As the Seattle Seahawks rolled to a 41-6 triumph over the San Francisco 49ers in their first playoff game in three years, the left tackle for most of the second half was undrafted free agent Amari Kight. That’s the same Amari Kight who had played four offensive snaps the entire season. The same Amari Kight whom Fox Sports broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt repeatedly called Amari Knight.
Hard to blame Burkhardt. Even Seahawks fans are mostly unfamiliar with Amari Kight.
Kight landed on the Seahawks’ practice squad at the beginning of the year and was called up for a few games mid-season. Most of his snaps came on special teams. But late in the year, when starting left tackle Charles Cross missed several games, Kight returned to the active roster to back up Josh Jones. With Jones out on Saturday night, Kight was in uniform for the biggest game of his career.
Seattle Seahawks' Amari Kight doesn’t miss a beat in relief of Charles Cross
Charles Cross played into the middle of the third quarter against San Francisco and showed no signs of injury. However, when Seattle came out to begin their drive with a little more than 21 minutes left in the game, Cross stayed on the bench, and Kight was lining up next to Grey Zabel at left tackle.
The Seahawks were up 27-6 at the time. Coach Mike Macdonald said after the game that Cross had aggravated a foot injury and that his removal was “precautionary.” The implication seemed to be that had the game been close, the star lineman could have played.
Fortunately, he didn’t need to.
Kight wasn’t tested on his first few plays. Then, on a sweep left, he showed good feet as he pulled in front of Rashid Shaheed. In fact, he got out so quickly that he overran crashing linebacker Dee Winter, who dropped Shaheed for a three-yard loss.
That was the last block that Amari Kight missed all night.
He stood up defensive end Sam Okuayinonu on Kenneth Walker’s touchdown run a few plays later. On the next drive, he again showed his ability to reach the second level of the defense by blowing up safety Malik Mustapha on another Walker run.
By this point, San Francisco’s defense was shellshocked, and perhaps it wasn’t a great test for the UDFA. But he passed nonetheless. He even got in on the fun when Walker ran to the right and then kept moving forward after he had been mostly stopped by the 49ers’ defense.
Kight was one of several linemen who raced downfield to enter the scrum that pushed the runner ahead for extra yards inside the 49ers’ 10-yard line.
Overall, Seattle’s run game did not miss a beat with Kight in for Cross. Though not a road grader, he sealed edges when necessary and moved out in space very well.
He rarely had to pass block, and if he is called on to perform in the conference championship game – or perhaps the Super Bowl – that will remain a concern.
Hopefully, Cross will be 100 percent for next week’s showdown with either Chicago or Los Angeles. Both potential opponents have a much more formidable pass rush than San Francisco. And hopefully Josh Jones – who performed very well in relief of Cross late in the regular season – will be good to go as well.
But it was nice to see one of Seattle's least heralded players step onto the field during a high-pressure game and not seem the least bit overwhelmed by the stage. With each passing week, the remarkable depth of talent assembled by John Schneider becomes clearer and clearer.
On Saturday night, it was Amari Kight’s turn to prove why he is a Seahawk. If he has to do it again, I suspect the announcers will get his name right.