The Seahawks (3-3) host the Chiefs on Sunday night, looking to get back on track after losing consecutive games for the first time since late in the 2024 season, while the Chiefs (5-0) come to Seattle as one of the league's three remaining unbeaten teams.

Coming off a mini bye following a Thursday night game, the Seahawks had, as head coach Mike Macdonald called it, "some honest conversation" to assess where they are through six games, and how they can get better.

"I am proud of the couple days of work that we put in," Macdonald said earlier in the week. "I think we had some honest conversations and an honest process. We're definitely more aligned as a team than we were a few days ago, and I'm excited about where we could go."

With a strong Chiefs team coming to Lumen Field, the Seahawks will need those improvements to kick in starting this week, and with that in mind, here are five things to watch when the Seahawks host Kansas City on Sunday night:

1. Can an elite Seattle defense slow down Kenneth Walker III and an explosive Kansas City offense?

In case you hadn't heard, the Chiefs' star running back, Kenneth Walker III, used to play for the Seahawks. In fact, he was the MVP of Seattle's Super Bowl victory earlier this year. OK, OK, so you probably knew that already. But Walker's return to Seattle is a big storyline heading into Sunday's game not just because he'll be facing his former team, but also because he is off to such a fast start. Despite the Chiefs having already had their bye, Walker leads the NFL in rushing yards with 665, and his 6.3 yards-per-carry average is also the league's best.

"He's playing at an extremely high level," defensive coordinator Aden Durde said. "You're playing him, it's different to see, but you're also like, 'Good for him.' It's another challenge, but it's week in, week out. It's about us. We've got to play our style of defense. We've got to understand our run fits and then understand how we play the game."

The Seahawks, meanwhile, counter with a run defense that has been one of the league's best over the past two seasons. Last year, opponents averaged just 3.7 yards per carry against Seattle, the lowest mark in the NFL, and the Seahawks gave up only five runs of 20 or more yards all season, the fewest in the league. This year, the Seahawks have lowered that opponent YPC average to 3.5, which currently ranks fourth, and have allowed only two runs of 20 or more yards.

Most notably heading into this game, the Seahawks have not allowed an individual 100-yard rusher in their last 35 games (including playoffs), a franchise record. Buffalo's James Cook rushed for 111 yards against Seattle in Week 8 of the 2024 season, and since then no other rusher has topped that mark, and in 20 of those 35 games, Seattle's opponents have failed to rush for 100 yards as a team.

When it comes to the Chiefs, Walker is hardly the only person the Seahawks have to worry about. Head coach Andy Reid is one of the best offensive minds, and head coaches, of his era, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce are future Hall of Famers, and there are plenty of other playmakers to make life difficult on defenses.

"I have a lot of respect for (Offensive coordinator Eric) Bieniemy," Macdonald said. "He's a great football coach. Andy Reid's probably the best there is football coach. It's quite a tag team. I can speak for this year. They're playing really complimentary football. They're staying ahead of the sticks, they're being very efficient and they're also the most explosive offense in the league. There are very few penalties and very few takeaways. They're a great unit."

As Macdonald notes, the Chiefs are a very explosive offense, and that's not just when Walker is making plays in the run game. The Chiefs' 8.3 yards-per-pass-attempt average is tied for third best in the league, while their six completions of 40 or more yards are tied for second most.

Seattle's pass defense, meanwhile, have allowed just eight completions of 20 or more yards, the fewest in the league, and one of 40 or more yards, which is tied for the fewest.

Per NFL Next Gen Stats, which defines explosive plays as runs of 10-plus yards and passes of 15-plus, the Seahawks have allowed explosives on 7.2 percent of plays this season, the lowest rate in the NFL, and the third lowest by any defense through six games since 2016. Seattle has allowed explosives on 7.5 percent of drop backs, while no other defense is below 10 percent, while the Chiefs have the league's second highest explosive play rate (17.8 percent), and second highest on drop backs (19.8 percent).

2. Do the potential returns of Zach Charbonnet & Anthony Bradford give the run game a boost?

The Seahawks have battled injuries at running back and inconsistent play overall in the run game, and the result is a rushing attack that isn't as productive as Seattle was hoping for heading into the year—though the Seahawks do have more rushing yards through six games than they did last year with Walker and a healthy Zach Charbonnet.

