game to show on Sunday Night Football, and that’s exactly how it will be showcased. Rain is in the forecast, but conditions could clear up before kickoff. Even if there is some moisture in the air on Sunday evening, both teams are used to tough outdoor conditions and will adapt as needed.
Prediction
Seattle gets its offense on track, its running game shows signs of new life with Charbonnet returning, and the Seahawks take care of business at home to hand Kansas City its first loss of the season.
Seattle wins 27-24.
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