Seattle, WA
Ex Seattle Seahawks RB Explains Super Bowl XL Disadvantage
Despite what one might expect, the Seattle Seahawks’ first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history is often viewed as one to forget.
In 2005, the Seahawks earned the top seed in the NFC with a 13-3 record, then powered their way through the playoffs to punch their ticket to Super Bowl XL at Ford Field in Detroit. There, they met the Pittsburgh Steelers, the sixth seed in the AFC, which on paper should have given them an advantage.
However, that was far from the case. The Seahawks fell to Steelers 21-10 in a game where nothing seemed to go their way. Some questionable calls are still talked about today, but Seattle failing to capitalize on its chances arguably did even more damage.
Even almost 20 years later, players from both teams are still talking about this game. In a recent book titled “Facing the Pittsburgh Steelers: Players Recall the Glory Years of the Black and Gold” by Sean Deveny, former Seattle fullback Mack Strong explained the inherent advantage Pittsburgh had in that matchup. Rather than harping on the officials like many before him, though, Strong instead pointed to the overwhelming ratio of Steelers fans in the crowd.
“Where it was different, though, was on game day. Detroit is like an hour flight from Pittsburgh. There were probably 60,000 Steelers fans there and about 10,000 Seahawks fans. It definitely felt like a home game for them, an away game for us,” Strong said. “That was the only time— I stepped out onto that field and I was like, ‘This is different.’
“It was supposed to be neutral. But we were just building our fan base at the time, and the Steelers, of course, had 30 or 40 years of winning and history behind them. It was weird walking into a neutral stadium and literally trying to figure out, ‘Wait, where are our fans at?’”
It doesn’t take a detective to figure out why the Steelers had such a strong crowd advantage. Like Strong said, a flight from Pittsburgh to Detroit is just over an hour, while a flight from Seattle to Detroit is over four hours. Add in that the Steelers had history on their side and that Hall of Fame running back Jerome Bettis, a Detroit native, was playing in his final NFL game, and it’s easy to see why black and gold dominated the stands.
Even though this game ended in disappointment, the Seahawks would finally earn their first championship eight years later with a 43-8 dismantling of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Seattle, WA
Walker’s big night an encouraging sign for Seattle Seahawks
It got somewhat lost amid all the late-game drama, but Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III just had one of the best games of his four-year career.
The anatomy of a comeback: How Seahawks stunned the Rams
Highlighted by a pair of explosive plays, Walker totaled 164 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown in Seattle’s wild 38-37 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night. It was the second-most scrimmage yards of Walker’s career, just shy of his 167 scrimmage yards against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 7 of his 2022 rookie campaign.
Walker rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries against the Rams’ stout defense, including a 55-yard TD run early in the third quarter where he burst through a crease and hit a top speed of 21.07 mph while racing downfield, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats. He also added three catches for 64 yards, including a 46-yard gain on a throwback screen pass that set up a first-quarter TD.
KENNETH WALKER III 55-YARD TD RUN 🚨
LARvsSEA on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/4ezXS8hbok— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2025
In doing so, Walker became the first NFL running back since five-time Pro Bowler Derrick Henry in 2020 to have both a 45-plus-yard run and a 45-plus-yard catch in the same game, according to NFL Media senior researcher Dante Koplowitz-Fleming.
Walker’s two big plays against the Rams were also among the six longest plays of his career. He had five gains of 40-plus yards over his first two NFL seasons, but none over the past two seasons until Thursday night.
During Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk on Friday, Mike Salk praised both Walker and Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
“Best and hardest I’ve seen him run in forever,” Salk said. “Most decisive, most he’s hit holes hard, picked up extra yards. Credit to Kubiak for getting him the ball in space and allowing him to really do the things that he does well.”
Kenneth Walker III all the way down inside the 10!
LARvsSEA on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/YjVCQMxByg— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2025
Led by Walker’s performance, the Seahawks finished with 171 rushing yards and a season-high 6.8 yards per carry on Thursday night. Even more encouraging was that it came against a strong Rams run defense, which entered the game ranked eighth in the NFL at just 3.9 yards allowed per carry.
The Seahawks have struggled for much of the season to get their run game untracked – including this past Sunday, when they mustered just 50 rushing yards and 2.3 yards per carry in a low-scoring Week 15 win over Indianapolis Colts.
But prior to that, Seattle had made some strides on the ground, averaging 140.2 rushing yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry from Weeks 10-14.
Walker’s showing on Thursday night was another positive step.
