When the Chiefs signed reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker away from the Seahawks in free agency, they knew they were adding a playmaker to their offense. But no one could have known just how many plays Walker would make in his first five games as a Chief.
Walker has 665 rushing yards and 760 yards from scrimmage this season, putting him on pace to break the NFL single-season records in both statistical categories.
If Walker continues at his rushing pace for 17 games, he’d rush for 2,261 yards. That would break Eric Dickerson’s NFL record of 2,105 rushing yards in a season. Dickerson set the record in a 16-game season, and Walker would break the record in his 16th game, at his current pace.
And if Walker continues at his yards from scrimmage pace for 17 games, he’d finish the season with 2,584 yards from scrimmage. The NFL record is 2,509 yards from scrimmage, set by Chris Johnson in a 16-game season in 2009. At his current pace, Walker would break that record in the 17th game of this season.
Walker has quickly become the best running back the Chiefs have had during Patrick Mahomes era and has changed the Chiefs’ offense. Meanwhile, the 3-3 Seahawks are struggling to run the ball and missing him. Walker will be the big story on Sunday night when the Chiefs play the Seahawks in Seattle.
Seahawks Clips
With the Eagles’ season quickly imploding and a potential reset coming in 2026, opportunities could arise over the next 23 days to trade running back Saquon Barkley.
On Friday’s PFT Live, we raised the possibility of the Seahawks rediscovering their 2025 formula — and rectifying the decision to let Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker III leave in free agency — by making a deal for Barkley.
Other teams could be interested, too. Imagine what Barkley could do in the Vikings’ offense, which has rediscovered the ground game in 2026.
Injuries in the next four weekends of games also could create needs. If a contender loses its top tailback, Saquon could be the answer.
Barkley would need to be healthy. He suffered a hamstring injury on his first carry against the Rams in Week 4. He’s believed to have a “realistic” chance to return in Week 7.
Still, moving on from Barkley would come with a cost, under the salary cap. Trading Barkley now would trigger a $26 million dead-money charge in 2027.
It also would avoid $16 million in 2027 pay owed to Barkley.
Regardless, if someone offers the Eagles enough draft picks (which become young, cheap players), they may consider doing it. The Eagles have gotten a Super Bowl win from their time with Barkley, and they acquired him as a free agent. They could get multiple draft picks by trading him before the deadline.
The NFL’s habit of disclosing weekly fines can often reveal the league office’s opinion regarding whether the game officials failed to call a foul when a flag should have been thrown.
It happens most frequently regarding the rule against lowering the helmet to make forcible contact with an opponent. On Monday night, for example, a clear instance of lowering the helmet and initiating by Bills running back James Cook drew a $21,167 fine; the violation was not flagged.
During Sunday’s game between the 49ers and the Seahawks, a more consequential miss happened — and the league’s decision to impose a fine acknowledges it.
With 1:13 to play and the Seahawks facing first and 10 from the 50, Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold threw a pass to receiver Jaxon Smith-Njiba. The reception was broken up by what Fox’s Kevin Burkhardt called a “wicked hit” from 49ers safety Malik Mustapha.
The hit was also illegal, in the eyes of the league office. Mustapha was fined $6,998 for the blow that left Smith-Njigba rattled after the play. (Mustapha apparently responded to the fine by posting a one-word message — “soft” — on social media.)
But no flag was thrown for an illegal hit on a defenseless player. If the officials had seen the play the way the league office did, the Seahawks would have gotten a first down at the San Francisco 35 with 1:09 to play.
Instead, the Seahawks failed to convert, thanks both to an uncharacteristic drop from Smith-Njigba and a razor-thin decision that receiver Cooper Kupp had failed to get the ball to the sticks before it went out of bounds.
We’ll never know what the Seahawks would have down with a fresh set of downs from the 35 in a three-point game with 69 seconds left. But we do know, based on the fine imposed on Mustapha, that the league office believes the hit was illegal and, by implication, a flag should have been thrown.
The NFL’s decision to reinstate Packers running back Josh Jacobs and Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper from the Commissioner Exempt list carried with it a conspicuous omission.
