The Kansas City Chiefs visit the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night at Lumen Field in Seattle, with kickoff set for 8:20 p.m. ET on October 25 on NBC and Peacock. Kansas City arrives undefeated at 5-0 and leading the AFC West, while Seattle sits at 3-3 after two straight losses, in the closing game of the Sunday slate.
This is a preview, not a result. The game has not been played yet. Toronto’s adopted team, the Buffalo Bills, is on a bye this week along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Washington Commanders, which leaves the Sunday night matchup as the headline fixture of the Week 7 schedule.
Kansas City Finds Both Kinds Of Wins
The Chiefs have built their 5-0 start every way a contender can. They opened the season by beating the Denver Broncos, then beat the Indianapolis Colts in overtime. They won on the road at Miami by 24-10 and at Las Vegas by 30-27, and they closed out Week 6 with their most complete performance of the season, a 22-6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on October 18.
The season totals explain the balance. Kansas City has scored 140 points in five games and allowed only 83, a plus 57 differential. Against the Chargers, Patrick Mahomes completed 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards with one interception, and Xavier Worthy led the receivers with seven catches for 73 yards. Through five games, Mahomes has completed 105 passes for 1,309 yards, with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. Travis Kelce leads the Chiefs receivers with 299 yards, followed by Tyquan Thornton with 219 and Worthy with 206.
The defense has carried just as much of the start. Kansas City is allowing 88.8 rushing yards per game and 217.2 passing yards per game, and linebacker Nick Bolton leads the team with 48 tackles. The Chiefs are also 2-0 on the road this season, which matters in one of the loudest buildings in the league.
Seattle Keeps Losing The Close Ones
Seattle’s 3-3 record hides how competitive the Seahawks have been. Every Seattle loss this season has come by a single score: 33-31 at Washington, 32-29 against San Francisco, and 17-14 against Denver in overtime. The Seahawks have scored 148 points, eight more than Kansas City, but they have also allowed 122, and they arrive on Sunday night trying to stop a two game losing streak.
The passing game runs through Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who has 49 catches for 717 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Quarterback Sam Darnold has thrown for 1,033 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions across five games, a ratio that tells the story of Seattle’s season so far: productive enough to be in every game, and loose enough to lose the tight ones. On defense, Ernest Jones leads the Seahawks with 59 tackles and three sacks.
There is one shared measuring stick on the schedule. Both clubs have faced the Chargers this season. Kansas City beat Los Angeles 22-6 last weekend, while Seattle beat the Chargers 30-23 earlier in the season. Seattle is 2-1 at home this year, and Lumen Field at night, with the crowd noise working against a visiting offense and its communication, is the edge the Seahawks are counting on.
The Questions Each Side Has To Answer
For Kansas City, the first question is availability. Preview coverage this week listed Kelce among the Chiefs players carrying a questionable designation, along with cornerback L’Jarius Sneed and receiver Rashee Rice. The middle of the Mahomes passing game and the top of the cornerback room are difficult places to be uncertain on the road, and Seattle’s longer injury list has run mostly through its linebacker depth.
The second question is third down discipline. Seattle has lived in one score games all season, and Kansas City has already won two of them, at Indianapolis and at Las Vegas. If the Seahawks can keep this game inside one possession into the fourth quarter, the pattern of their season says they will have a chance late. If the Chiefs defense produces the kind of night it produced against the Chargers, the streak reaches six with room to spare.
What Sunday Night Decides
A Kansas City win moves the Chiefs to 6-0 and keeps them alone on top of the AFC West with the only perfect record in the conference. A Seattle win lifts the Seahawks to 4-3, ends the losing streak, and keeps them in reach in the NFC West race. The recent history between the clubs is split by building: Kansas City won the last meeting 24-10 at home on December 24, 2022, and Seattle won the last meeting at Lumen Field 38-31 on December 23, 2018.
Either way, the Sunday slate saves its loudest finish for last. Kickoff at Lumen Field is set for 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday, October 25, on NBC and Peacock.
