Kenneth Walker III, Chiefs Have Chance to Make Seahawks Regret Move

Oct 18, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III (9) rushes during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images A lot of people put the Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty on life support when they went 6-11 last season and quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL.It was like those 10 straight playoff appearances – and three Super Bowl titles – under coach Andy Reid never happened.Well, Mahomes’ knee has since healed and Reid seems to remember how to coach. And the Chiefs have escaped intensive care as they sit 5-0 entering their final game of October on Sunday night against the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks.And while Mahomes has been solid, he is not the reason why Kansas City has been one of the best teams in the first third of the NFL season.In fact, one of Mahomes’ teammates is making a legitimate case for NFL MVP honors.The presence of running back Kenneth Walker III is the prime reason why the Chiefs are the lone unbeaten team in the AFC.Walker has an NFL-best 665 rushing yards and already has topped the Kansas City leader from of all last season – Kareem Hunt with an underwhelming 611.And that makes for one tasty matchup for Sunday night: Walker, the Super Bowl MVP for the Seahawks last season, is returning to Lumen Field as the Chiefs play Seattle.Now that is a storyline Seahawks’ management wants no part of.Seattle didn’t deem Walker worthy of a top-scale salary for running backs so Walker, who became a free agent, didn’t waste time and signed with the Chiefs for $43.05 million over three seasons.Walker has experienced injury issues during his career but also is just hitting his prime. And, well, he gained 135 yards on 27 carries as the best player in a Super Bowl.Overall, he rushed for 313 yards and four touchdowns in three postseason victories last season.Sometimes, teams overthink situations and this is definitely one that the Seahawks whiffed on.Seattle coach Mike Macdonald certainly walked the line when reporters bombarded him with Walker questions this week."I thoroughly enjoyed him being on our football team,” Macdonald said. “We've had some great one-on-one conversations. I thought we had a great relationship. I respect the heck out of him. ...“But I think there's mixed emotions in terms of, you're happy for him, but also, we're trying to figure out ways to stop this guy, too, because he's playing at a really high level."Upgrade it to sky-high level. Walker had a career-high 173 rushing yards in his Kansas City debut and topped that with 177 yards three weeks later. He also has outings of 128 and 117 this season. His low output is 70.There’s no question Walker wants to put up big numbers against the team he spent four seasons with. Don’t pay attention to any of that downplaying the return to Seattle stuff.About 98% of the time, players will say in the media that it’s just another game. Then shortly after the game ends they say something like “Of course it was a big game. That’s my former team.”Walker has the first part down.“I’m treating it like any other week,” Walker told reporters on Friday. “I’m just getting the plan down and getting ready for Sunday night.”Trust me, Walker’s plan is visiting the end zone a few times and seeing sad faces on his former teammates when he shakes hands with them after the contest.This is more than a business trip for Walker, who turned 26 on Tuesday.This is a time to remind Seattle management they made a major mistake. Heck, Walker’s yardage total this season tops the entire amount (643) of all the Seahawks while the team has struggled to a 3-3 start.Emanuel Wilson leads Seattle with 303 rushing yards. He is averaging 3.5 yards per carry, well below Walker’s NFL-leading 6.3.But what Sunday night is also about is this: A huge opportunity for Kansas City to post a win in one of the NFL’s toughest venues.It’s a chance to display that the 6-0 Chiefs are clearly the best team in the AFC and one of the best in football.Yeah, Kansas City is definitely not on life support.