Seahawks cornerback Terrion Arnold remains on paid leave.
All three landed on paid leave on Sunday, August 30. Both Jacobs and Cooper are returning after six games. Arnold will continue to wait.
The distinction highlights the evolution of paid leave. Now, the NFL uses it as a way to pre-suspend a player with pay for the number of games he’s likely to miss once officially suspended under the Personal Conduct Policy. The player receives credit once he’s suspended without pay for the games missed while on paid leave.
As to Arnold, who faces a potential sentence of life in prison due to eight felonies arising from an alleged armed robbery and kidnapping, it makes sense for the league to wait for the criminal case against him to be resolved. While the standard punishment for a case of domestic battery is six games, the claims against Arnold could trigger something longer — especially in light of the potential criminal penalties.
Frankly, the NFL may never have to convert Arnold’s paid leave into an unpaid suspension. If he ends up behind bars for the practical balance of his career, the length of the suspension won’t matter.
It’s been a rough stretch for Sam Darnold since he returned from a hip injury suffered in the season opener.
Darnold has thrown at least two interceptions in three of his last four games, each of which the Seahawks have lost. Even in the Week 4 win over the Chargers, Darnold tossed one interception and finished with just 168 passing yards.
But the Seahawks are planning to turn to backup Drew Lock, who did a nice job protecting the football in the season opener and the team’s Week 2 victory over the Cardinals.
After saying the team wasn’t considering a QB change in a radio interview earlier on Friday, head coach Mike Macdonald reiterated that stance in his press conference, saying the team trusts the QB.
“I think we have a lot of faith in Sam,” Macdonald said. “Sam’s played great football for us. He’s done a lot of great things this year. We’ve obviously turned the ball over more than we want to. I feel like there’s things on our end that can help him play better football. And I think he’s definitely part of the solution, rather than the opposite.”
In his five starts, Darnold has completed 60.4 percent of his passes for 1,033 yards with seven touchdowns and a league-leading seven interceptions.
The Seahawks have some time to regroup before hosting the Chiefs on Sunday night in Week 7.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold was blunt in his self-assessment after Thursday night’s loss to the Broncos.
“No way to sugarcoat it: That one sucked. Can’t turn the ball over,” Darnold said immediately upon taking the podium at his post-game press conference.
Darnold threw two interceptions, one in the fourth quarter and one in overtime, of a game the Seahawks would ultimately lose 17-14. He acknowledged afterward that the defense and special teams played well enough to win, and he did not.
“When you have a defense and special teams group that’s playing the way they are for us, for me, I’ve just got to protect the football,” Darnold said. “Dropping back and taking what they give me, I feel like I did a pretty good job of that in the first half, and then late in the second half, those two plays, you can’t have it.”
Darnold knows that the loss was on him.
“It’s BS for me to keep turning the ball over,” Darnold said. “It’s not fair to our defense. It’s not fair to our special teams. It’s not fair to our entire team. I’ve got to be better.”
The conversation, however it’s resolved, needs to be had.
Should the Seahawks turn to Drew Lock over Sam Darnold at quarterback?
Darnold has seven interceptions in four full games (he handled five snaps of the Week 1 game against the Patriots). Drew Lock threw four touchdown passes and no picks in most of the Patriots game and all of the Week 2 game against the Cardinals.
Darnold has started four games since returning from his glute injury. He’s 1-3.
Said Darnold on Tuesday, regarding the miscues: “I’m going to continue to be as decisive as I can be and go through my reads and trust what I see, trust my feet, all those things. Can’t have turnovers. You have to protect the football in this league. If you don’t, you’ll pay.”
For a running back like James Cook of the Bills, a turnover problem could mean fewer reps and touches in the tailback rotation. For a quarterback, it’s all or nothing; he either takes all the snaps, or he takes none of them.
At some point, the Seahawks need to ask themselves whether Lock should be the one taking the snaps.
Obviously, benching Darnold would likely mean the Seahawks would move on in 2027. His $35.5 million in compensation for next year, the last of his contract, isn’t guaranteed. He earns a $10 million roster bonus on the fifth day of the league year in March.
