8 takeaways from the Detroit Lions’ victory over the Seattle Seahawks

Here are eight takeaways from the Detroit Lions’ victory over the Seahawks.

It was a tale of two Monday night games. The Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins had a dull affair, but the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks brought the fireworks.

When the dust settled, it was Detroit walking away from their Week 4 match with a victory as they knocked off the then-undefeated Seahawks on home turf. Detroit now gets a week to rest up and (hopefully) return some missing starters. Yet despite those absences, the Lions were humming on offense and holding strong on defense. It was far from a complete outing for the team, but on a night when the passing game was literally perfect, it is hard to complain too much.

Let us examine some takeaways.

The Lions offense finally comes alive

The Lions were 2-1 entering this Monday night tilt, but a lot of the leg work was done by the defense. Detroit’s highest point total was 26, but that required an overtime touchdown. Against Seattle in Week 4, it was the offense’s time to shine.

Every facet of the offense was working, even without key cog Frank Ragnow in the lineup. Goff was perfect on the night, going 18-for-18 for 292 yards and two touchdowns. His stat line did not end there, either, tacking on a touchdown catch on one of the wildest trick plays the Lions have ever pulled. His yards per attempt average (16.2) was nothing to scoff at either, so this perfect completion percentage was not a byproduct of safe, short passes. Another positive was the lack of turnovers, with Goff having thrown an interception in each prior game. Despite the literal flawless performance, that was not enough for a perfect passer rating, finishing with a score of 155.8 (a perfect score is 158.3). If you needed any evidence that passer rating is an outdated stat, look no further.

The running backs, despite Ragnow’s absence, flourished. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery had another dynamic duo performance. Gibbs recorded himself two touchdown runs as the leading rusher, but it was Montgomery that stole the show with an incredible 40-yard reception in which he trucked Devon Witherspoon. It goes without saying that the Lions offense is anchored by their run game—and when the passing game is clicking as well, that is how we get these 40-point performances.

The Lions’ passing game was buoyed by the usual suspects, with Amon-Ra St. Brown recording two touchdowns (one catch, one pass) and Jameson Williams casually recording a 70-yard touchdown grab. There were two other positive contributors as well. Sam LaPorta looked like his usual self to the tune of four catches for 53 yards. Meanwhile, recently-signed Tim Patrick had a phenomenal game as a run blocker, also adding two catches for 52 yards. He should be a staple of the offense going forward as he steps into the role previously held by Josh Reynolds.

Everyone on offense deserves praise, from Goff to Ben Johnson, but I especially want to praise Graham Glasgow, filling in at center, and Kayode Awosika. The Lions to shuffle their offensive line, but they never skipped a beat.

This section will go down as one takeaway, but there are at least five positives within that overarching takeaway.

More defensive penalties—some earned and some not

Carlton Davis has had a modest start to his Lions tenure, but I thought Monday’s game was his best in coverage. Clearly the officials did not feel the same way.

Davis was flagged three times, two of which kept a drive alive and led to Seattle touchdowns. His first penalty was a defensive holding on third-and-7, a play in which DK Metcalf essentially ran through Davis. His second penalty was a pass interference (also against Metcalf) on what looked like great coverage. His third penalty, also a pass interference, was again during coverage on Metcalf, this time on a two-point attempt. All three of these penalties were incredibly weak and could have cost the Lions were it not for a showcase from their offense.

While Davis was being wrongly penalized, the rest of the defense made some mistakes worthy of flags. Terrion Arnold had three more defensive penalties, bringing his season total to eight. One directly led to a touchdown on the next play. He had an excellent rep and pass breakup earlier in the game on Tyler Lockett, so the coverage chops are clearly there, he simply needs to clean up his game.

Elsewhere on defense, the unit had a too-many-men penalty that was immediately followed up by a touchdown—a bit of a trend here, no? Earlier in that same drive, James Houston had an offside penalty that was ultimately declined. Houston would add another offside penalty later in the game (more on him later). Levi Onwuzurike had a roughing the passer penalty after putting his weight into quarterback Geno Smith.

The Lions need to stop gifting their opponents easy yards and first downs.