“He was a major factor,” Salk said. “Ran for 100 yards in the game. They ran for over 170 as a team, which kind of gets lost in a lot of the other storylines of the game. A huge credit to Ken Walker. … That’s the best I’ve seen him play in forever.”
Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation at this link or in the video player at the top of this story. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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• Seattle Seahawks Injury Updates: Status of trio of DBs
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• Brock Huard: The reason Darnold was able to lead Seahawks over Rams
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Seattle, WA
Seattle Kraken beat San Jose Sharks 4-2 to snap 4-game skid
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Ryan Lindgren had the tiebreaking goal early in the third period for his first score with the Seattle Kraken, and they went on to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Saturday night to snap a four-game losing streak.
Seattle Kraken 4, San Jose Sharks 2: Box score
Chandler Stephenson had a goal and an assist, and Eeli Tolvanen and Ryker Evans also scored for the Kraken, who won for just the second time in 12 games (2-9-1). Joey Daccord finished with 34 saves.
Adam Gaudette and Colin Graf scored for the Sharks, and Yaroslav Askarov had 28 saves.
Graf gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead 36 seconds into the third period with some help from the Kraken.
Seattle’s Adam Dunn lofted a clearing attempt from behind the net that Igor Chernyshov intercepted in the left circle and sent a pass in front to Graf. Graf tried to lift it over Daccord down on the ice, but the puck deflected off the left post and in front as the goalie, on his back, tried to pull it in. However, Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson skated into the goalie and knocked the puck in.
Evans tied it again at 1:55 with a long shot from the left point through traffic.
Lindgren put the Kraken ahead 3-2 at 4:27, beating Askarov from the left point for the defenseman’s first goal in 33 games since signing with with Seattle in the offseason. Stephenson had an assist on the play to extend his point streak to eight games.
Stephenson then scored with 1:24 remaining to push Seattle’s lead to two goals and extend his goal-scoring streak to four games.
Tolvanen gave the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 6:52 of the second period, picking up a loose puck, skating into the right circle and firing a shot past Askarov.
Gaudette tied it with a power-play goal with 8:38 left in the middle period. Celebrini fired a shot at the net from the left point that deflected off teammate Igor Chernyshov in front of Daccord and off Gaudette down onto the ice for an easy backhand poke from the right doorstep.
Celebrini extended his point streak to five games on the play with eight assists and 11 points in the stretch.
Up next
Seattle Kraken: At Anaheim on Monday night.
San Jose Sharks: At Vegas on Tuesday night.
Seattle Kraken trade away their big offseason acquisition
Seattle, WA
Three West Seattle schools’ teams advance in FIRST Lego League competition
(Photos courtesy Brenda Hatley)
By Hayden Yu Andersen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog
Dozens of youth robotics teams from elementary and middle schools across the district gathered on December 6 at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School for this year’s FIRST Lego League qualifier. By the end of the day, three teams from West Seattle – Madison Middle School, Lafayette Elementary School, and Alki Elementary School – emerged triumphant, with their sights set on the next round of the tournament.
Of the schools who competed that day, nine were from West Seattle, including Genesee Hill Elementary, Fairmount Park Elementary, Gatewood Elementary, Arbor Heights Elementary, West Seattle Elementary, and the aforementioned teams that are moving up to the next round.
A local parent tipped us about the students’ achievement, so we set out to get details. We spoke with Brenda Hatley, a coach for Madison Middle School, the only West Seattle middle-school team to advance to the next round, and she says the turnout at the qualifiers was impressive. Hatley first became a coach for her son’s 4th-grade team and was one of the founding parents for Lafayette Elementary’s Lego Robotics team.
She says the program, which pairs engineering with LEGO, coding, and real-world projects, is a fantastic program for students who are less interested in athletics but still want to capture the excitement of a pep rally.
“It’s not a sports team, but they’re still getting so hyped up. The kids were cheering for each other, and the pressure was there; coaching through that was an incredible experience,” Hatley said.

Madison’s team, the Madbots, will play their next match on December 26th, at a to-be-determined location. The teams that do well this month will move on to the city-wide competition in Downtown Seattle, before moving to the regionals at Washington State University, and beyond to the international finals. Regardless of how they perform, Hatley says she and the other parents are planning to travel with their team to the city-wide and regional competitions.
“I’m really proud of the team,” Hatley said. “Last year, the fifth graders didn’t move on, and we had lower expectations; we just went in to learn more and get better. This year, we get to move on and see what the next level looks like.”
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