SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks’ first-team offense couldn’t have asked for a better showing Friday night at Lumen Field, both in terms of schematics and success rate.
On Seattle’s first play from scrimmage in a preseason bout with the Kansas City Chiefs, running back Zach Charbonnet shot through a hole created by the right side of his offensive line and picked up 13 yards. The next nine plays were everything the Seahawks want this offense to be under new coordinator Klint Kubiak: Under-center runs with the offensive line plowing a path; play-action bootlegs with wide-open pass catchers in space; quick decisions from quarterback Sam Darnold when operating out of shotgun; and a physical presence up front in the red zone.
The final play of the opening drive featured Charbonnet running through another gaping hole, this time with the help of left tackle Josh Jones and rookie left guard Grey Zabel. Charbonnet went untouched for 15 yards into the end zone. The touchdown capped a 10-play, 81-yard series and marked the end of the starting offense’s time together for the night. The Seahawks are hoping it was also the start of a new, physical offense in Year 2 of the Mike Macdonald era.
Zach just drove his truck right through 😤 pic.twitter.com/iuttt9Jv09
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) August 16, 2025
Seattle’s starting offensive line mirrored what we’ve seen in practice since Charles Cross’ finger surgery and Olu Oluwatimi’s back injury: from left to right, Jones, Zabel, Jalen Sundell, Anthony Bradford and Abe Lucas. Other than Cross and Oluwatimi, the only offensive starter to rest Friday night was running back Ken Walker III, who is dealing with a foot issue.
Although the Chiefs did not play their high-end starters on defense — such as Chris Jones, Nick Bolton and Trent McDuffie — it was still important for the Darnold-led offense to execute at a high level. And the running game was always going to be the starting point when assessing their performance.
They passed with flying colors, even when adjusting for the absence of Kansas City’s best defensive starters.
“On offense, that’s about how you script it,” said Macdonald, whose team won 33-16.
Charbonnet had runs of 13, 4, 7, 6 and 15 yards. That’s 45 yards and 9 per attempt with an 80 percent success rate (all stats provided by TruMedia unless stated otherwise). Darnold was under center for all but two plays on the drive and four of Charbonnet’s five runs. The one run out of the shotgun was a 6-yard gain on the perimeter, as the running back received solid front-side blocking from Bradford, Lucas, tight end AJ Barner and receiver Cooper Kupp.
Darnold was a perfect 4-for-4 passing for 34 yards. On second-and-6, he took a shotgun snap, went through his reads from a clean pocket and found Barner underneath for 5 yards. On second-and-3, he faked an under-center handoff to Charbonnet and had plenty of room to step up before hitting Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the flat for 7 yards. Two plays later, another run fake from under center put Darnold on the move rolling left, where he found a wide-open Robbie Ouzts for 13 yards.
The next play was … another play-action bootleg, this time to the right. Once again, his target, rookie tight end Elijah Arroyo, was open underneath for 9 yards. Charbonnet’s touchdown run followed.
“Really sharp,” Macdonald said of Darnold. “I’m sure he wanted to keep going, but he showed what he can do. Really great drive.”
Darnold’s unit averaged 8.1 yards per play, with Kubiak leaning on the foundation of his system — perimeter runs with play-action bootlegs — to scheme open easy throws for the quarterback. The group had zero negative plays. Charbonnet had room to run, whether following players acquired this offseason like Jones, Zabel, Ouzts and Eric Saubert or returning players like Bradford and Lucas. Darnold was never pressured. That’s a flawless beginning, all things considered.
“It’s really encouraging,” safety Julian Love said of Seattle’s start, which included the first-team defense stopping Kansas City’s on fourth down to end the Chiefs’ opening possession. “I don’t think you can script it better on offense in terms of the flow of how we want to play. We want to run the ball, work play-action off of it, make throws when we need to make throws, keep the ball, keep the clock going.”
Darnold, Smith-Njigba and Kupp were done for the night after the opening drive, but the offensive line stayed for backup quarterback Drew Lock’s first series, which began with running back George Holani flying through a massive hole along the left side of the line for a 30-yard gain. Saubert and Barner set the edge, Jones and Zabel cleared out the frontside defensive tackle with a combination block and Sundell cut off the nose tackle. The free safety didn’t get a hand on Holani until the running back was 20 yards down the field.
