Washington (United States) (AFP) – NFL rushing leader Kenneth Walker leads the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs into Seattle on Sunday against ex-teammates he sparked to a Super Bowl title in February as Most Valuable Player. Walker’s return will be a focus as the reigning champion Seahawks (3-3) meet a 5-0 Chiefs squad with a revived attack after signing a three-year free agent deal with Walker worth $45 million.
“It’s going to be a special moment for him,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “You get to go back to the place where you built your career, where you won a Super Bowl. Those fans are the people that were around him for all of that. Those are still a lot of the guys that were his teammates, that he grew up with as well in the NFL. At the end of the day, you’ve got to win a football game. He knows we have his back.”
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Walker, who turned 26 on Tuesday, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Seahawks, who allowed him to leave for Kansas City, where he has run for 665 yards and six touchdowns on 106 carries this season on an attack that tops the NFL with 414 total yards a game. “He’s doing what he did for us past bunch of seasons,” Seattle safety Julian Love said. “He has picked up where he left off from last season. His tape looks incredible. It’s all hands on deck effort to try and contain and stop him. He looks every bit of explosive as he has for the Seahawks.”
The Chiefs slid to 6-11 last season after three titles and five Super Bowl appearances in six prior years but are back in contention behind Walker, who played down revenge talk. “We’ve got to go critique the mistakes that we made (last week),” Walker said. “Once we get to that point, we’ll see.” Chiefs coach Andy Reid sees no reason to worry about Walker’s mentality against his former club. “He’s wired right,” Reid said. “The boys there will try to get after him a little bit, but he’s a pretty level-headed guy… He has got one speed: he’s coming at you. It doesn’t matter who he’s playing or where he’s playing.”
The Seahawks have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in a club-record 35 consecutive games. “If you have one weak link in the chain, the great running backs will find that. Ken will do that, and he has the past bunch of games this season,” Love said. “Players will always have a bond and a love and respect for ‘K9.’ A lot of guys in here are incredibly close with him still and because of what we did last year, that bond will be forever. We’ll always be attached. But while he wears another jersey, we have to attack him just like everybody else with another jersey. I think he would want that. That’s just how it is in this league.”
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said he has great respect for Walker but will do everything he can to stop him. “He’s off to a tremendous start,” Macdonald said. “Stats back it up, tape definitely backs it up. He’s playing great football. We have to do a good job of stopping him this week. There are mixed emotions in terms of how you’re happy for him, but we’re also trying to find ways to stop this guy too because he’s playing at a really high level.”
Mahomes knows staying undefeated won’t come easily. “They’re going to make you earn it every single drive,” Mahomes said. “We have to match their passion and execute at a high level.” Other games involving unbeatens find San Francisco (6-0) at Atlanta (2-4) and Minnesota (5-0) hosting Indianapolis (2-4). The first NFL regular-season game in France will send Pittsburgh (4-2) against New Orleans (2-4).
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