Seattle snapped a two-contest slide and derailed Kansas City’s perfect record with a commanding 20-3 triumph on Sunday night. Quarterback Sam Darnold amassed 257 aerial yards alongside a scoring strike, while tailback Emanuel Wilson accumulated 100 yards on 24 touches, capping the performance with a 21-yard touchdown dash with 3:47 remaining. Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba dominated the secondary, gathering nine receptions for 150 yards and a touchdown to lift the hosts to 4-3. Following the victory, Seattle commander Mike Macdonald remarked, “I think this game reminds the guys what we’re capable of,” adding, “I think our guys understand that there’s more levels to where we can go, and so I hope they feel the sense of urgency that we can get there because it is stuff that we can control.”
The action unfolded in the second period when Jason Myers converted a 25-yard field goal after Darnold connected with Smith-Njigba for a 33-yard completion. Shortly thereafter, Ty Okada picked off a Patrick Mahomes pass aimed at Jalen Royals, setting up a drive sustained by Darnold’s seven-yard scramble and sealed by a 28-yard touchdown toss to Smith-Njigba with 1:44 remaining before halftime. Another 28-yard linkage between Darnold and Smith-Njigba positioned Seattle at the opponent’s one-yard mark late in the quarter, though Nohl Williams intercepted Darnold in the end zone and executed a 64-yard return. Kansas City attempted to capitalize, but Harrison Butker failed to connect on a 58-yard kick as the clock ran out.
Kansas City dropped to 5-1 after an offensive collapse that yielded merely 213 total yards, including just 50 on the ground. Defensive game-planning neutralized star running back Kenneth Walker III—a former Seattle player and reigning Super Bowl MVP—holding him to 36 yards over 14 attempts after he entered the matchup pacing the league at 133 yards per outing. Mahomes likewise experienced a difficult outing, finishing with 165 yards through the air and a turnover. Reflecting on the defeat, Kansas City head coach Andy Reid stated, “Listen, all three phases we struggled, so we’ve got to do better, and that’s my responsibility,” before adding, “So I take full responsibility for this. We’ve got to play better as a team.”
During the third quarter, Myers pushed the margin to 13-0 with a 35-yard boot, before Mahomes surrendered a third-down fumble inside the hosts’ 30-yard line, forcing Kansas City to take a 50-yard Butker field goal. Early in the fourth, Mahomes hooked up with Travis Kelce for a 19-yard pick-up, yet Butker subsequently pulled a 45-yard attempt wide right, marking his tenth missed kick since the prior season began. Kelce provided the sole bright spot for the visitors by hauling in four passes to reach 1,104 career catches, surpassing Marvin Harrison and Cris Carter for the fifth-highest total in NFL history.
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