Seahawks 'put on a clinic' shutting down Kenneth Walker III, Patrick Mahomes in blowout win over Chiefs
The Seattle Seahawks snuffed out former teammate Kenneth Walker III, Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs in Sunday night’s 20-3 victory. Mike Macdonald’s squad got back on track after back-to-back losses with a familiar formula: A stifling defense and an unguardable Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The Chiefs were held without a touchdown, marking just the second full game played in Mahomes' career in which the Chiefs did not score a touchdown. The only other was in Week 8, 2023, when the K.C. lost to the Broncos 24-9 (three field goals).
“We put on a clinic,” Nick Emmanwori said via Gregg Bell of 93.3 KJR.
Walker, the reigning Super Bowl MVP who signed in K.C. this offseason, entered at an MVP pace, averaging 133.0 rush yards per game, but was held to 36 rushing yards on 14 carries in his return to Seattle. That output ended Walker’s streak of 11 consecutive games with at least 50 rushing yards (including the playoffs).
“I definitely wanted to stop him under 100. A lot of the guys on the defense did, too,” Emmanwori said.
This is the Seattle team we’d come to expect: Stifling defense and timely offense.
Macdonald’s D so thoroughly whipped the Chiefs, Mahomes looked dazed and confused by the end of the game. K.C. generated just 213 yards, went 3-of-11 on third downs, and netted 11 first downs while averaging 4.3 yards per play. For the first time in a Mahomes start, the Chiefs didn’t even sniff the red zone. The QB completed 19 of 33 passes for 165 yards and 1 INT.
The domination frustrated Walker, who didn’t shake hands with his former teammates after the contest.
"S---, we lost," Walker said via ESPN. "I was frustrated. That's about it. I [saw] them over there celebrating and s---. That's about it."
Emmanwori showed his versatile value, allowing just two receptions for 26 yards on seven targets in coverage, forcing the most incompletions in coverage (5) in a game in his career, per Next Gen Stats. The DB also generated two pressures on 10 pass rushes, including a second-quarter pressure that forced Mahomes’ interception. Emmanwori currently leads all defensive backs with 12 pressures this season.
The defensive performance was so overwhelming the victory felt bigger than a 17-point win.
JSN got back on a record-setting pace, destroying the Chiefs' secondary to the tune of 150 yards and a TD on 9 catches. Smith-Njigba is only the fourth player in the Super Bowl Era to have at least 100 receiving yards in six (or more) of their team's first seven games of a season, joining Michael Irvin in 1995, Marvin Harrison Sr. in 2000 and Adam Thielen in 2018.
"He's unguardable," Emmanwori said. "It's pretty amazing to see. I'm sitting there thinking like, 'Wow, this is a potential Hall of Famer.' He's a great receiver. Knowing that he's getting double-teamed and they're sending cloud [coverages] his way, and he's still making plays, it's crazy. It's like, you can't even fathom it. Big ups to him. He's one of one."
Smith-Njigba, averaging 123.86 receiving yards per game, is on pace to top Calvin Johnson's 2012 single-season record of 1,964.