Seahawks-Chiefs GameCenter: Live updates, highlights, how to watch, stream

As expected, running backs Kenneth Walker III and DeeJay Dallas will play for the Seahawks Saturday at Kansas City, as will tight end Noah Fant and receiver Marquise Goodwin.

All four had been listed as questionable due to injury on Thursday. But coach Pete Carroll said after Thursday’s practice he expected all four to play, and all four are active for the game.

Seattle’s seven inactive players are: receiver Tyler Lockett, cornerback Artie Burns, safety Ryan Neal, offensive lineman Jake Curhan, defensive tackle Al Woods, defensive tackle Daviyon Nixon and running back Wayne Gallman.

Gallman had been elevated off the practice squad on Friday as depth and insurance if Walker and/or Dallas couldn’t play.

But with Walker and Dallas active, the Seahawks will not play Gallman against the Chiefs.

Walker and Dallas have each been battling ankle injuries suffered on Dec. 4 against the Rams. Walker played last Thursday against the 49ers but did not practice all week. Dallas has not played the last two games but practiced on a limited basis two days this week.

Walker and Dallas being active gives Seattle four running backs for the game, the others being Travis Homer and Godwin Igwebuike. Igwebuike was also elevated off the practice squad on Friday and will return kickoffs.

Neal (knee), Woods (Achilles) and Lockett (hand), are inactive due to injuries and had already been declared as out. The other four are healthy scratches to get down to the gameday maximum roster of 48.

The Seahawks finish their once-every-four-years reunion tour against their former AFC West rivals Saturday in Kansas City, Missouri, against the Chiefs, who have proved to be vexing through the years.

The Seahawks could sweep the Raiders in a season they won the Super Bowl, and beat the Broncos in years they went to Super Bowls.

Though the Chiefs won just three playoff games during the seasons they shared the AFC West with the Seahawks, from 1977-2002 — a time during which the Raiders won three Super Bowls and the Broncos two — Seattle’s record against Kansas City is the worst of any of team in that division at 19-33 (.365 winning percentage). It’s due in part to a string of 14 losses in 15 games during the 1990s.

The Seahawks’ record against Denver is a little better at 21-35 (.375). They are 25-30 against the Raiders and a sterling 27-25 vs. the Chargers.

Not that history matters now, but the Seahawks will take whatever they can use to get going on the road against an 11-3 team aiming to claim the AFCs’ top playoff seed.

Let’s take a closer look at the matchup with the Chiefs with our weekly keys to the game and prediction.

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To find out where the rest of their season is headed, the Seahawks will first go to Kansas City, Missouri.

What happens there during Saturday’s game against the Chiefs figures to go a long way toward setting their direction. Kickoff is at 10 a.m. Seattle time.

Can the Seahawks pull off an upset that would turn their playoff odds from unlikely to likely, or at least avoid the blowout that the oddsmakers expect and take some momentum into the final two weeks of the season?

Or will the Seahawks falter in the wake of losing four of their past five, including three in a row at home? They’ll be without receiver Tyler Lockett and safety Ryan Neal because of injuries — team leaders playing as well as they ever have who leave huge voids going against a Chiefs team (11-3) tied for the NFL’s second-best record.

“It’s really important for us to go out there and get a win,” Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith said. “It’s a crucial part of our season. We’ve got three games left to figure out what we are going to do here.”

Not that anyone expects a win.

The Seahawks are a 10-point underdog, which would tie for the biggest spread against the team in the past decade.

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