Walker walks over the run defense

The Seahawks shied away from the run game in the first half—a meager five attempts—but they rectified that mistake in the second half. Kenneth Walker III had a monster half against the once-dominant Lions run defense, recording himself a whopping three touchdowns over the course of his 80-yard outing. The Lions had stymied the opposing rushing attacks in each of their prior three games, but this was their first true hiccup on the year.

Despite the rushing production from Seattle, the fault lies more on the outside defenders than the big men up front. On each of Walker’s touchdown, he bounced outside among Lions defenders chasing his ankles. This could be due to the absence of Derrick Barnes at SAM linebacker, a player that had been very disciplined in the run game. Ben Niemann substituted in against Seattle, but his performance left a lot to be desired. With Barnes and Marcus Davenport out of action, the Lions will need to address their contain game in some manner.

A lot of little positives on defense

Without getting too doom-and-gloom about the yards allowed, I though there were many positive moments from the defense. Kerby Joseph sealed the game with an incredible interception. Malcolm Rodriguez secured himself a clutch sack. Brandon Joseph played well filling in for Brian Branch. Amik Robertson stepped up with tackling and coverage. Jack Campbell had one of the best games of his career, including a critical forced fumble. Aidan Hutchinson was held without a sack, but as usual, he was bringing pressure on almost every down.

Giving up 515 total yards of offense, coupled with a multitude of penalties, is far from ideal, but I thought there were more positives than the stats might indicate. Plus, this was their first game without key players like Branch, Davenport, and Barnes. I have faith that the defense is better than this, and I saw enough encouraging signs going forward.

Houston digs himself a deeper hole

James Houston was already in the doghouse entering the season, but he might find himself off the roster at this rate.

With the Lions needing a replacement SAM linebacker, Houston saw an uptick of snaps in his biggest role of the season. Unfortunately for both Houston and the Lions, it was far more bad than good. Houston was dinged twice for offsides, inexcusable penalties for a player in his position. He is a one-trick pony that is limited to pass-rushing snaps, but he is not even playing well in that regard. He is not bringing pressure like he did as a rookie and looks outmatched against starting-caliber linemen. On one play in particular, Houston was completely pancaked by a Seattle lineman. He was otherwise held off the stat sheet.

We are at a point where it is difficult to justify a roster spot for Houston. He does not defend against the run. He does not excel on special teams. He does not drop into coverage. If he cannot rush the passer at even an average level, what does he bring to the team over, say, Isaac Ukwu or Mitchell Agude?

Back in Black

What a debut for the black uniforms. The Lions finally wore their new-look black jerseys and eye-catching blue helmets, yet another part of Detroit football that caught the national audience’s attention.

Interestingly, the Lions are currently undefeated when wearing matching jerseys and pants. They wore all-blue in Week 1 and all-white in Week 3, earning themselves wins. Against the Seahawks, they opted for the all-black look, and it notched themselves yet another win. Their lone loss came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2, a game in which they wore blue jerseys with silver pants.

Athletes are superstitious, so you have to wonder if matching colors will be the fashion for the next few games.

A long snapper tackle!

This is a very, very minor note that 99 percent of people did not notice, and 99.9 percent of people would not care about. Rookie long snapper Hogan Hatten recorded his first career tackle in just his fourth game, coming on the very first punt of the night. A long snapper making a tackle is not a game-changing event, but it is noteworthy for Hatten’s potential. His athleticism has been raved about, and there was the rare opportunity for him to not only become a good long snapper, but also a good special teams tackler. We saw a flash of this in preseason when he played linebacker in a pinch late-game.

For reference, the Lions’ previous long snapper, Scott Daly, recorded one tackle across his three seasons with Detroit. Don Muhlbach played 260 games for the Lions, but he only finished with 26 career tackles. Long snappers that can cover are a rarity in the NFL, and Hatten could very well be a good one.

A moment for Megatron

Calvin Johnson was honored by the Lions at half time in a truly great moment for the player and the franchise. For all the battles that happened on and off the field, good and bad, it was a much-needed step towards a rebuilt relationship. Johnson is in the Hall of Fame for good reason, and he more than deserved a spot among the Lions’ greats.

Jameson Williams paid tribute in fitting fashion: a dunk over the goal posts.