Week 7 Walkthrough: The Last of the Undefeated

Three teams entered Week 7 undefeated: 

• The Kansas City Chiefs, the Team of Our Era, back from their 2025 gap year.
• The San Francisco 49ers, a perennial NFC powerhouse grappling with their usual mummy’s curse.
• The Minnesota Vikings, chaos gremlins who were fed after midnight before the start of the season. 

Let’s begin this Week 7 Walkthrough with the story of how the Vikings found themselves as the league's last undefeated team.

But first, please rise for our National Anthem, and also laissez les bons temps rouler.

I haven't felt more patriotic in decades. Let's ride.

Seattle Seahawks 20, Kansas City Chiefs 3

What Happened

The Seahawks took a 10-0 lead thanks almost exclusively to Jaxon Smith-Njigba and their defense. They were threatening to extend that lead to 17-0 when Sam Darnold fired an interception from the Chiefs three-yard line to Nohl Williams in the back of the end zone. A long Seahawks drive to start the third quarter went backwards once it reached the Chiefs six-yard line, forcing them to settle for a field goal to extend their lead to 13-0.

Patrick Mahomes, under constant pressure from the Seahawks pass rush all game, finally orchestrated a drive out of quick passes to Kenneth Walker and Travis Kelce. Derick Hall clobbered Mahomes to force a fumble, but Mahomes retrieved the football after much mayhem, allowing Harrison Butker to boot a 50-yard field goal.

Mahomes went back to work after a defensive stop. More Walker, using every jump cut and cheap code he knows to pick up a few extra yards. More Kelce, who moved into fifth place on the all-time receptions list. But Leonard Williams batted down a third-down pass, and the slumping Butker missed a 43-yarder.

The Seahawks took over with 8:33 to play. Smith-Njigba (9-150-1 for the evening) started the drive with a 14-yarder. AJ Barner converted a third-and-1 with a Tush Push, then took a tight end screen 10 yards. The Chiefs burned two timeouts before Emanuel Wilson plunged off left tackle on third-and-4 for a 21 yard touchdown to put the game out of reach.

What It Means for the Seahawks

The Seahawks made Sunday night's win harder than it should have been due to red zone gaffes. They lost Rashid Shaheed and left tackle Charles Cross to injuries that bear monitoring. Without JSN, their offense would collapse into a Chargers singularity. But the Seahawks defense delivered a near-shutout to stop a losing streak during a brutal stretch of schedule.

Help is on the way at running back – Zach Charbonnet should return soon – and the upcoming schedule is slightly softer than the 49ers-Mile High Broncos-Chiefs gauntlet the Seahawks just ran.

Sunday night's win wasn't stylish. But never look a three-score victory against an undefeated team with a Hall of Fame quarterback in the mouth.

What It Means for the Chiefs

The Chiefs were without Rashee Rice and right tackle Jaylon Moore, and it showed. The Seahawks knew they could pressure Mahomes without worrying much about receivers like Jalen Royals or Andrew Armstrong. We've seen Mahomes in Run For Your Life Mode against championship-caliber defenses behind depleted offensive lines before. This was another of those games.

It was also an out-of-conference road loss against the defending champions, and it remained close until midway through the fourth quarter. Let's not overreact to it.

What's Next

The Chiefs visit the Broncos, whom they trounced 31-10 in Week 1. The Seahawks host the Bears next Monday night, then the Cardinals in Week 9.

Atlanta Falcons 29, San Francisco 49ers 20

What Happened

Christian McCaffrey leapt over the top of the pile for a touchdown on the opening series, then succumbed to the Call of Cthulhu. Kaelon Black scampered for a 30-yard touchdown while CMC battled a minor thigh injury/eldritch curse. But Black fumbled on the next series, and the 49ers offense found itself both spooked and nearly out of viable playmakers.

The Falcons offense, meanwhile, went Bijan Bijan Bijan Fake-to-Bijan Bijan Bijan Bijan Fake-to-Bijan Bijan Bijan Bijan Fake-to-Bijan, as usual. They even ran a hook-’n’-lateral from Drake London to Bijan at one point; if they could have figured out how to get Bijan to pitch to Bijan, they would have tried it. Bijan Robinson finished with 115 of the Falcons' 295 scrimmage yards in a quiet afternoon by his standards.