The Seahawks may ultimately decide to ride or die with Darnold for the rest of the season. But they at least need to have the conversation about making a switch, and the possibility of being benched at some point needs to be on the table in order to underscore Darnold’s assessment.
“You have to protect the football in this league. If you don’t, you’ll pay.”
The Broncos had not lost a home game leading by 11 or more points in the fourth quarter since a 2004 loss to the Raiders. They still haven’t.
The Seahawks rallied from 11 down in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but Sam Darnold threw an interception on the first possession of the extra period. Ja’Quan McMillian’s pick at the Seattle 43 put the Broncos in field-goal range, and Wil Lutz kicked a 53-yard field goal to win it 17-14.
The Broncos moved to 4-2, while the Seahawks fell to 3-3.
In the second half, the Broncos had 30 yards and two first downs, going 0-for-6 on third down. Bo Nix was 7-of-12 for 29 yards in the final 30 minutes.
The Broncos gained only 8 yards on their game-winning, overtime field-goal drive, but it was enough.
The Seahawks couldn’t get out of their own way all night: They had 91 yards and three points in the first half; Rashid Shaheed lost a fumble; Jason Myers missed a 47-yard field goal off the right upright in the third quarter; and Darnold threw two picks in crunch time.
The Seahawks were in field-goal range to tie the game late in the fourth quarter when Broncos cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine intercepted Darnold, undercutting Tory Horton at the Denver 31. The pick with 1:25 left didn’t end the game as the Seahawks had all three timeouts.
The Broncos burned only 15 seconds off the clock before Shaheed returned Jeremy Crawshaw’s punt 31 yards to the Seattle 46. Eight plays and 38 yards later, the game was tied on Myers 34-yard field goal with 3 seconds left in regulation.
The Seahawks had six drives inside the Denver 40 but had only a field goal, a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to show for it.
Seattle outgained Denver 353 to 168, with Darnold going 27-of-51 for 278 yards with two picks. He was pressured on 24 of his dropbacks, and the Broncos sacked him five times.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 12 passes for 134 yards after having only two catches for 11 yards at halftime.
Nix finished 17-of-27 for 107 yards, with RJ Harvey catching three passes for 31 yards. Harvey and J.K. Dobbins scored the Broncos’ touchdowns on short runs.
The Seahawks have their first touchdown of the night, and Thursday Night Football has a game.
George Holani scored on a 1-yard run, and Rashid Shaheed caught a 2-point conversion on a pass that Sam Darnold threw up for grabs. It has the Seahawks within 14-11 of the Broncos.
The Seahawks went 67 yards in 11 plays, converting a third-and-long and a fourth-and-medium.
Sam Darnold threw a 7-yard pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba to the Denver 32 on fourth-and-4 and later converted a third-and-10 with an 18-yard scramble.
Jason Myers missed a 47-yard field goal off the right upright in the third quarter or the game would be tied.
Darnold is 20-of-38 for 195 yards.
The Broncos have a banged up secondary. It hasn’t mattered.
Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph’s unit forced three punts, recovered a fumble and allowed only a field goal. The Broncos lead 14-3 at halftime.
The Seahawks have 91 yards, including only 40 net passing yards, and are 2-for-6 on third down.
Sam Darnold is 7-of-15 for 52 yards and has been sacked twice. Jaxon Smith-Njigba has only two catches for 11 yards.
Sean Payton, who took over play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Davis Webb a game ago, has called a more balanced game with 17 runs and 15 passes, and the Broncos have 130 yards.
The Broncos had scored only 23 first-half points in their first five games combined.
Bo Nix is 10-of-15 for 78 yards, with running back RJ Harvey catching three for 31.
J.K. Dobbins has 11 carries for 35 yards.
The Seahawks lost tight end Elijah Arroyo, who injured his shoulder while trying to recover Rashid Shaheed’s fumble. He is doubtful to return. The Broncos have ruled out running back Tyler Badie with a left thumb injury.
