For Pete’s sake: These Seahawks had cold feet in Week 16

Seahawks still can’t cover tight ends

The fallout wasn’t as severe as we saw in the Niners game, but once again, the Hawks seemed incapable of covering the opposition’s tight end. Patrick Mahomes only passed for 224 yards, and Travis Kelce had more than half of that. Considering that the Chiefs averaged 429 yards a game with Mahomes passing for 321 of that, it seems crazy to single out anyone on Seattle’s defense.

Yet I can’t overlook that for the second week in a row, the Hawks’ defense was absolutely shredded by a tight end. As Bob Condotta reported in his grades for The Seattle Times, Kelce picked up 79 of his 113 yards on two plays. Safety Teez Tabor gave up a 27-yard strike that took the Chiefs to the Seahawks’ 9-yard line. KC took a 14-0 lead just two plays later. Jordyn Brooks gave up a  52-yard pass and catch to Kelce in the third quarter that put the Chiefs at the Hawks’ 8-yard line. Three plays later, Kansas City put the game on ice with a 24-3 lead.

Yes, the defense played remarkably well overall. This was the first time the Chiefs were held to under 300 yards since December 5th of 2021. Still, just as we’ve seen in too many games this season, a few key mistakes were all it took for the Seahawks to take the loss.