Patrick Mahomes has started one game in Seattle, and he still thinks he got the first quarter wrong. Asked this week about his return to Lumen Field on Sunday night, the Kansas City quarterback said he felt he was “a little too amped up” early in that December 2018 game, and that learning to steer his own emotions, and a loud building’s, is part of what eight more seasons have taught him.
The lesson matters now because the setting is bigger. Kansas City arrives 5-0, and Seattle is the reigning Super Bowl champion at 3-3, with a defense ranked first in the league. Kickoff is 8:20 p.m. EDT.
The one game he played there
That 2018 night was Mahomes’ first season as the starter, the year he went on to win league MVP after 50 touchdown passes. He threw for 273 yards and three scores at Lumen Field and still lost, 38-31, because Russell Wilson matched him almost throw for throw with three touchdowns and no interceptions of his own. It remains his only regular-season trip to Seattle.
Mahomes, now in his 10th season, described the crowd that night as the thing he remembers most: the volume, and how quickly it fed the adrenaline. His answer this week was less about revenge than about pacing, keeping his first few series steady instead of trying to win the game in them.
⏰ @PatrickMahomes pic.twitter.com/HCnjr3ZaVn
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 21, 2026
What he expects from Mike Macdonald’s defense
Mahomes went position group by position group when he talked about the Seahawks, crediting the front, the linebackers and the secondary in turn, and then the scheme around them. His summary was blunt: Seattle is “going to make you earn it every single drive,” and some of those drives will not look good. The plan, as he put it, is to stay consistent and take the plays that are there without forcing ones that are not.
That is close to how Kansas City has played all season. Through five games Mahomes has completed 105 of 158 passes (66.5%) for 1,309 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions, at 8.3 yards per attempt, and he has been sacked only six times. He has added 57 rushing yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
His most recent game is a good example. In the 22-6 win over the Chargers on October 18, he completed 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards with no touchdown passes and one interception, was not sacked once, and let Kenneth Walker III carry the scoring with 128 rushing yards and both touchdowns. The Chiefs finished with 422 yards at 7.4 yards per play.
Who he has, and who he doesn’t
Kansas City will again play without receiver Rashee Rice, who has not appeared since early October with a hamstring injury, and the injury report lists Jaylon Moore and Brashard Smith as out as well. Xavier Worthy (seven catches for 73 yards against the Chargers) and Travis Kelce (four for 53) remain Mahomes’ most frequent targets.
What comes next
The Chiefs and Seahawks meet on Sunday night at Lumen Field; follow it in the Game Center. Kansas City then travels to Denver on Sunday, November 1, at 4:25 p.m. EST, while Seattle hosts Chicago on Monday, November 2. More on the quarterback is on Patrick Mahomes’ player page.
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