Sunday Night Football at Lumen Field, 8:20 p.m. Eastern on NBC. The unbeaten Chiefs visit the defending Super Bowl champions, and the man running the ball for Kansas City is the man who won Super Bowl LX's MVP award for Seattle eight months ago. Chet Morrell audits the Chiefs' dynasty like an accountant with a magnifying glass. Kara Holm speaks for the champs, and she's the first to tell you a ring doesn't play defense in October.
Kara: Chet, welcome to the loudest stadium in football. Bring earplugs. Our fans have set off seismic readings here, and I mean that literally.
Chet: We play at Arrowhead, Kara. We know loud. We also know trophies. We have a few lying around the house.
Kara: And we have the most recent one. Seahawks 29, Patriots 13, in February.
Chet: Which brings us to the awkward part. Kenneth Walker III. Your Super Bowl MVP. Our running back.
Kara: He signed with you in March, and I'll be honest, it still stings. But we'll cheer for him in warmups. Then we'd like him to have a very quiet evening.
Last week, Chiefs: Kansas City beat the Chargers 22-6 to stay unbeaten. Walker, who leads the NFL in rushing, ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns, including a 33-yard dash where he ran away from the last defender. Xavier Worthy caught seven passes for 73 yards, and Travis Kelce caught 53 yards' worth of passes despite briefly leaving with an ankle injury. Kansas City was missing receivers Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton, and right tackle Jaylon Moore left with a concussion. Andy Reid improved to 23-5 in regular-season games after a bye.
Chet: My audit says this: the defense held a team to six points, the run game finally has a bruiser, and Mahomes looks healthy. Harrison Butker missed an extra point and a field goal, which I've noted in red ink. A dynasty is a lot of little things done right.
Last week, Seahawks: Seattle lost 17-14 in overtime at Denver on Thursday night, its second loss in five days after a 32-29 home loss to San Francisco. The Broncos hit Sam Darnold 17 times and sacked him five times.
Kara: Mike Macdonald said his quarterback got hit way too much, and everybody could see it. He's right. Three losses already matches all of last season. I'm a champion's skeptic: rings are nice, but this team has to earn it again.
The matchup: This is a fascinating one. Kansas City runs for 5.9 yards a carry, and Seattle allows just 3.5. Walker against the defense he used to practice against every day is the headline. On the other side, Seattle's pass rush gets home on 8.2% of dropbacks, but the Chiefs allow sacks on only 3.7%. Leonard Williams, DeMarcus Lawrence and Byron Murphy II need to change that. Smith-Njigba against Chiefs corners Nohl Williams and Mansoor Delane could be the matchup of the night. Seattle had extra rest after playing Thursday.
The numbers: Kansas City has scored 140 and allowed 83 in five games. Seattle has scored 148 and allowed 122 in six.
Chet: Last word, Kara. Seattle has a famous coffee culture. Kansas City has famous barbecue. Which one's better at 11 p.m. after a loss?
Kara: Coffee, because you're going to need to stay awake and think about what went wrong.
Chet: Ouch. Fine. Save me a cup.
The champs against the unbeatens, a reunion nobody in Seattle asked for, and a prime-time crowd ready to shake the ground.
My call: Seahawks 23, Chiefs 22.