Well, well, well… stop me if you’ve heard this one before: the Seattle Seahawks defied the odds and came up with a big win. Sure, a Week 2 win over the Detroit Lions is hardly the grandest upset in recent memory, but it surely is one of the biggest of the week!
The Seahawks, coming off an embarrassing 30-13 beatdown at home in Week 1, traveled to Detroit to face a red-hot Lions team. Easily the most hyped team of the offseason has been Detroit, and with a win over the Chiefs themselves, the Lions were going to enjoy a home opener with perhaps the most enthusiastic fans they’ve seen in recent memory. For the first time in the history of Ford Field, there was a sellout crowd among season ticket holders.
Buy Seahawks TicketsSo naturally, the Lions repaid their fans’ excitement with a 37-31 loss, courtesy of the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawks have plenty of work to do moving forward, but today was several steps in the right direction. Here are the main takeaways from the game:
Geno Smith rewards Seattle's faith
Easily the biggest surprise last year was the emergence of Geno Smith as a bonafide Pro Bowl caliber quarterback. But since Smith was an impending free agent, the Seahawks had a choice: do they bet on Smith being legitimate, or do they let him walk and bet on the fact he could be a one-year-wonder?
Seattle chose to extend Smith, and on Sunday, he rewarded them mightily. Smith was sublime against the Lions, completing 32-of-41 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns. What can’t be captured on the stat sheet was how outstanding he was at avoiding pressure, extending plays, and delivering strikes when needed.
Sunday’s game was a comeback fit for the Comeback Player of the Year.
Offensive line performed admirably
Nothing was more talked about this week in Seattle than the status of their offensive line – specifically tackles Abe Lucas and Charles Cross. Neither played on Sunday, as both were injured in Week 1. How was this line going to hold up without either of their anchors, especially against a legitimate Lions pass rush?
Exceptionally well, actually. Smith had plenty of time to throw and operate within the pocket. In fact, the only time Smith was sacked was when he was trying to do too much, tried running away and got caught. That was not on the offensive line. It was the only time Smith was sacked, or even touched, as Detroit did not register a quarterback hit elsewhere in the game.
It was tougher sledding getting the ground attack going, but the rebuild offensive line did provide enough of a push to get Kenneth Walker III into the end zone twice.
Pass rush has work to do, but showed slight improvement
The bar wasn’t exactly high for the Seahawks pass rush to show improvement from their abysmal Week 1, but they did clear it. At least in the second half they did. In the first half, it was more of the same: no pressure on Goff. But in the final two quarters, life was shown.
The Seahawks end the game with two sacks and six total quarterback hits. One of the most crucial came on Seattle’s second 4th down stop of Detroit, as linebacker Jordyn Brooks caused Goff to rush just enough to throw an errant pass, which was successfully defended by cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
Oh, speaking of Witherspoon…
Devon Witherspoon looks legit
Although he was burned for a touchdown on a trick play in a total “welcome to the bigs” moment, No. 5 overall pick Devon Witherspoon showed flashes of why the Seahawks selected him so high. Witherspoon finished with five total tackles, but his biggest impact came on 4th down.
Witherspoon logged his first pass defense of his career on a crucial 4th down stop.
Spoon getting the stop on 4th down!
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/klDZoHZUzb
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 17, 2023
On Seattle’s second 4th down stop of the game, Goff’s pass fell incomplete when receiver Josh Reynolds got tangled up with, you guessed it, Witherspoon. On two of the most important plays of the day for the Seahawks, their top rookie was involved.
Defense remains opportunistic
The Seahawks defense is a far cry from a resurgent Legion of Boom, or anything close to a resemblance, but they are coming up with big plays when needed.
The secondary was torched for another 300+ yard passing game, but cornerback Tre Brown bit back with a pick six. When the second half started, they forced a fumble to steal some desperately needed momentum. With Detroit marching down the field, they used their aggression against them with two stops on 4th down.
No, this defense is not perfect. There are still serious flaws up front, and will likely need to make some kind of major acquisition before the trade deadline. But they’ve clearly bought into Carroll’s mantra of “always compete” and that’s a good start.
