That is about as dominant as it gets. The Seattle Seahawks beat the Kansas City Chiefs 20-3, and a team that came in undefeated left with its first loss.

Seattle’s defense will be the headline from this one, and it should be. Mike Macdonald had his unit ready to go, holding their former Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker to just 36 yards on 14 carries. But look, the offense deserves its share of the credit too. Quarterback Sam Darnold, the run game, and a much-maligned offensive line all showed up.

What a different feeling this is compared to last Thursday night in Denver.

Offensive winners

QB Sam Darnold

Darnold completed 20-of-28 passes for 257 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception. Could you blame him for the pick? A little, since he tried to force it into the end zone. Two receivers ran to the same spot on that play, though, and somebody clearly busted. To me, that one is on them.

Beyond that, Darnold handled pressure well. He extended plays, used his legs when he needed to, and dropped some beautiful deep passes to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. This was a strong bounce-back week for the Seattle quarterback.

Heck of a throw by Sam Darnold under some pressure. Good to see one go in pic.twitter.com/W2MQeVdkz4

— Ross Johnston (@RossJohnstonn) October 26, 2026

RB Emanuel Wilson

Wilson carried 24 times for 100 yards on the dot and a touchdown. The Seahawks committed to the ground game all night and never abandoned it. Wilson rewarded that patience by following his blockers and making plays.

I don’t think you can understate what he’s done for this team while Zach Charbonnet and Jadarian Price have been out. 

WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Smith-Njigba caught nine passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. He got open early and often, made tough catches down the field, and tracked the deep ball beautifully. That’s just what he does. He dealt with Chiefs rookie Mansoor Delane most of the night and made quick work of the matchup. 

The entire tight end room

I don’t even want to single out one guy here, although AJ Barner was the featured piece with four catches for 42 yards. I’ve been down on this position group, and they stepped it up against Kansas City. Barner worked in the passing game, but the whole room including Eric Saubert and Nick Kallerup also did good work as blockers.

This unit really got my attention, even after losing Elijah Arroyo last week.

The offensive line

This unit took a ton of heat last week. It answered in a big way.

Darnold wasn’t sacked once. Seattle ran 41 times for 153 yards. That isn’t a great per-carry average, but the line kept putting in work and pushed the Chiefs off the ball up front. Offensive coordinator Brian Fleury and the rest of the staff put together a solid game plan that helped the offense find a rhythm, and the guys up front executed it.

S Nick Emmanwori

Emmanwori jumped off the tape right away. He was credited with four tackles and one quarterback hit, but the numbers don’t tell the full story. He was in Patrick Mahomes’ face all night and clogged throwing lanes.

Emmanwori showed his versatility by nearly sacking Mahomes on the play that ended in an interception, then turning around and covering Xavier Worthy step for step on a slot fade.  

S Ty Okada

At the other safety spot, Ty Okada cashed in on that bad Mahomes pass with an interception. He also added a pass breakup and five tackles. Okada was excellent in the secondary and helped Seattle keep a lid on the explosive plays.

Edge Rusher Derick Hall

Hall forced a fumble on Mahomes. The Chiefs recovered it, but it was a beautiful play from the Seahawks powerful edge defender. He finished the night with a sack, a tackle for loss and racked up a couple of hits on Patrick Mahomes to top that off. 

LB Tyrice Knight

Knight stepped in and played great football with eight tackles and a nice tackle for loss. He popped off the tape just like Emmanwori did. Knight was very pivotal in helping contain Kenneth Walker III to just 36 rushing yards on the evening by covering up his gaps. 

Special Teams

While Seattle let up a couple of long kick returns, I thought their special teams were great tonight overall. Jason Myers drilled both his field goal attempts, Michael Dickson had both of his punts downed inside the 20 and Tory Horton had 60 yards on his two kick returns. 

All of this played a great advantage for the Seahawks over the Chiefs in the field position department. 

Losers

WR Rashid Shaheed

Shaheed did get hurt and had to leave the game with a knee injury. However, even while he was on the field, he made no impact. He also had the bust in the red zone that led to Darnold’s interception. His presence has not been felt nearly enough on offense during his time in Seattle. 

RB Velus Jones Jr. 

Jones Jr. did take a toss for an 11-yard scamper early in the game and then was virtually stuffed on the remainder of his touches. Brian Fleury can be partly to blame for this as they ran the same play multiple times with Jones Jr., however he just wasn’t able to really impact the game. 

For a guy who could likely lose his spot when Charbonnet returns, more was needed to cement himself. 

What it means for Seattle

This is the kind of win that changes how people talk about a team. The defense smothered one of the best quarterbacks in the league, and the offense answered every question raised last week. The Seahawks holding the Chiefs to three points is a statement.

Doing it while the offensive line keeps Darnold clean and the run game grinds out 41 carries tells me that Seattle is going to be just fine.

The feeling after this one is so much different than last Thursday night in Denver. It reminds us all that these are the defending champs for a reason.