Mahomes Never Saw the Red Zone
The Weekend Lesson · No. 5 · October 26, 2026 — Week 7: Seattle Seahawks 20, Kansas City Chiefs 3
Kansas City arrived unbeaten and never reached the red zone. Seattle held Patrick Mahomes to 165 passing yards and the Chiefs to 213 total yards, kept former Seahawk Kenneth Walker III — the league rushing leader at 133 yards a game — to 36 yards on 14 carries, and won 20-3 on Sunday night. Two plays explain how: a takeaway the coverage earned, and a run the offense trusted on third down.
Play one: the pick that built the touchdown
Second quarter, Seattle up 3-0. Mahomes threw for Jalen Royals, and safety Ty Okada intercepted him. Sam Darnold kept the short drive alive with a 7-yard scramble, then hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba down the left sideline for a 28-yard touchdown with 1:44 left in the half. Review confirmed the ball had crossed the goal line, and Seattle led 10-0. Smith-Njigba finished with nine catches for 150 yards.
That is Mike Macdonald's defense in our Quarters Match guide: two high before the snap, match coverage after it, four rushing. Nobody had to blitz Mahomes into a mistake. The coverage held its picture, matched the routes, and the interception came to the defender playing his rule. In Madden, resist adding a fifth rusher against elite quarterbacks. Call the shell, user the strong safety, and let the match rules close the window after he commits.
Play two: third-and-4, run it anyway
Kansas City still trailed 13-3 in the fourth quarter when Harrison Butker missed a 45-yard field goal wide right. Seattle took over, and with 3:47 left, on third-and-4, Emanuel Wilson ran 21 yards around the left end for the touchdown that made it 20-3. Wilson finished with 100 yards on 24 carries, and both Seattle touchdowns came on third down.
The lesson is from our Wide Zone guide: protect the base play. The stretch asks the back to press the outside hip of the playside tackle and make one cut — no bounce, no invention. On the money down, with the game there to close, Seattle did not dress up a trick. It ran its outside play at the edge and trusted the reach blocks. In Madden, when your base run has worked all night, third-and-medium is not the moment to get cute. Call the stretch, press the track, cut once.
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