How did the Seahawks contain Patrick Mahomes? They tried to make him and Kansas City’s offense look ‘normal’

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes was averaging more than 320 passing yards per game entering Sunday night’s showdown with the Seahawks. He leads the NFL in passing.

He’s thrown for 300-plus yards in 10 different games this season. His career-high 478 yards passing against the Rams back in November are the second-most in a single game by a quarterback this season.

He joins veteran AFC passers Tom Brady and Philip Rivers as a Pro Bowl selection in his first year as a starter. And, mentions of Mahomes as a leading MVP candidate have echoed around the league as the season has progressed.

Seahawks defensive back Justin Coleman had this to say about all of that after the Seahawks handed the Chiefs their second consecutive loss, in a thrilling 38-31 win at CenturyLink Field.

“We’re not going to back down from no team — nobody,” Coleman said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re Pro Bowl or whatever big name they got. We’re going to play our game, and we’re going to make any team look normal, no matter who steps on the field.”

“Normal” was a word more than one Seattle defender used to describe what the Seahawks aimed to make Kansas City’s explosive offense, and the rising star Mahomes — who leads the league in passing with 4,543 yards — look like.

“We just played good, sound football,” linebacker K.J. Wright said. “We read our keys, and they do a lot of stuff to get your eyes off, but we communicated really well. Mahomes is a good quarterback, but this defense can take really good football teams and make them look normal.”

Mahomes still finished 23 of 40 passing for 273 yards and three touchdowns, but much of that production came in the second half, and his final numbers were still among his lowest of the season.

This was just Mahomes’ fifth game with fewer than 300 passing yards. His 57.5 completion percentage was his second-lowest of the season, and his 103.4 passer rating was his fourth-lowest.

“We did keep him on the run,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “He was moving the whole time. We worked really hard at knowing that he was going to move, and covering guys downfield, and staying in coverage, which we did a very good job of, because you could see him.

“He was out, he was clean, and it took him a long time to find guys. He found them anyway, at times, but he’s just that good. But, that was really what worked for us tonight. And staying on top, not giving up the deep ball. This is the most explosive team that we’ve seen in all 10 years.”

Throughout the week, Seattle’s players emphasized the need to stay “plastered” to their assigned receivers, regardless of how long Mahomes and Kansas City extended plays, and keep the young quarterback from throwing over the top — a tactic that has worked for the Chiefs more often than not this season.

For the most part, Seattle’s defense contained the Chiefs, including wide receiver Tyreek Hill and tight end Travis Kelce, who each have more than 1,200 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns this season.

Only four of Mahomes’ 23 completions were for 20-plus yards, with his longest of the game coming on a 32-yard pass to Hill in the second half.

“Pat Mahomes is going to extend plays,” cornerback Shaquill Griffin said. “He’s good at that — the closest thing you’ll get to Aaron Rodgers. ... The main thing we had to do was focus on the guys we were guarding, and when that time comes, you get the closest person to you and you just lock onto them and don’t let go.

“We definitely had him frustrated. Running around, he didn’t know what to do with the ball, and when it was time to throw it, we were back there waiting for him.”

Seattle set the tone early, and allowed Mahomes very little room for positive production in the opening half, and the crowd rarely let up while the Chiefs’ offense was on the field.

“I knew it was going to be a great atmosphere to play in,” Mahomes said. “I knew these fans were going to be loud.”

Mahomes’ six completions on 13 attempts in the first two quarters were the fewest he’s had in his career in a single half, and his 83 passing yards were just the fourth instance in his career when he’s thrown for less than 100 yards in a half.

When Mahomes did connect with his receivers, it often wasn’t for much. Hill finished with four catches for 74 yards to lead the Chiefs — tied for the least amount of receiving yards by a game leader for Kansas City this season, and just the fifth time a game-leading receiver for the Chiefs has had less than 100 yards. Kelce added 54 yards on five catches, and Chris Conley had 54 yards on three receptions.

Hill and Kelce were averaging a combined 12 catches for 180 yards and 1 1/2 touchdowns per game entering Sunday, but produced just nine catches for 128 yards and no scores against the Seahawks.

“They did a really good job of mixing up looks, getting after the quarterback,” Conley said. “We had to make up a lot of plays on the fly. They’re a good team.”

Seattle also ended a pair of Kansas City drives in the first half on fumble recoveries. The first, which Dion Jordan popped out of Damien Williams’ hands, set up a go-ahead touchdown for the Seahawks in the second quarter.

The second fumble, as the first half was winding down, came after Mahomes completed a 23-yard pass to Conley. Coleman knocked that ball out, and Delano Hill secured it.

Kansas City tied the game at 17-17 midway through the third quarter but never regained the lead.

“They are one of the top defenses in the league at stripping the ball out. We talked about it all week,” Mahomes said. “You can’t have those things. You can’t have turnovers, you can’t have penalties when you play good defenses, and we did early.

“They kind of stalled out some of the drives, and we fixed it up in the second half, but you have to maintain that for a full game in order to win.”

Seattle finished with 11 quarterback hits, though Jordan was the only player to sack Mahomes for one 8-yard loss. Carroll noted he thought Mahomes played well, but the Seahawks defense did what was needed to contain him enough.

“Whether it was the Chiefs or anybody else who was coming in here, we wanted to win the game, and we knew we were going to win the game,” Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark said.

This story was originally published December 24, 2018 at 12:51 AM.