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Game Recap
Walker Came Home for 36 Yards. The Streak Is Now 36 Games.
Kenneth Walker III walked into Lumen Field on Sunday night leading the NFL with 665 rushing yards and walked out with 36 on 14 carries, his season low. Seattle won 20-3, handed the Chiefs their first loss, and stretched its streak without allowing a 100-yard rusher to 36 straight games, per ESPN. Thirty-six yards, 36 games. If defensive coordinators wrote poetry, that one goes on the fridge.
36
Kenneth Walker’s rushing yards Sunday night, and the number of straight games Seattle has gone without allowing a 100-yard rusher.
Seattle sat in two deep safeties most of the night and Walker never had a 10-yard run, per ESPN. Patrick Mahomes went 19 of 33 for 165 yards with no touchdowns and an interception, and Kansas City finished with 213 total yards and 3 conversions on 11 third downs. ESPN noted the Chiefs’ best shot at a touchdown all night came when one of their cornerbacks was returning an interception. The unbeaten offense, everybody.
Nick Emmanwori, questionable all week with a hip, stuck to Xavier Worthy and flushed Mahomes into the wild throw Ty Okada picked off in his season debut. Seattle scored a touchdown on the next drive. “I ain’t going to lie, I did,” he told ESPN about wanting Walker held under 100. “I definitely did want to hold him under 100.”
Meanwhile Emanuel Wilson, signed off Green Bay in March, ran 24 times for 100 yards and iced it with a 21-yard touchdown with 3:47 left. Walker won Super Bowl MVP for Seattle in February, and ESPN says he’s the first Super Bowl MVP to face his old team the following season. I loved every carry he gave us. I enjoyed these 14 too, and I’m only a little ashamed.
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I loved every carry he gave us. I enjoyed these 14 too, and I’m only a little ashamed.
Seattle is 4-3, two games behind the 49ers, with a defense ESPN says is allowing the second-fewest points in the league. Quit giving the ball away and this looks like February again.
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Offense
JSN Is on Pace for 2,105 Yards and Still Took the Blame for the Pick
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2,105
JSN’s receiving-yards pace for the season after Sunday, per CBS Sports.
The touchdown was a 28-yarder on third-and-9 into a heavy blitz that made it 10-0 before the half. Sam Darnold finished 20 of 28 for 257 yards, and his one bad moment was an end-zone interception by Nohl Williams on the last drive of the half. Afterward Smith-Njigba took the blame for it. Your best player raising his hand for your quarterback’s eighth pick of the year tells you the locker room is fine.
The rest of the offense finally looked like a plan: 410 yards, 11 of 16 on third down and 153 on the ground, per Seahawks.com. Last Monday Macdonald said the team was “definitely more aligned” after a weekend of honest conversations. I rolled my eyes at that. Eleven of 16 on third down rolled them back.
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AROUND THE COOP
Around the Coop
Charles Cross left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, and Josh Jones took over at left tackle. With the Bears up next Monday night, Cross gets an extra day. He’ll want it, because Jones is also the only backup listed behind Abraham Lucas on the right side. CBS Sports
Rashid Shaheed sat the whole second half with a knee injury, and Macdonald’s postgame medical briefing was the complete text: “Rashid I think is his knee.” The man can recite an opponent’s third-down tendencies from memory. His own receiver’s injury, he’s got to the nearest joint. Heavy
Zach Charbonnet, activated from PUP last week and held out Sunday, should be ready for the Bears, and Jadarian Price becomes eligible to come off IR the same week. Wilson just ran for 100. In September this backfield had nobody. Now it might have a seating chart. FantasyPros
NFC WEST SCHADENFREUDE REPORT
RAMS
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. NFL.com also points out they still haven’t scored a touchdown on an opening drive this season. Seven games, seven scripted openers, zero touchdowns. The most famous script-writer in football keeps losing the first act. It took the Raiders to remind them Act 2 exists.
NINERS
The 49ers are no longer unbeaten. Atlanta beat them 29-20, and San Francisco turned it over four times, three of them deep in Falcons territory. Per Yahoo, that’s the 12th time under Kyle Shanahan they’ve coughed it up four or more times, and they’re now 1-11 in those games. Seattle lost to these guys on four giveaways two weeks ago, so I know exactly how that feels. It feels much better from over here.
CARDINALS
Arizona retired Larry Fitzgerald’s No. 11 at halftime Sunday, then lost 30-16 to Denver. Per NFL.com the Cardinals haven’t won at home in 407 days, a franchise-record 10 straight. Fitzgerald told the crowd, “You gave me a home.” Lovely, Larry. The current roster would like to know how you win in it.
SEACHICKENS TRIVIA
Seattle took this Wisconsin quarterback 75th overall in the 2012 draft, and he beat out free-agent signing Matt Flynn for the starting job that summer. Who is he?
Tap to Reveal the Answer
Russell Wilson. He then threw 26 touchdown passes as a rookie, tying the NFL rookie record.
THIS DAY IN SEAHAWKS HISTORY
1997
October 26, 1997
Warren Moon Throws Five Touchdowns Past the Raiders
Warren Moon threw five touchdown passes, three of them to Joey Galloway, and piled up 409 yards in a 45-34 win over Oakland at the Kingdome. The five scores tied the team record at the time, and the 409 yards were the most by any NFL passer in 1997.
THE GOLDEN EGG
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Emanuel Wilson came over from Green Bay on a one-year deal in March, the kind of signing you make so the depth chart has enough names on it. Sunday night he took 24 carries for 100 yards and went around left end for a 21-yard touchdown with 3:47 left to end the argument. It’s the second 100-yard game of his career, per NBC Sports.
The famous running back on the field had 36. I’m not saying Wilson is Kenneth Walker. I’m saying on the one night everybody came to watch Walker, the guy wearing our jersey had the better box score. Charbonnet and Price are on the way, and Wilson just made sure nobody needs to rush them.
100
Rushing Yards
24
Carries
21
Yard TD Run
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