One of the season's most anticipated NFL matchups takes place this weekend between the Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs in Seattle. The Sunday night showdown is sure to be one of the most-watched games all season, and for many reasons.
The Seahawks are going into this game having lost two straight with a 3-3 record. The Chiefs are undefeated at 5-0 and appear to be back to their boring, dominant football selves. What isn't boring about the Chiefs, though, is Kenneth Walker III, Seattle's former running back and Super Bowl MVP.
Walker will face his old team for the first time, looking to remind them it may have been a mistake not to offer him a blank check. But another significant element in this matchup will say more about the Seahawks than Walker, as long as he rushes for 100 yards.
The Seattle Seahawks' 35-game streak of not allowing a 100-yard rusher is on the line against the Chiefs.
Amid many of the Seahawks’ struggles this season, they've had no trouble stopping the run. Through six games, the Seahawks have not allowed an opposing running back to reach 100 yards. That in and of itself is incredible. What is more incredible, and on an entirely different level, is that Seattle hasn't allowed a 100-yard rusher in 35 games.
That fact alone should exemplify just how great Mike Macdonald's defense has been since arriving in Seattle. There's just one problem: Walker. Their former back, instrumental in their Super Bowl run last year and whom they let walk in free agency, can't stop rushing for 100 yards.
In four of five games this season, Walker has gone over the 100-yard mark, and more often than not, way over (173 yards vs. Broncos, 117 yards vs. Colts, 177 yards vs. Raiders, 133 yards vs. Chargers). Walker's lone game of less than 100 yards came against the Miami Dolphins (70 yards). Aside from that game, Walker is wrecking defenses and looks utterly unstoppable.
This is Seattle's problem, and Walker is the first legitimate threat to end their 35-game streak. Unfortunately, the odds are against them—Walker will break the streak and rush for 100 yards or more in Week 7.
Walker will enter this weekend as the league's leading rusher with 665 yards, despite playing one fewer game than most of the league's other backs. Walker also leads the league in yards per rush (6.3), broken tackles on rushes (12), and yards after contact (279). He also ranks second in yards after contact per carry (2.6) and has rushed for the third-most first downs (33).
Today, well, maybe three weeks ago, Walker to the Chiefs emerged as the best offseason signing, no question. He has altered not just the Chiefs' season and future, but the league's. The proof is in Seattle's struggle to produce offense without a run game, and the Chiefs' renewed dominance with one.
Walker in Kansas City has shifted the entire league, and he's likely about to shift Seattle's franchise-record streak in several days from now from 35 to zero.
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