A Streak Ends, A Season Ends
Seattle had not lost in twelve games. Then Washington happened. The Commanders beat the Seahawks 33-31, snapping the longest active winning streak in the NFL, and they did it while losing one of their own for the year.
Leo Chenal went to make a tackle on Seahawks running back Emanuel Wilson, dropped his head into the contact, and stayed down. He left the field on a stretcher. The diagnosis that followed: a fractured neck, and season-ending surgery.
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The Numbers Behind The Streak
Twelve straight wins is the kind of run that reshapes a season, and Seattle had built exactly that heading into Sunday, unbeaten since before the calendar turned to fall. Washington ended it on the road, against a team that had not tasted defeat in over two months. For a Commanders roster still finding its footing, that result carries more weight than the two points in the standings suggest.
Chenal signed with Washington this offseason after four seasons in Kansas City, arriving as a run-stopping linebacker the Commanders wanted anchoring the middle of their defense. Through three games in the new uniform, he had racked up 18 tackles, a real early presence in a new system before Sunday’s collision changed everything.
The Recovery Ahead
According to NFL reporter Jordan Schultz, medical staff confirmed Chenal could still move his arms and legs as he was carted off, a detail that matters far more than any stat line. Surgery will follow, and so will a long recovery that pushes the rest of his 2026 season, and possibly the start of 2027, into question.
Washington will now lean on its linebacker depth to replace an every-week presence, all while trying to build on a win that already looks like one of the signature results of its season so far.
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