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The Chiefs’ defense had no answers for Sam Darnold on third down and Patrick Mahomes had no answers for the Seahawks’ defense on third, which explains Kansas City’s 20-3 loss on Sunday at Lumen Field in Seattle as much as anything.
“Third downs on both sides of the ball, we can do a better job on those,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
Darnold finished 7 of 10 for 110 yards with a touchdown and picked up two first downs with his only scramble of the game, gaining a yard more than he needed both times and finishing with two carries for 17 yards as Seattle converted 11 of 16 third downs.
“I think we’ve got to do a better job as a D-line as in closing the pocket, filling those voids to make sure he doesn’t have an escape lane,” Jones said. “That’s something we can look at film and we can correct. A few more stops on third down that we let slip on us.”
Mahomes, meanwhile, finished 4 of 10 for 49 yards on third down. He also converted a third down with a scramble, but there wasn’t enough magic to be conjured as Kansas City lost for the fourth time in its last five visits to Seattle since 2002.
“You’ve got to keep yourself out of third-and-long situations,” Reid said. “You’ve got to do better on first and second down.”
Kansas City only converted 3 of 11 third downs in defeat.
On Seattle’s second drive Sunday against the Chiefs at Lumen Field, Sam Darnold and the Seahawks offense faced third-and-9 twice and third-and-7 once.
All three times, Kansas City coughed up a first down en route to a field goal in what became symbolic of Seattle’s dominance during a 20-3 victory.
After a 5-yard false-start penalty turned third-and-4 into third-and-forever, Darnold connected with Cooper Kupp on an 11-yard dart to move the chains.
Three plays and another false-start penalty later, Darnold found Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 10-yard gain on another third-and-9.
Darnold hooked up with Smith-Njigba for 33 yards three plays after that on third-and-7 as Kansas City’s defense simply couldn’t get off the field.
One drive later, Darnold did it with his legs, converting third-and-6 with a 7-yard scramble after escaping pressure and weaving past several Chiefs defenders.
Three plays later, with Seattle again facing third-and-9, Darnold burned an all-out blitz by lobbing a 28-yard touchdown bomb to Smith-Njigba down the left sideline
Darnold converted yet another third-and-9 with a 10-yard scramble on the opening drive of the second half, which also featured a 12-yard screen pass to Holani on a third-and-10 before another field goal.
It added up to quote a nasty night for Kansas City (5-1), which heads to Denver next Sunday for a showdown with the reigning AFC West champion Broncos (5-2). The winner will be first place in the division.
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