Don’t go against a defense with a nickname.
That was Mike Tomlin’s assessment before Sunday night’s game.
This turned out to be prescient.
Less than an hour after Tomlin made that observation on NBC, Seattle’s Dark Side defense took the field and proceeded to make the Kansas City Chiefs’ Formula One offense look like a hooptie.
The Chiefs managed only three points, matching their fewest in any of the 153 games that Patrick Mahomes has started for the franchise.
Their running back, Kenneth Walker III — the guy Seattle supposedly screwed up by not re-signing — carried the ball 14 times. Seven of those runs went for 2 yards or fewer. None went for more than 7.
Most tellingly, Kansas City never got the ball within 25 yards of Seattle’s end zone.
This was a signature performance. A moment that will stand out regardless of what happens going forward.
A game that ranks right up there with the Legion of Boom’s Monday night destruction of New Orleans in December 2013, when the Saints strutted into that game with a 9-2 record and limped out on the wrong end of a 34-7 whupping.
That was a different time, a different team.
But Sunday’s victory was the same sort of thumping.
🔥 Heat Index 🔥
How spicy is your opinion of the Seahawks’ game this week?
Mild 🌶️
It’s hard to beat the Seahawks if they don’t beat themselves. Give their defense the whole field to defend, and it’ll be tough sledding for any offense—even Kansas City’s. The stats certainly bear that out. The Seahawks have committed a total of 10 turnovers in the three regular-season games they’ve lost this season. They’ve committed a total of three turnovers in the four regular-season games they’ve won.
Medium 🌶️🌶️
Seattle’s defense this year is as good as it was last year, if not better. The offense, however, is struggling in pretty much every aspect except when it comes to getting the ball to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. This team will make the playoffs, and that defense is good enough to hobble any opponent when it gets there. To win multiple playoff games, though, the Seahawks offense will need to do two things:
Stop hemorrhaging turnovers
Diversify itself beyond Smith-Njigba
Spicy 🌶️🌶️🌶️
The Seahawks need to set a limit on their quarterback: one turnover per game. That’s his allotment, so he gets carte blanche to run this offense until he turns it over. But as soon as he fumbles or throws an ill-advised pass that’s picked off in the back of the end zone in the final 30 seconds of the first half, boom, he’s on training wheels for the rest of the game.
How hot is your take?
I’m inclined to the spicier end of things. Given how this defense is playing, the biggest threat to Seattle’s title defense is Seattle’s own offense, and putting Seattle’s quarterback on a one-turnover leash might be the way to go.
Catch him if you can
Could Jaxon Smith-Njigba be named the NFL’s MVP?
Sure, it’s possible.
Not likely, though. No wide receiver has ever been named MVP in the modern NFL.
Jerry Rice came closest in 1995, finishing second. Cooper Kupp finished third in 2021 when he won the so-called Triple Crown, leading the league in receptions (145), receiving yards (1,947), and receiving touchdowns (16).
After catching nine passes for 150 yards and scoring one absolutely balletic touchdown on Sunday, Smith-Nigba is playing like the league's best player. His start isn’t quite unprecedented, but it’s close.
Most receiving yards through seven games in the Super Bowl era (since 1966):
Player | Team | Year | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|
Tyreek Hill | Dolphins | 2023 | 902 |
Jaxon Smith-Njigba | Seahawks | 2026 | 867 |
Marvin Harrison | Colts | 2000 | 853 |
Isaac Bruce | Rams | 1995 | 833 |
Julio Jones | Falcons | 2016 | 830 |