The Rooster's RecapWeek 7 · Chiefs at Seahawks · Sunday, Oct. 25Seahawks Beat Chiefs 20-3, Hold Kenneth Walker to 36 Yards
Mahomes never reached the red zone
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Patrick Mahomes has started 153 NFL games, playoffs included. On Sunday night at Lumen Field, for the first time in any of them, his offense never reached the red zone. Seattle won 20-3 and handed Kansas City its first loss of the season.
And the Chiefs’ running back that night was Kenneth Walker III, who won Super Bowl MVP for Seattle in February.
Later, the Golden Egg goes to the other running back, the one who came over from Green Bay in March. First, how it happened.
How Seattle beat the Chiefs 20-3
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Walker came back to Seattle leading the NFL with 665 rushing yards. He left with 36, on 14 carries, his lowest total of the season. His longest run went 7 yards.
Seattle sat two deep safeties most of the night and dared Kansas City to run, and Walker never found a crease. Coming in, this defense had gone 35 straight games, playoffs included, without allowing a 100-yard rusher. That’s 36 now. Thirty-six yards, 36 games. If defensive coordinators wrote poetry, that one goes on the fridge.
Nick Emmanwori, questionable all week with a hip, admitted he wanted it. “I ain’t going to lie, I did,” he said. “I definitely did want to hold him under 100.”
The first real break came midway through the second quarter. Seattle led 3-0, and Emmanwori got to Mahomes as he threw. The ball went straight to Ty Okada. Ten plays later, Sam Darnold had third-and-9 at the Kansas City 28, with a blitz coming. He threw deep down the left sideline to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, over the back of cornerback Mansoor Delane. The officials ruled him out of bounds at the 1. Replay said touchdown. 10-0.
Then Seattle got greedy, and I mean that kindly. With a minute left in the half, Darnold hit JSN down the same sideline, over the same cornerback, for another 28 yards, to the 2. Kansas City saw the first one and apparently decided it was a fluke. Two plays later, Darnold threw into the middle of the end zone and Nohl Williams picked it off and ran it back 65 yards. That was Kansas City’s best chance at a touchdown all night, and it belonged to a cornerback. Harrison Butker tried a 58-yard field goal at the gun. It came up short.
Smith-Njigba took the blame for that interception afterward. Your best receiver raising his hand for your quarterback’s eighth pick of the season tells you the locker room is fine.
Kansas City got its 3 points late in the third quarter, and only after Derick Hall sacked Mahomes and knocked them back to a 50-yarder. Then came the drive that decided it. Early in the fourth, the Chiefs went 60 yards in 11 plays, down to the Seattle 27. On third-and-3, Mahomes threw over the middle and Leonard Williams knocked it down. Butker came out for a 45-yarder and pushed it wide right. Still 13-3.
Seattle got the ball back with eight and a half minutes left and simply took the game. Nine plays, 65 yards, and six of them were Emanuel Wilson carries. With 3:47 left, on third-and-4, Wilson ran off left tackle and went 21 yards to the end zone. Kansas City’s last gasp was fourth-and-10, and Travis Kelce caught it 3 yards short.
Two weeks ago Seattle gave the 49ers four turnovers and lost by 3. Four days later it lost in Denver. Last Monday, after a weekend of what he called honest conversations, Mike Macdonald said the team was “definitely more aligned.” I rolled my eyes at that. Then the offense put up 410 yards and converted 11 of 16 third downs. Darnold went 20 of 28 for 257 yards. JSN caught 9 passes for 150 yards and his eighth touchdown catch of the year, the most in the league.
So the eyes have been rolled back. Seattle is 4-3, two games behind San Francisco, with a defense allowing the second-fewest points in the league. Quit giving the ball away and this starts to look like February again.
Sources ESPN ESPN box score ESPN play-by-play ESPN Seahawks.com Seattle Sports ESPN standings
Golden Egg: Emanuel Wilson
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Every Monday the newsletter hands out the Golden Egg. This week it goes to Emanuel Wilson.
Wilson signed a one-year deal with Seattle in March, after his time in Green Bay. It’s the kind of signing you make so the depth chart has enough names on it. Zach Charbonnet was still coming back from a torn ACL. Jadarian Price would land on injured reserve with a chest injury. And on Sunday night, with Charbonnet held out one more week, the backfield was Wilson’s.