If the Seahawks are going to be better on offense overall and take some pressure off of quarterback Sam Darnold, they need to run the ball better, and they could be getting some important reinforcements this weekend. Charbonnet, who tore his ACL in the playoffs last January, has been a full participant in practice this week and was activated off the physically unable to perform list on Thursday. Final word will come later if he is playing this week, but if Charbonnet does return, that will help the whole offense.

"The great thing about Zach is everybody in the building has a comfort level with him," offensive coordinator Brian Fleury said. "There's a level of reassurance when he's out there. Whenever that happens, the offensive line has a lot of faith in the fact that when we're giving Zach the ball, that he's going to not only hit the hole for where it's supposed to be, but he's going to generate extra yards by running through contact. It's a momentum thing that I think everybody feels because of shared past experience. Not that the other guys can't do that, but there's something to be said for doing it with somebody and you know exactly what you're getting.

"He looks great. I can't wait to get him back out there."

The Seahawks also are likely getting back starting right guard Anthony Bradford, who returned from injured reserve this week, giving them back one of their post physical run blockers.

3. Can Sam Darnold and the offense cut back on the turnovers?

The winning equation for the Seahawks over the last year has been pretty simple—stay out of their own way and they're very likely going to win. Since starting 3-2 last year, the Seahawks have won 17 of their last 21 games. In those four losses, all of which came by three or fewer points, the Seahawks have turned the ball over 14 times, including 10 in their three losses this season.

There are plenty of factors, from running backs fumbling, to pressure on Darnold leading to interceptions, to some decision and throws Darnold would rather have back. But regardless of the cause of the turnovers, the Seahawks know they need to cut back on that number significantly. Darnold was hard on himself after throwing a pair of interceptions in Thursday's loss, including one in overtime that led to the game-winning field goal, but his coaches and teammates are confident he'll bounce back well from some early season struggles.

"We've seen him fix it before," linebacker Ernest Jones IV said. "We've seen him go through this in certain ways or not play as well as he would like. So we've seen him battle back from this. This is nothing new for us. We've been in this situation before. I'm just excited about the guys that he has around us. You got a bunch of fighters, a bunch of guys that we know we're going to fix this thing. We're going to turn it around and when we do, the story will be different."

On a related note…

4. Can the Seahawks improve their pass protection?

While Darnold would be the first to say that he can avoid interceptions regardless of what is going on around him, he has undoubtedly been in some tough circumstances in the past couple of games.

In his first season in Seattle, Darnold was sacked 27 times, and never more than four times in a game, with the Seahawks allowing one or zero sacks in nine games. This year, however, it has been a different story. Darnold was injured on a sack on the first offensive possession of the season, causing him to miss the rest of that game and the following game, then after a sack-free game in his return against Washington, Darnold was sacked three times by the Chargers, five times by the 49ers and five times by the Broncos, with Denver recording a whopping 17 quarterback hits.

5. Will Jaxon Smith-Njigba continue his fast start against a tough pass defense?

After an outstanding 2025 season that resulted in first-team All-Pro and Offensive Player of the Year honors, receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has somehow managed to get even better in 2026. Through six games, Smith-Njigba leads the NFL in receptions (49), receiving yards (717) and touchdowns (7) and has eclipsed 100 yards in five of six games.

Keeping that pace up against a tough Chiefs defense, led by veteran defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, won't be easy, however. Among the challenges Spags' defense presents is a pass defense that is very good at limiting big plays and limiting the passing game. Kansas City opponents have a 74.1 passer rating and a 6.1 yards-per-attempt average that are both the fourth lowest in the league. The four passing touchdowns allowed by Kansas City are the second fewest in the league, and the 12 completions of 20-plus yards allowed are tied for fifth fewest.

"He's a heck of a football coach," Macdonald said of Spagnuolo, who was Baltimore's secondary coach when Macdonald began his NFL career there as a coaching intern in 2014. "His track record speaks for it. They're very aggressive. He does a great job game planning. His team plays on one accord. They have an identity and style of play that you respect. They definitely have Chiefs fingerprints on their tape, which is a compliment to them."