Chiefs vs. Seahawks Inactives: Who's In, Who's Out?

Kansas City and Seattle have announced their lists of inactive players for Week 16.

The Kansas City Chiefs are 11-3 on the year, and they'll be looking for win No. 12 against the Seattle Seahawks in a noon Christmas Eve matchup.

This season, Seattle has been one of the streakiest teams in the NFL. Pete Carroll's group got out to a blazing 6-3 start through nine games, but a 1-4 record since then with a lone win over the lowly Los Angeles Rams during that stretch raises the stakes for this week's game. Standing at 7-7 and currently being one spot shy of making the playoffs in the NFC, the Seahawks are in major need of an upset win on the road in order to spoil the Chiefs' holiday and keep their own ship afloat.

Kansas City, on the other hand, comes into Week 16 tied with the Buffalo Bills for the best record in the AFC. With that said, a tiebreaker from Week 6 requires Andy Reid's squad to simply keep winning and hope for a Buffalo loss over the next few weeks. The Chiefs have forfeited the opportunity to control their own destiny for now as far as seeding is concerned, so all they can do is take care of business and hope for some outside help along the way. Saturday's game against the Seahawks marks the continuation of that effort. 

With that in mind, ahead of their game back at home, the Chiefs' list of inactive players has been released:

Here are today's inactives for #SEAvsKC:

QB Shane Buechele
DE Joshua Kaindoh
T Geron Christian
T Darian Kinnard
DE Malik Herring
DT Khalen Saunders

— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 24, 2022

Kansas City made multiple injury-related decisions on Friday, beginning with placing tight end Jody Fortson on the injured reserve list and officially activating Blake Bell from IR in his place. Bell, who got injured during the preseason, is officially active for the Chiefs and will make his season debut on Saturday. Additionally, the Chiefs elevated defensive tackle Danny Shelton from the practice squad and he will make his 2022 debut with Khalen Saunders being out for Week 16. Saunders didn't practice this week due to an illness and was listed as doubtful on Thursday. 

Elsewhere, wide receiver Mecole Hardman wasn't activated on Friday and will be out for yet another week. Because he's still in his 21-day practice window and isn't on the active 53-man roster just yet, he hasn't appeared on the team's formal injury report. Defensive lineman Mike Danna and safety Deon Bush — both battling illnesses during the week but returning to practice in full capacity on Thursday — carried questionable designations into Saturday's outing but will play for the Chiefs.

The Seahawks' inactives have also been released:

Today’s @Seahawks inactives: pic.twitter.com/4w7AnNqY5f

— Seahawks PR (@seahawksPR) December 24, 2022

In advance of Saturday's game, the Seahawks had already ruled out the trio of wide receiver Tyler Lockett, safety Ryan Neal and nose tackle Al Woods. Additionally, four others (running back DeeJay Dallas, tight end Noah Fant, running back Kenneth Walker III and wide receiver Marquise Goodwin) carried questionable designations on the injury report. All three questionable players are active for Seattle on Christmas Eve in Kansas City despite their respective ailments.

Read More: Chiefs vs. Seahawks Preview and Predictions