With the season approximately a third of the way over, the reigning Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks’ season isn’t shaping up the way fans were hoping, tallying a mediocre 3-3 record over the first six games. The quest to become repeat champions (an achievement that has only be accomplished by two teams since the turn of the century) has been hampered by costly turnovers and a stagnate offense.

The Seahawks walked away from the 2025 season with the Lombardi Trophy in tow, claiming the second title for the franchise. With all but five players returning, the expectations for the 2026 team were high, as fans are hopeful to accomplish the rare repeat (a feat the Hawks were one yard away from when an interception halted those dreams in Super Bowl 49.)

However, through six games this season, the team has been bested three times, the same number of times they lost through the entirety of the 2025 season, including losing three of the last four games. So far, even though it is well-short of the halfway mark through this season, Seattle has already lost to Washington, San Fransico, and Denver.

As football is the ultimate team sport, no one player, coach, or position is fully at fault for the lackluster start, instead it is a combination of a multitude of factors that has halted the squad’s quest for a fast start. However, if you had to point fingers, most of those fingers would be pointed in the offense’s direction – as Seattle’s defense is currently ranked best in the NFL, allowing only 237.3 yards per game, according to Fox Sports.

How can a team have the best overall defense, yet still lose half of their games? Well, if it had to be summarized in one word, that word would be: turnovers. Through their first six games, Seattle has committed 12 total turnovers (5 lost fumbles and 7 interceptions.) Head Coach Mike Macdonald said of the progression of the season, “We need to grow quickly. We need to play complementary football. Too many turnovers at this part of the season.”

The offense has often gifted the ball to the other teams in their own territory, many times even in scoring position (like they did in overtime against Denver, last week – essentially sealing the win for the Broncos.) So the defense has regularly been set up to fail.

While the defense has been holding their own (also holding opposing teams to a league-best 141.3 passing yards per game) the offense has been largely lackluster, outside of the reigning Offensive Player of the Year, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Smith-Njigba has racked up the most yards in the league with 717 yards and seven touchdowns, well ahead of the second-best receiver in the league (New Orleans’ Chris Olave with 580 yards and two touchdowns.)

Outside of Smith-Njigba, the offense has struggled to find a rhythm under first-year Offensive Coordinator Brian Fleury. One of the main issues, again being turnovers. Sam Darnold, the Seahawks’ quarterback, has thrown seven interceptions (compared to only seven touchdowns) so far this year. All of the team’s seven interceptions have come in the last four games (as he was injured in the first drive of the season, so he effectively didn’t play in the first two games.) Sammy D is seeing ghosts again.

In a press conference after the most recent loss to the Broncos (and throwing his seventh interception, which is tied for the most in the league) Darnold told reporters, “I think it’s BS for me to keep turning the ball over. It’s not fair to our defense. It’s not fair to our special teams group. Not fair, really, to the entire team.”

Another issue that has plagued the offense has been this year’s running backs. The Hawks running backs have struggled to hold on to the football, as they are responsible for 11 total fumbles (with 5 being lost.) And after losing the Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III in free agency, the running game has seemed to grind to a halt.

Seattle drafted rookie running back Jadarian Price to take Walker III’s place, but he was put on injured reserve after week three with a chest injury. The current team-leading rusher is Emanuel Wilson with 303 yards and two touchdowns. These numbers, however, pale in comparison to Walker III’s stats with his new team, the Kansas City Chiefs. Walker III currently is leading the league by amassing 665 yards and six rushing touchdowns (with two more TD receiving.)

The anemic Seahawks running game will hopefully be given another spark this week with the possible return of hard-nosed running back Zach Charbonnet, who tore his ACL in the playoffs last year. In the 2025 season, Charbonnet led Seattle running backs with 12 rushing TDs.

The offensive line has also failed to impress over the start of the season – even though all five starters for last year’s Super Bowl winning line were back to start the season. The often-criticized right guard Anthony Bradford has now missed the last five games after being placed on injured reserve with knee and hip injuries. Bradford is scheduled to come back this week and hopefully stabilize a line that has given up 10 sacks in the last two games alone.

The Seahawks will have a tall task to prevent having a losing record through seven weeks, when the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs (5-0) come to town this Sunday night. With headliners like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, the Seahawks will have their hands full, but the biggest storyline of the week will be the return of Walker III.

Walker III returns to Lumen Field for the first time as an away team member, as he will be donning white and red as he takes on former team. Seattle has currently played 35 straight games where they have not allowed a 100-yard rusher. Can they keep this streak alive with Walker III, who is averaging 133  yards and 1.6 total TDs per game, coming to town?

While talking about Walker III, his former running back turned foe, Macdonald said, “I’ll just say, I love Ken. I thoroughly enjoyed him being on our football team. We’ve had some great one-on-one conversations. I thought we had a great relationship. I respect the heck out of him… Obviously, we have to do a great job of stopping him this week. 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 high level.”

Will the Hawks’ defense hold Walker III under 100 yards? Will the Seahawks be able to hold onto the ball? Will Darnold prevent throwing any interceptions? Will Charbonnet and Bradford’s return ignite the Seahawk’s offense? Who will walk away victorious – the team with the league-leading receiver or the team with the league- leading rusher? (Find out these answers this Sunday when the Seahawks host the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football at 5:15 p.m.)

There are still a lot of games to be played this season, so the season is not lost for the Hawks. Although with division rival San Francisco pulling away (going 6-0 thus far this season) there is some urgency to righting the ship, before the Niners pull too far away. And hopefully that turn-around starts this week in primetime at Lumen Field.