After comfortably handling the Chicago Bears in Week 3, the Seattle Seahawks will look to make it two wins in a row when they battle the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football.
The Seahawks face their second consecutive winless opponent from the NFC North in the Lions.
But, Detroit isn’t your average 0-3 team. The Lions were within striking distance of the Broncos last week and the Vikings the week before. In addition, in Week 1, they lost in overtime versus the Chargers. So in other words, they’ve had chances to win.
While the Lions have played teams close, they still exhibit some characteristics of a winless team. Exhibit A: the run game. Ameer Abdullah has the potential to be an extremely dynamic playmaker, but the rookie has only 82 yards on the season. And those 82 yards lead the team. Overall, Detroit players have ran for 135 yards this season. To put this in perspective, Seahawks’ backup Thomas Rawls racked up 104 yards last week alone!
Seattle will certainly be feeling good about their run defense after holding Matt Forte to 74 yards on 20 carries last week. Facing an anemic Detroit rushing offense may add even more fuel to that fire.
The Seahawks’ defense certainly won’t be overly intimidated by the Lions once-heralded passing attack. Matthew Stafford has struggled this season, plain and simple. The former number one overall pick’s five interceptions would lead the league if it were not for Andrew Luck’s sudden turnover-prone ways.
Additionally, only seven quarterbacks are averaging fewer yards-per-completion than Stafford. Per Pro-Football-Reference.com, Stafford also ranks in the bottom third of the league in both quarterback rating and QBR. Throw in a comparatively pedestrian statistical output so far from Calvin Johnson, and you have an offense that isn’t what it once was. Megatron is averaging 66.3 yards per game on the season and has only caught one touchdown.
Starting opposite Johnson is Golden Tate, who will be making his return to Seattle to play against the team he won a Super Bowl for. The receiver made headlines in 2014 when he took more money to sign with Detroit; therefore, it will be interesting to see how Tate is received by the 12s. It will be even more interesting to see what impact the former Seahawk has on the game.
While everyone knows Tate makes a living on big plays, he has only one reception for more than 20 yards. That may be more indicative of his quarterback play than of him, but it will nonetheless be interesting to see how he matches up against his former teammates, specifically the Legion of Boom.
While Detroit may have offensive issues, especially running the ball, Seattle does not. Melvin Gordon and Danny Woodhead combined for 94 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries for the Chargers in Week 1 versus the Lions. The following week, Adrian Peterson ran for 134 yards on 29 carries. Even though Lions did hold the Broncos’ running backs to 41 yards last week, that may be more due to the Broncos’ equally enemic rushing attack than anything else.
Whether it be Marshawn Lynch, Rawls or a combination of both, expect the Hawks to run the ball consistently against the Lions’ defense. Detroit has allowed the second most rushing touchdowns in the league—five—and has allowed the tenth most first-downs via the run in the NFL. Translation: Detroit’s defense is susceptible to the run.
When assessing Lynch’s availability for the game, head coach Pete Carroll, per the Hawks’ official website, said he is “probably going to go to game-time.”
After seeing what Peterson, and to a lesser extent Gordon and Woodhead, did against the Lions, don’t be surprised if one or both of the Seahawks’ running backs has a big day.
Additionally, Jimmy Graham could be in for a big day as well, at least in the end zone. Not only is he the team’s most dynamic pass-catcher, but he also happens to play tight end. Tight ends have had success against the Lions this season, especially in the end zone. Ladarius Green, Kyle Rudolph and Owen Daniels all scored against Detroit, making Graham a candidate for another big day after his strong showing (seven catches, 83 yards and a touchdown) against Chicago.
Whether or not Graham and the running game have strong games will be seen at 8:30 pm EST Monday night, which is the time scheduled for kickoff at CenturyLink Field.