The 49ers defense helped diversify the all-Bijan Falcons offense with a fourth-and-4 encroachment penalty to set up a Nick Folk field goal, then defensive penalties which erased 2nd-and-20 and third-and-8 situations on a drive that ended with a Michael Penix-to-London touchdown, giving the Falcons a 26-14 third-quarter lead. 

McCaffrey returned after halftime, but things kept going wrong for the 49ers. What looked like a 23-yard Brock Purdy touchdown pass to Jordan Watkins was ruled incomplete upon review. Kyle Shanahan went for it on fourth-and-10 in field goal range down 12 points with 11:36 to play, resulting in a Za’Darius Smith sack.

Purdy led a touchdown drive after a Falcons three-and-out, giving the 49ers hope late in the fourth quarter. But he threw an interception to Kendal Daniels, the rookie linebacker who left the Falcons’ Week 6 loss to the Bears on a stretcher, on the next possession. A short Folk field goal put the game out of reach.

What It Means for the 49ers

Veteran 49ers beat reporter Tim Kawakami was among many who spotted a potential trap game cruising right down Main Street:

It’s hard to win on the road when your superstar all-purpose back gets hurt, you are down to Brandin Cooks and Christian Kirk (fresh off an injury himself) as your starting wide receivers, your defense keeps spotting the opponent first downs on penalties and your special teams give up two long kickoff returns. 

Fortunately for the 49ers, their 6-0 start brought them considerable margin for error. 

All 49ers analysis boils down to the question of who is healthy in any given week. If this is how the 49ers play on the road after a Monday night win with nearly everyone hurt, imagine how they will look when Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel return. (I am assuming that Mike Evans’ Achilles tendon is floating in the River Styx right now.) 

Of course, just stating that the 49ers could soon get healthier causes five more catastrophic injuries. That's how curses work.

What It Means for the Falcons

You know the drill. The Falcons manufacture upsets like this semi-regularly. The fact that Penix kept his cool throughout a tough game is noteworthy. So is the fact that Jessie Bates (who made a diving second-quarter interception to halt a 49ers drive) and the Falcons no-name defense hasn’t folded against tougher competition. It was also inspiring to see Daniels up and about, though it's also a little worrisome seeing guys race back from frightening injuries in light of the Jalen Hurts situation.

Anything is possible in the NFC South. But re-read the "What Happened" segment above and note just how many things have to go wrong for a really good team to play down to a Falcons team for whom everything is going more-or-less right.

What’s Next

The 49ers will spend their bye week in the healing waters of Lourdes surrounded by nuns reciting around-the-clock decades of the rosary.

The Falcons visit the Buccaneers next week in what promises to be three hours of normal and predictable football.

Minnesota Vikings 16, Indianapolis Colts 10

What Happened

The Vikings got stopped on fourth-and-short after a long Myles Price kickoff return on the opening series. The Colts, on their best behavior after Mom (Carlie Irsay-Gordon) kicked Uncle Derpwood (Chris Ballard) out of the house earlier in the week, responded with a 38-yard Jonathan Taylor touchdown run a few plays later.

An extended stalemate ensued. Brian Flores’ defense slowly smothered Daniel Jones. Kyler Murray, hobbled a bit by an early-game hit, completed just enough quick outs to Justin Jefferson to set up field goals. The Colts took a 10-6 halftime lead but failed to extend it in the third quarter when head coach Shane Settlin’ called for a 56-yard fourth-and-2 Spencer Shrader field goal that sailed wide left.

Murray finally came through with a 35-yard schoolyard scramble to set up a diving T.J. Hockenson touchdown early in the fourth quarter. The Colts blocked a 59-yard Will Reichard field goal on the next Vikings possession. The Colts reached the Vikings 30-yard line, where seventh-round rookie Seth McGowan, who is emphatically NOT Jonathan Taylor, got stuffed on third-and-2. Good old Settlin’ sent Shrader onto the field again to tie the game, but the Colts’ leading scorer (by a margin of 22 points) missed a 48-yarder. 

The Colts got one last chance after another Reichard field goal. Jones promptly threw a game-ending interception to Harrison Smith.

What It Means for the Vikings

At 6-0, it’s time to stop asking what is sustainable and accept what is happening.