The Kansas City Chiefs took an old-fashioned beatdown from the Seattle Seahawks on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 7. The Chiefs have plenty to fix before Week 8’s game against the Denver Broncos, a team Kansas City defeated in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season at Arrowhead Stadium.

The most glaring issue was the pass rush. The Chiefs simply couldn’t get to Seahawks QB Sam Darnold, and that’s a problem that has plagued this defense all season.

Chiefs let Sam Darnold operate in a clean pocket

Pressure has been Darnold’s kryptonite. When pressured this season, he has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL, completing 30-of-67 passes for 373 yards with 14 sacks and four interceptions. Kansas City never forced him into that version of himself. Darnold faced pressure on just 28.6% of his dropbacks, and Chiefs defenders recorded only a dozen pressures. They didn’t sack him once. DE George Karlaftis hit him twice, but that was about it.

When kept clean, Darnold completed 75% of his passes for 166 yards. Sending extra defenders didn’t help, either. Darnold went a perfect 7-of-7 for 89 yards against the blitz. Part of that is facing a No. 1 wide receiver like Jaxon Smith-Njigba. It also reflects a good scheme, with Seattle regularly finding favorable matchups against CB L’Jarius Sneed.

Darnold finished 20-of-28 for 257 yards. He sliced up the Chiefs’ defense with ease, largely because Kansas City never put enough pressure on him to force mistakes. This isn’t a one-week issue. The Chiefs went through a sack drought from the first half of Week 1 through the bye week. They didn’t generate pressure that led to sacks until they met a badly beat-up Los Angeles Chargers team.

Could a trade help the Chiefs’ pass rush?

Some fans will inevitably call for a trade, but it’s unclear which options Kansas City can realistically pursue. Chargers OLB Khalil Mack has been floated as a trade candidate. However, I have a hard time seeing Los Angeles make a deal with an AFC West rival that would improve the Chiefs, even if the Chargers’ season is already sunk. A more realistic target who fits the mold for Kansas City is New Orleans Saints DE Chase Young. Whether he’s available now or will become available via trade is another question entirely.

In-house options the Chiefs can explore

The Chiefs do have a few in-house solutions worth exploring.

Second-year DT Omarr Norman-Lott remains on the Reserve/PUP list and could return to practice. That said, he may be more of a late-season solution for the interior pass rush, since the team will likely use the full 21-day practice window to get him up to speed after he hasn’t played since Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season.

On the 53-man roster, Kansas City has DE Jack Pyburn, who led the preseason in sacks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With the Chiefs needing more juice off the edge, I wouldn’t be shocked if they found a way to get Pyburn active in the coming weeks.

The practice squad offers a few more possibilities. The Chiefs have three defensive ends and one defensive tackle there:

• DE Tyreke Smith: Had a strong preseason. 
• DE Emmanuel Ogbah: Brings veteran experience.
• DE Michael Heldman: A relative unknown after joining the team only recently.
• DT Marcus Harris: Another practice squad option who could provide quality play on the defensive interior.

The pass rush was one of several areas that weren’t good enough against Seattle. If it doesn’t improve, it’ll only make life harder for the Kansas City secondary, starting with the Broncos in Week 8.