KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Well, the math seems pretty simple for Seattle now following a 24-10 loss Saturday to the Kansas City Chiefs — win the two final games at home against the Jets and Rams and maybe the playoffs can still happen.
But the margin of error for the Seahawks is basically gone after a game Saturday that was never really in doubt as Seattle lost for the fifth time in six games to turn a once-glistening 6-3 record to a desultory 7-8.
Kansas City scored on three of its first six possessions to take a 17-0 lead late in the first half, and Seattle never got closer than 14 points the rest of the way.
However, just when embarrassment seemed in the offing the Seahawks turned tough, forcing three straight Kansas City punts to start the second half and three times driving into Chiefs territory to the 34 or closer.
But failures on two fourth-down attempts in the second half — and three for the game — as well as a Geno Smith interception in the end zone meant the Chiefs never really felt uncomfortable.
The last failure was the real killer as the interception came with 7:42 left and on a second-and-12 play at the Kansas City 22 with Seattle trailing 17-3.
There appeared to be some confusion as Smith tried to hit Marquise Goodwin down the sideline but threw the ball far over his head giving Juan Thornhill an easy pick.
The Chiefs, who to that point had gained just 13 yards on 11 plays in the second half, put the game away with a five-play, 80-yard drive keyed by a 52-yard catch-and-run from tight end Travis Kelce. Patrick Mahomes got the TD on a scramble to the right side for 3 yards on third-and-goal, stretching the ball to the pylon as he went out of bounds.
That made it 24-3 with 4:42 left and sent happy KC fans to the exits and into some warmth.
Seattle got a touchdown with 2:25 left on a 6-yard pass from Smith to Noah Fant. But the Chiefs recovered the onside kick, and that was that.
The game kicked off with a temperature of 12 degrees, making it officially the second-coldest game in Seahawks history behind only the famous minus-six of a wild card playoff game at Minnesota in 2016.
The only good news on the day came in Carolina the Panthers beat Detroit. That means Seattle stayed ahead of the 7-8 Lions for the eighth spot in the NFC playoff standings due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Chiefs dominated the first 28 minutes of the game, outscoring the Seahawks 17-0 and outgaining them 181-32 before Seattle finally put together a drive to get on the board.
But that, too, ended in disappointment as Smith threw incomplete on two passes from the 3-yard-line in the final seconds of the first half, which meant Seattle had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Jason Myers as time ran out.
The Seahawks used a 35-yard pass from Smith to DK Metcalf — as well as three penalties on the Chiefs, two drawn by Metcalf — to get close.
Metcalf almost had a TD on the drive but couldn’t get both feet in bounds on a catch at the back of the end zone.
While the Chiefs generally moved it easily, averaging 5.8 yards per play, they were just 2-of-6 on third downs, one failure coming on a drop of a pass that would have gotten a first down, and two others when Mahomes was off target on throws.
But a little bit of sloppiness by the Chiefs was about all that kept Seattle close at all throughout the first half.
The Seahawks had just 26 yards rushing on 10 carries in the first half — 16 on nine from rookie Kenneth Walker III, who played despite not practicing all week due to ankle and back injuries.
The Seahawks didn’t get their initial first down of the game until under eight minutes to go in the second quarter. Seattle had six first downs in the first half, but three came on penalties.
Smith was 10-of-18 for 81 yards in the first half, at one point in the second quarter getting up slow after a sack. But Smith did not go into the blue medical tent and did not miss a play.
Seattle got the ball first to start the second half. But on a third-and-7 play, Smith decided against running when it appeared he might have had room to get the first to instead throw down the middle to Marquise Goodwin. Goodwin dived but couldn’t make the catch, forcing Seattle to punt.
But the defense kept Seattle in it. The Seahawks moved to the 34, 29 and 22 on its next three drives.
The first drive was stopped on a pass for no gain to Colby Parkinson on a play when penalty on Penny Hart would have negated it anyway.
On the next drive, a fourth-and-9 pass from the 29 went for just 7 yards to Laquon Treadwell.
Then came Smith’s interception, and Seattle saw some surprising statistical advantages for naught — the Seahawks outgained the Chiefs 315-289 for the game, holding the No. 1 offense in the NFL 132 yards under its average, and outgaining the Chiefs 235-116 in the second half.
This story will be updated.