Nov 23, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III (9) runs against Tennessee Titans cornerback Jalyn Armour-Davis (18) and linebacker Cedric Gray (33) during the first half at Nissan Stadium. Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Seahawks run game showing significant improvement at perfect time

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Connor Benintendi | Last updated Nov 25, 2025 5:30 PM ET

For the first six games of the season, the Seattle Seahawks' rushing attack was one of the worst in the league. While it's still not one of the best in the NFL, it's become much more viable.

That's critical to take pressure off quarterback Sam Darnold, and to keep the rhythm of the game in Seattle's favor. The Seahawks have seen the benefit of that in their last few games.

From Weeks 1-6, Seattle averaged just 3.7 yards per carry (169 attempts) and totaled 625 rushing yards. Since then, in one less game, the Seahawks are averaging 4.1 yards per carry (158 attempts) and have piled up 653 rushing yards.

That shift comes from minor improvements that the team was narrowly falling short on in the initial stretch of the season, head coach Mike Macdonald said on Monday.

"This is something that we’ve talked about, for really the length of the season," Macdonald said. "We felt like the effort was there, but the details we wanted to chase, a lot of [those] runs were a block away … It also felt like we were doing the right things, we were on the right track, it was just we’ve got to keep firing away at it and staying the course."

Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The Seahawks' pass protection has been excellent in most games this season. Darnold has been sacked the least of any quarterback with at least 200 pass attempts (11). The run blocking is where improvements were needed, and it's benefited Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet.

Walker, in particular, has turned a carry share with Charbonnet into a much heavier workload because of his recent effectiveness (147 carries, 677 yards and five touchdowns this season). At his current pace, Walker would be just short of his career high rushing yards of 1,050 as a rookie (1,046).

"I feel like everybody’s really improved — including the running backs," Macdonald said. "I think you’re seeing the results of that process, and our coaches are doing a great job of scheming it, and we expect to stay on this track. It’s going to be really important for us to be able to run the ball [at the] end of November and into December."

With six games remaining in the season and the Seahawks in a three-way race for the NFC West title, the run game will be critical to Seattle's postseason positioning. The offense has to stay two-dimensional to keep things open for the passing game.

This article first appeared on Seattle Seahawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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