Kansas City Chiefs: Run defense has to step it up vs Seahawks

By Leigh Oleszczak | Dec 23, 2018

SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 16: Chris Carson #32 of the Seattle Seahawks rushes with the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during their NFL game at Levi's Stadium on December 16, 2018 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

The Kansas City Chiefs have an important game on Sunday night against the Seattle Seahawks. If they win, the AFC West is theirs for the third straight year. That’s why they have to be able to stop the run in Seattle.

If the Kansas City Chiefs want to win their third straight division title, they’ll have to take a game from the Seattle Seahawks on the road in primetime. The Los Angeles Chargers fell to Baltimore on Saturday night, opening up the opportunity for the Chiefs to win the division in week 16.

While the Chiefs are currently 1.5 point favorites for Sunday, according to OddsShark, the Seahawks scare me for one main reason. That reason is that Seattle is a team that very much focuses on running the ball down their opponent’s throat. In fact, they lead the league in rushing yards.

The Chiefs are bad just about everywhere on defense, but stopping the run is something they’ve been unable to do for awhile now. The Seahawks’ greatest strength is on the ground, so if the Chiefs want to lock up a top seed in the playoffs, they’ll have to do something they’ve struggled to do all year, which is stop the run.

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The Seahawks’ leading rusher is Chris Carson, who is ninth in the league in rushing yards. Carson has 913 yards and six touchdowns for Seattle, but he isn’t the only one who carries the rock for the Hawks.

Seattle does a running back by committee type of thing each week, but Carson tends to take most of the carries. He had 13 carries last week against the 49ers while rookie Rashaad Penny had seven rushing attempts.

Penny might miss Sunday night’s game due to injury, but if he does suit up, he’s a dangerous weapon on the ground. He’s totaled 413 yards with two touchdowns this year.

There’s also Mike Davis, who despite not being utilized as much recently, has 439 yards and three touchdowns on the season. He and Penny did a nice job carrying the load while Carson was injured on and off throughout the year.

Last, but not least, there’s Russell Wilson, who is one of the many mobile quarterbacks in the league. Wilson hasn’t been as much of a runner this season, but he’s always a threat to take off with the football and the Chiefs struggle against mobile quarterbacks. For instance, they surrendered 67 yards rushing to rookie Lamar Jackson in week 14.

The Chiefs defense is ranked 26th in the NFL as far as rushing yards allowed and this will be their toughest test yet. The Seahawks aren’t the type of team who panics if they trail early. They’ll continue to run the ball down KC’s throat and more than likely, they’ll succeed at doing so.

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What do you think Chiefs Kingdom? Will the Chiefs defense be able to slow down the Seahawks intimidating running game?

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