Seattle’s win over the Chiefs on Week 7 did more than straighten out the record. It handed Seahawks fans a legitimate reason to believe this team can still matter in the playoff race.
That was not an easy thing to say a few weeks ago. Seattle entered the game at 3-3, and it’s easy to forget the Seahawks were 2-0 when backup quarterback Drew Lock started in place of the injured Sam Darnold.
Since Darnold came back, the team had dropped three of four. That kind of stretch naturally invites the uncomfortable question about whether Darnold should still be the starter, even with Lock having never proven himself as a long-term answer.
For one week, at least, those concerns can wait. Seattle beat Kansas City in convincing fashion, and while the schedule still looks tough, the Seahawks are back in the playoff conversation.
There are still plenty of flaws on display, though, and the win didn’t erase them.
Darnold, for all the good he showed for most of the first half, made another costly mistake right before halftime. From the 3-yard line, he tried to force a throw toward Jaxon Smith-Njigba or Rashid Shaheed, and the ball was intercepted before either receiver had a realistic chance to make the play.
The collision between the two receivers didn’t matter much in the end; the turnover was already the problem. Seattle likely had at least a field goal coming on that drive, and maybe a touchdown.
Darnold made the pick on second down.
That interception was his eighth in five games, though he only played one drive in the opener and none in the second game because of a glute injury. The bigger issue is when those turnovers are happening.
They’ve come at the worst possible moments. Still, 12s know he can play better, and maybe he will soon.
Smith-Njigba, meanwhile, keeps doing exactly what good receivers do: making the obvious look routine even when every defense knows where the ball is headed. He keeps producing because of his route-running and lower-body strength, and Week 7 was another strong example. He finished with nine catches for 150 yards and a touchdown.
At some point, Seattle’s offense is going to have to bring more receivers into the mix every week. Then again, people said that last season too, and the Seahawks won the Super Bowl. Maybe Smith-Njigba is simply one of the few players in the league who can carry this much of the load.
The offensive coordination still has some rough edges. Brian Fleury’s decisions in the red zone were particularly questionable, including a wide run call on 2nd-and-4 from the Chiefs’ 6-yard line that got swallowed up for a 6-yard loss.
A run straight up the middle would have made a lot more sense. There were also too many moments when the play call arrived late, leaving Darnold scrambling to get set with the clock winding down.
That issue has shown up all season, and it’s still hard to explain.
There was at least one encouraging development in the tight end game. AJ Barner turned in his best outing of the season when Seattle needed it most.
The stat line wasn’t flashy, but it was efficient, and he helped move the chains on multiple tush-push plays, or Barnyard plays. Fleury was supposed to feature the tight ends heavily, but that hasn’t really happened yet.
Barner might be good enough to become a central part of the offense anyway. After four catches for 42 yards, he could be that guy for the rest of the season.
In Other News...
Seahawks Offense Took Another Hit At The Worst Possible Time
Seattles offense was already working with a careful, ball-control plan, and the personnel losses only made the margin for error thinner. The Seahawks finished with 87 rushing yards and 257 through the air while trying to manage the game late, but the picture got shakier when wide receiver Rashid Shaheed was ruled out for the rest of the night and running back Velus Jones Jr. went down with a hamstring injury.
Zach Charbonnets lingering knee issue adds another layer to the concern, because the Seahawks were already leaning on a methodical approach to keep things in reach. They had a late lead before the opponent stretched it out, and now Seattle has to sort through more questions about health and depth at exactly the moment it needed stability most. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Added Insult To Chiefs First Loss In Brutal Fashion
The Seahawks did more than hand Kansas City its first loss of the season in a 20-3 rout. They also turned a milestone night for Travis Kelce into one of the more memorable postgame social media moments of the year, after the tight end moved past Tony Gonzalez for the most combined regular-season and playoff receiving yards by a tight end.
Seattles jab landed after the game, when the teams social account leaned into Kelces profile off the field with a reference to Taylor Swift, his wife, along with a friendship bracelet image and a lyric quote from one of her songs. It was a sharp, very public bit of shade attached to a frustrating afternoon for the Chiefs, and it added another layer to a loss that already stung in more ways than one. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Suddenly Face A Rashid Shaheed Concern They Didnt Expect
Rashid Shaheeds afternoon took an unexpected turn in the third quarter when the Seahawks receiver exited with a knee injury and headed to the locker room with a trainer. He was quickly listed as questionable to return, leaving Seattle to sort through the immediate impact of losing one of its most dynamic playmakers in the middle of the game.
The Seahawks have already had to adjust their offensive approach without him, a reminder of how quickly a game plan can change when a key receiver is unavailable. His status will be one of the bigger things to monitor as Seattle tries to navigate the rest of the game and, if needed, plan ahead for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]