Top takeaways from Seahawks' 33-16 preseason victory over Kansas City Chiefs

USA Today

11 hours ago

The Seattle Seahawks dominated the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night to the tune of 33-16 to claim their first preseason victory this summer. Seattle was outright dominant on both sides of the ball and took care of business in a big way. The Seahawks gave the 12th Man quite a performance late at night and in the rain during their last game at Lumen Field until the regular season kicks off in September.
As always, everything in the preseason needs to be taken with a grain of salt. After all, the infamous 0-16 Detroit Lions went 4-0 in the preseason. Still, it's hard to not get a little excited after such an imposing performance over the reigning AFC Champions. Here are the top takeaways from Seattle's win over Kansas City.
Seahawks ran the ball exceptionally well
How could we start anywhere else? The Seahawks were maddeningly inconsistent at running the ball last year, and have struggled overall at times during the last few seasons as well. These struggles caused Seattle to part ways with Ryan Grubb after one year and hire Klint Kubiak with the intent of being better in this phase of the game. Well the early returns are rather promising. The Seahawks rushed for 268 yards on 48 carries as a team, finding the end zone twice. The dominance on the ground was noted by Sam Darnold and Drew Lock, which made both of their nights considerably easier. Lock said in the postgame press conference:
'Even on that first drive I was in, I threw one pass, and it was the five-yard screen to (Jake) Bobo, and we scored. If we can do that, throw one pass and it's inside or at the five, it speaks wonders to those guys up front and our backs. Working tracks every day in practice those guys are on their P's and Q's right now. It's preseason week two, we've got a long way to go on this, but it's a good foundation.'
Jake Bobo reminded everyone he deserves a spot on the roster
When the Seahawks moved on from DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett this offseason, the wide receiver room looked a little thin. Now the opposite seems to be the case: is the room too crowded? Obviously Cooper Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba are locks for the final 53-man roster. Rookie Tory Horton has been the standout at camp. Veteran Marquez Valdes-Scantling is carrying a cap hit of nearly $4 million. This leaves the Seahawks with a few extra receivers and not many spots left. But against the Chiefs, third year receiver Jake Bobo made the case he deserves one of those spots when its all said and done. Bobo only caught two passes, but those two receptions were 12-yard touchdowns each. Bobo proved to be a reliable target when it mattered most, and that should be enough to make the final cut.
Dareke Young made a similar case as well
Jake Bobo isn't the only receiver trying to make the case he belongs. Dareke Young led the Seahawks Friday night with three receptions for 52 yards. Although he did not find the end zone, his impact in the passing game was evident. Seattle is going to have some difficult decisions to make when it comes to roster cuts and the wide receiver room.
Sam Darnold was efficient in limited action
Friday night marked the debut of Sam Darnold as the Seahawks' starter. He was only out there for one series, but made the most of his limited action. Darnold attempted four passes and completed all of them for 34 yards. He helped guide the Seahawks on a 10-play, 81-yard touchdown drive to open the game. Seattle's first team offense gave the team an early lead they would not relinquish. Darnold may not have blown anyone away with deep passes or eye-popping highlights, but he was coldly efficient. If the Seahawks can get this kind of performance from Darnold this year, this offense is going to be difficult to slow down.
Special teams remains a bit of a concern
If there is one area that wasn't great to see last night, it was the fact the Seahawks gave up an 88-yard punt return touchdown. Granted, they were up 33-10 at that point in the game, so it's not like the score made much of a difference other than allowing the Chiefs to leave Seattle with marginally more pride in the final score. But the Seahawks struggled in the special teams phase of the game last year, and the punt return touchdown gave the 12's in attendance flashbacks to said struggles from 2024. Seattle still has some work to do when it comes to special teams.
Drew Lock locked up the backup spot
Not that this was any real concern, but Drew Lock put to bed any notion he may not be on this roster. Again, this was never a strong possibility. But had he stunk it up in the preseason and Jalen Milroe had a 2012 Russell Wilson-esque preseason performance, the possibility could have theoretically existed, of course. However, this quickly proved to be as unlikely as predicted. Lock was similarly efficient, completing 10-of-12 passes for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Mike Macdonald commented on Lock's performance after the game:
"I thought Drew was really sharp. He's decisive. I felt his footwork and timing, which is something we wanted to work obviously on coming off the first game. Got to ask him how he slowed down on that scramble. That was pretty cool. Yeah, Drew is doing a great job. Really great quarterback. We love him. I love having him around. Really great guy and so great for our football team."