Walker entered the matchup as the headliner, and for good reason. After all, the reigning Super Bowl MVP left the Seattle Seahawks last offseason to ink a three-year deal with the Kansas City, giving the Chiefs a serious boost in the backfield.
Through his first five games, all wins, Walker was running wild, leading the NFL with 665 rushing yards while averaging a ridiculous 6.3 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Seattle’s ground game was sputtering without injured backs Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet. Watching Walker thrive in Kansas City while his former team struggled to find its footing on the ground was a tough pill for Seahawks fans to swallow.
But Sunday flipped the script.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Torches Chiefs’ Defense
Seattle’s defense brought the heat, bottled up Walker, and made life miserable for the Chiefs’ offense. And just when Walker’s homecoming storyline seemed destined to dominate the headlines, Smith-Njigba took over the show, reminding everyone that Seattle had plenty of firepower of its own.
The Seahawks didn’t just hand the unbeaten Chiefs their first loss of the season, they did it with a game plan built around two key players: Smith-Njigba and Walker III. Seattle trusted Smith-Njigba to move the chains on money downs, while Mike Macdonald’s defense had one clear mission — swarm Walker and shut down Kansas City’s ground game.
Great win guyzzzz SEAAAA
— JSN (@jaxon_smith1) October 26, 2026
Much of the postgame chatter has focused on Patrick Mahomes getting smothered by Seattle’s defense and Smith-Njigba putting on a show. But those two storylines are two sides of the same coin. The Seahawks kept the chains moving by leaning on their star wideout on third down, while taking away the run game the Chiefs needed to sustain drives and keep their offense on schedule.
The result? Kansas City’s offense never found its rhythm, and the Seahawks pulled off a statement win. But despite the dominant performance, Seattle’s game plan wasn’t entirely airtight. The final score tells one story; the cracks beneath it tell another.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba Delivers as Seahawks Stifle Patrick Mahomes
For much of the night, this one was a defensive slugfest. Then Smith-Njigba found a way to crack it open, exposing the Chiefs’ biggest defensive concern. The Seahawks’ star wideout became Sam Darnold’s go-to target when the chains needed moving, and Seattle’s opening scoring drive was the perfect example. During a 15-play, 86-yard march, Smith-Njigba converted two third downs, including a clutch 33-yard catch-and-run on third-and-7.
Smith-Njigba kept the Seahawks’ offense rolling, finishing with nine catches for 150 yards and a touchdown that helped Seattle take a 10-0 lead in the first half. Whether it was moving the sticks or coming through in crunch time, the receiver delivered when it mattered most, extending his NFL lead in receiving yards along the way.
Seattle’s defense also kept its impressive streak alive, having gone 36 games without allowing a 100-yard rusher — the longest active streak in the league. After Darnold connected with Smith-Njigba for another 33-yard strike early in the second quarter to put Seattle in the red zone, Jason Myers drilled a 25-yard field goal to open the scoring and give the Seahawks a 3-0 lead.
And Smith-Njigba’s production? It’s putting him in some seriously elite company. He leads the NFL with 867 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns, while the next-closest receiver in yardage, New Orleans Saints star Chris Olave, has 636 yards through the same number of games.
Sunday marked Smith-Njigba’s sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season. He now joins Michael Irvin (1995), Marvin Harrison Sr. (2000), and Adam Thielen (2018) as the only receivers in the Super Bowl era to record at least 100 receiving yards in six or more of their team’s first seven games. Even more impressive, his 867 yards rank third all-time in the Super Bowl era through a player’s first seven games of a season.
Simply put, Smith-Njigba isn’t just stacking up stats — he’s becoming the engine that makes Seattle’s offense go.
Main Image: Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
