The Seattle Seahawks offense had to do a whole lot just to keep the team competitive against a Detroit Lions juggernaut that tore apart an undermanned Seahawks defense. They did as much as they could, but it still wasn’t enough in a 42-29 loss.
If I were to tell you that in a non-overtime game, the Seahawks would rack up 516 yards of offense and 38 (!!) first downs, you’d probably assume this was a Seattle win. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The Seahawks now hold the modern NFL record for most first downs in a loss.
Using Stathead, the previous mark (playoffs or regular season) belonged to the Dallas Cowboys in last season’s playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers, but that was also a game where they were down 27-0 and 48-16, so they racked up a big chunk of garbage time. In regular season play, the 2019 Los Angeles Rams lost 55-40 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite 36 first downs.
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I’m not caught up on NFL data in 1934 and question the availability of All-22 film from that era, so I will safely assume that “modern NFL history” (aka post-merger) has been made by the Seahawks.
The 38 first downs is also a new franchise record for the Seahawks, breaking the previous mark of 34, which happened twice against the San Diego Chargers in 1987 and 2002.
