Okoye’s Second Half Gives Kansas City Win

Chuck Knox had warned his defense all week about how dangerous Kansas City fullback Christian Okoye was.

But the Seahawks apparently forgot their coach’s message as Okoye ran for 105 yards in 18 carries in the second half, helping Kansas City rally for a 20-16 win.

“We didn’t tackle well and he ran hard,” Knox said after watching Okoye lead the Chiefs back from a 16-3 halftime deficit. “It’s not like he just arrived today. We knew what he was capable of doing.”

Okoye attacked the Seahawks’ defensive front of Jacob Green, Jeff Bryant and Joe Nash for a career-high 156 yards in 30 carries. His running helped the Chiefs improve to 2-3 while Seattle dropped to 2-3.

Okoye, a 260-pound, third-year pro from Azusa Pacific, scored on a 13-yard run in the third quarter. He broke four tackles and dragged 182-pound cornerback Melvin Jenkins into the end zone standing up.

Okoye’s previous career-best rushing performance was 112 yards against San Diego this season. It was his third straight 100-yard rushing day. His first two years in the NFL have been hampered by injuries.

“This 100 feels a lot better because we won,” Okoye said. “I would like to carry the ball every time and run and run and run. But I just leave that to the coaches.”

Kansas City Coach Marty Schottenheimer didn’t deviate from his game plan of giving Okoye the ball.

“If he stays healthy and continues to progress, he could be something because he’s only realized about 70% of his potential,” Schottenheimer said. “He is to us like Eric Dickerson is to the Colts.”

The Chiefs needed Okoye’s second-half performance after falling behind from the start.

His third-quarter touchdown trimmed the lead to 16-10, and Nick Lowery added a 25-yard field goal on the fifth play of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 16-13.

On the next series, Kansas City free safety Deron Cherry intercepted a Dave Krieg pass intended for Brian Blades and ran it back 27 yards to the Seattle 11-yard line.

The Chiefs scored their game-winning touchdown five plays later on a two-yard pass from Ron Jaworski to tight end Alfredo Roberts at 5:33 of the fourth quarter.