He carried it 24 times for 100 rushing yards. That’s the second 100-yard game of his career. He caught a 15-yard pass on the touchdown drive before halftime. And when Seattle needed to end the game in the fourth quarter, he carried on six of the nine plays, including the 21-yard touchdown.
Everybody came to Lumen Field to watch Kenneth Walker. The famous running back on the field ran for 36. The guy wearing our jersey ran for 100. I’m not saying Wilson is Kenneth Walker. I’m saying on the one night that comparison was the whole story, the box score picked Wilson.
Charbonnet should be ready for the Bears, and Price becomes eligible to come off injured reserve the same week. In September this backfield had nobody. Now it might need a seating chart.
Rival Rundown: 49ers, Rams, Cardinals
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Start with the team Seattle is chasing. The 49ers came into Sunday 6-0 and left 6-1. Atlanta beat them 29-20, and San Francisco turned it over four times, three of them deep in Falcons territory. That’s the 12th time under Kyle Shanahan the 49ers have given it away four or more times, and they’re now 1-11 in those games. Seattle lost to them on four giveaways two weeks ago, so I know exactly how that feels. It feels much better from over here.
To be fair to Shanahan, he went to Atlanta with six players ruled out, including receivers Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel, and Nick Bosa again. On Friday he was asked who his emergency receivers were. His answer: “Rourke and maybe Cruz.” Enrique Cruz Junior is an offensive lineman. San Francisco still leads the division by two games, so enjoy this, but don’t get comfortable.
The Rams beat the Raiders 35-21 and ran for a season-high 199 yards, so congratulations to Sean McVay on discovering the handoff in Week 7. They still haven’t scored a touchdown on an opening drive this season. Seven games, seven scripted openers, no touchdowns. And this was the week the Rams put Davante Adams on injured reserve and signed their third kicker of the season, because their second one tore his ACL making a tackle on kickoff coverage. Los Angeles is 3-4.
And Arizona. The Cardinals retired Larry Fitzgerald’s number 11 at halftime Sunday, then lost 30-16 to Denver. That’s 10 straight home losses, a franchise record, and 407 days since they last won a home game. Fitzgerald told the crowd, “You gave me a home.” Lovely, Larry. The current roster would like to know how you win there. Arizona is 2-5, and it plays at Lumen Field in two weeks. At least it won’t be a home game. Those, they don’t win.
Sources Yahoo Sports NBC Sports Bay Area NFL.com Rams.com NFL.com
Next: Bears on Monday night
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Next up are the Chicago Bears, Monday night, November 2, at Lumen Field. Chicago is 5-2 and has won two straight. Just don’t ask me which Bears are coming. They opened the season by scoring 59 points in Carolina, then scored 3 the next week against Minnesota. They last played on Thursday, a 30-24 win over New England, so they get 11 days to get ready. Seattle gets 8. That’s what you get for winning on Sunday night.
The Bear I’m watching is Coby Bryant. He was in Seattle’s secondary on the Super Bowl team, and he signed with Chicago in March. Back then he said he wanted the Bears to come to Seattle for the banner-raising opener. “They better be ready for me, for sure.” He didn’t get the opener. He gets a Monday night in November instead. Darnold and JSN saw him every day in practice last year, so he knows their tricks. That cuts both ways, Coby.
The worry is the injury list. Charles Cross left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, and Josh Jones took over at left tackle. Jones is also the only backup listed behind Abraham Lucas on the right side, so one more tackle injury and things get creative. Rashid Shaheed sat the whole second half with a knee injury, and Macdonald’s full medical briefing was, “Rashid, I think is his knee.” The man can recite an opponent’s third-down tendencies from memory. With his own receiver, he got as far as the nearest joint. As of today, we have no injury news on the Bears.
My prediction: Charbonnet plays, Wilson keeps the job anyway, and nobody on the Bears runs for 100, which makes it 37 straight games. Seattle 24, Chicago 17.
Sources ESPN schedule CBS Sports Heavy
Your turn
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One question for you. Wilson just ran for 100, and Charbonnet is back next week. Who gets the carries against the Bears? Tell me in the comments.