Stacy: Seahawks’ defense offers emphatic reminder of its dominance

Is it a statement win if you’re the defending Super Bowl champions?

Surely you’d be the favorite to win your division, right? To get back to a Super Bowl?

Seahawks smother previously unbeaten Chiefs 20-3

But that’s not been the narrative for the Seattle Seahawks during the offseason (which felt predictable), nor through their first six games (which felt deserved).

However, those struggles for Seattle have been almost entirely on offense. Look from afar (which is what you’d be doing if you weren’t a Seahawks fan) and you’d see a team entering Sunday night 3-3 with a struggling run game, a quarterback feeling the heat, and a defense that on paper wasn’t quite as sharp as it was last season.

That perception of a team that was struggling might’ve kept you from seeing this defense for what it was: a unit that still hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in 35 consecutive games, and whose 20 points per game didn’t include any notes about the number of Seattle turnovers in the red zone. You might’ve overlooked them as a factor when you critiqued an ugly performance from Bo Nix in Week 6 (the Broncos looked better against a considerably worse defense this weekend). It might not have you considering that they’re tied for first in takeaways. Or it might have had you forgetting that they were exceptional – better than any other team – at stopping the run last year out of nickel.

You could be forgiven for forgetting that. Because ugly play on offense, and there’s been plenty of it, makes it easy to overlook a defense that’s still that special. One that’s struggled in the red zone and isn’t quite as lethal, perhaps. But it’s still a championship defense. And it’s why part of Sunday’s statement was a reminder – not just that the offense could still show up, but that a monstrous defense hadn’t really left.

Yes, the Chiefs were without a number of weapons at receiver, but they were a popular pick entering Sunday night (six of 11 ESPN voices picked Kansas City).

Instead, this year’s MVP front-runner (who’s rushed for 170 yards or more twice so far) finished with 36 yards on 14 carries. One of the single best quarterbacks of his generation had one of the single worst performances of his career; Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs failed to reach the red zone against the Seahawks, the first time ever for a Mahomes-led team.

On any other night, the story might’ve been an offense that finally got right. Converting 11 of 16 third downs, controlling time of possession, and 9.2 yards per pass play for an offense that had lacked explosiveness felt like a breath of fresh air for Seahawks fans left gasping after a lackluster loss to Denver.

But the stats on the other side were even more gaudy: 36 rushing yards for Kenneth Walker III, 3.1 yards per rush as a team, zero trips inside the red zone, an interception, and just 213 total yards for an offense that had been averaging 28 points per game.

More from Seattle Seahawks’ win

• Brock: Seahawks go ‘old school’ to make a statement
• Wyman: Seahawks vindicate GM by shutting down K9
• Instant Reaction: Seahawks put a narrative to bed with win over Chiefs
• Multiple key players exit with injuries in Seattle Seahawks’ win

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