If we’re handing out awards after six weeks of the season, the best free-agent signing of the off-season has to belong to the Kansas City Chiefs. <\/p>\n
Kansas City’s addition of running back Kenneth Walker III has exceeded even the wildest expectations and is a big reason why the Chiefs are one of three teams still undefeated. <\/p>\n
Last season, as the Chiefs floundered and missed the playoffs for the first time in a decade, their leading rusher was Kareem Hunt, who had 611 yards in 17 games.<\/p>\n
In just five games this season, Walker has already surpassed that mark with a league-leading 665 yards on the ground. <\/p>\n
“He’s a game changer,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said of his new running back this week. <\/p>\n
And if there is any other team that can truly appreciate what kind of a difference-maker Walker can be, it’s Kansas City’s Week 7 opponent. <\/p>\n
Walker and the Chiefs will take their perfect 5-0 record into Seattle on Sunday, the very place where the 26-year-old RB began his career. <\/p>\n
His last game with the Seahawks was, of course, Super Bowl LX, when he had 161 yards from scrimmage and was named Super Bowl MVP in a victory over the New England Patriots. <\/p>\n
Walker is downplaying the homecoming, saying that he’s treating it “like any other week.”<\/p>\n
Easy to do when you’re undefeated, but for the Seahawks, it has the potential to be a painful reunion. <\/p>\n
The defending Super Bowl champs enter this matchup 3-3, with their offence struggling to find consistency. <\/p>\n
Quarterback Sam Darnold has looked shaky in recent weeks, and part of that could very well be traced back to the loss of Walker.<\/p>\n
Over six games this season, the Seahawks have managed 643 rushing yards as a team. That’s 22 yards less than Walker by himself in one more game, for those keeping track. <\/p>\n
Part of the reason for Seattle’s struggles on the ground could be due to injuries to rookie Jadarian Price and Zach Charbonnet, who was Walker’s backup last season.<\/p>\n
But there is no doubt their offence is missing the explosive playmaking of Walker, which the Chiefs are taking full advantage of. <\/p>\n
Can the Seahawks remind everyone that they are still a major threat even without Walker, or will Kansas City go into Seattle and prove that the big, bad Chiefs are officially back after a one-year hiatus?<\/p>\n
Tune in on Sunday night to find out.<\/p>\n
Here are some other storylines we are keeping an eye on in Week 7:<\/p>\n
Shorthanded Rams up against it in Vegas<\/p>\n
Is it possible for there to be a must-win game in Week 7?<\/p>\n
But for the Los Angeles Rams, it sure feels like they can’t afford a loss Sunday. <\/p>\n
The pre-season Super Bowl favourites are 2-4 as they head to Las Vegas to take on the Raiders, and they will do so without a number of key players.<\/p>\n
Myles Garrett and Davante Adams are both out, while Puka Nacua and Trent McDuffie are both expected to be game-time decisions. <\/p>\n
That’s four of the Rams’ most important players, which puts extra pressure on reigning MVP Matthew Stafford. <\/p>\n
“I feel even more of a responsibility to be as good as I can be to help us continue to win,” the Rams QB told reporters this week. “Some of those guys, they’re gonna have opportunities to hopefully come back and play for us, make sure that when they come back and play for us it’s meaningful.”<\/p>\n