Holani’s next four runs went for 6, 6, 4 and 3 yards, the latter moving the chains on third-and-2. The second-year running back — who is ahead of seventh-round rookie Damien Martinez in the rotation — had 49 yards on 9.8 yards per attempt with a success rate of 80 percent. When he came out of the game, Martinez immediately ripped off a 19-yard carry. The drive ended with a 12-yard screen pass touchdown from Lock to Jake Bobo.
Seattle’s running backs had 11 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter behind the starting offensive line. That lineup played only two snaps in the second quarter: a 1-yard run by Martinez and Bobo’s screen pass touchdown. The sample size is still small, and it’s only the preseason, but the early returns have been excellent.
“We had (174 rushing) yards at half, and any time you can do that, it’s an amazing feeling,” Saubert said. “It’s cool because guys are trusting the system, really committing to it, and it’s looking great. Hopefully we can continue to build and get even better at what we’re already doing.”
Seattle’s starters are unlikely to play in the preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers, making this dress rehearsal even more important. There’s value in seeing all the things Kubiak and his staff have emphasized in meetings and practice come to life in a game setting before the regular season begins.
“When you see the work you put in come to fruition, it clicks,” said the 31-year-old Saubert, who has played in this scheme before. “You know what it’s supposed to look like now. Now we know what it feels like when we’re doing it. It’s cool to get that feeling in preseason so we can replicate it for games to come in the regular season.”
Here are some additional notes from Seattle’s second preseason game.
1. Kansas City’s Gardner Minshew-led offense moved the ball well against Seattle’s starting defense, albeit without Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, DeMarcus Lawrence and Tyrice Knight on the field.
Minshew converted on third-and-2 with a pass to a wide-open Isiah Pacheco in the flat for 22 yards (there was a miscommunication pre-snap). Minshew later converted on third-and-3 with a 14-yard pass over the middle to receiver Tyquan Thornton. The defense settled down and closed the series out in the red zone: Riq Woolen forced an incompletion on second down, Coby Bryant dropped Juju Smith-Schuster for a 3-yard gain on third-and-4, then Love stuffed running back Carson Steele for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the 15-yard line.
Julian Love stuffs the play to force a turnover on downs 😤
Watch on @NFLNetwork
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/C6UsLQ7tNd— NFL (@NFL) August 16, 2025
Seattle accomplished its goal of keeping a donut on the scoreboard, but Love and Macdonald lamented those third-down conversions.
“Defensively, I thought we would have played a bit better,” Macdonald said.
2. Rookie Tory Horton had a 12-yard catch with 3:33 remaining in the second quarter and stumbled awkwardly out of bounds. He was shut down for the rest of the game with an ankle injury, according to Macdonald, who said the receiver could have re-entered the game if needed. The coach instead chose to hold Horton out.
3. Bobo hooked up with Lock for a second touchdown when he beat cornerback Joshua Williams on a fade ball to end the first half. That play showcased everything we’ve seen from the third-year wideout in practice: Good footwork off the line of scrimmage, athleticism to snag the ball at its highest point and great spatial awareness near the sideline.
He did it. AGAIN. 😤 pic.twitter.com/mzXjIs0Fyb
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) August 16, 2025
Bobo also did something we don’t see very often: return a punt for 20 yards (he was likely in there because of Horton’s injury). That was so rare it caught everyone’s attention on the sidelines.
“Him catching the screen pass for the touchdown was exciting, (and) obviously the fade ball, that’s Bobo 101,” Love said. “But you see him back there catching punts? When we saw that, that’s when the sideline probably went the most nuts.”
4. These three guys continue to help themselves in training camp and the preseason: defensive tackle Brandon Pili, who dropped running back Elijah Mitchell for a safety in the second quarter; receiver Dareke Young, the recipient of three passes for a game-high 52 yards; and defensive end Jared Ivey, who has really popped as a pass rusher when he’s in the lineup. Young and Pili seem on track to make the team, and it wouldn’t surprise if Ivey, a rookie free-agent signee, sneaks in there as well.
(Photo: Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press)
