Humbled in the Motor City in front of a national audience, the Seattle Seahawks were on the receiving end of a 42-29 defeat to the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football, casting some questions from skeptics regarding where the team fits into the NFC playoff picture heading into October.
But could the game still be viewed as a positive step forward against one of the NFC's best teams?
On one hand, the Seahawks clearly endured their worst defensive performance of the season, allowing Lions quarterback Jared Goff to complete all 18 of his pass attempts for 292 yards and score three total touchdowns, including a 70-yard bomb to Jameson Williams. Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs also had a field day against an undermanned front seven, rushing for 118 yards and three touchdowns combined to pace Detroit's high-powered offense.
Taking responsibility for the team's subpar execution, coach Mike Macdonald felt the Seahawks weren't "close to the standard" needed to win an NFL game against a quality opponent.
"It's never as good, it's never as bad, but it was pretty consistent with what I reported right after the game," Macdonald said on Wednesday. "There's just some uncharacteristic mistakes that we weren't expecting and then Detroit did a great job with their plan and their execution too, so you don't want to take anything away from them, but it's just an overall, 'Hey, it's a one play at a time mindset. How focused can we be? Can we have the obnoxious communication that we're chasing so we can avoid some of those mistakes and then let's finish plays.' I can call a better game. I mean it's everybody."
On the flip side, however, Seattle's defensive struggles could largely be attributed to playing without as many as five starters for a large chunk of Monday's game. Meanwhile, Geno Smith and Ken Walker III put the team on their backs with dynamic performances, leading three touchdown drives in the second half to keep the Seahawks within striking distance all the way until the final few minutes, showcasing the type of grit and resiliency that Macdonald demands from his players and demonstrating that the offense could carry the team when needed.
For his part, Smith threw for a career-high 395 yards despite being under constant siege from Detroit's pass rush, time and time again slipping away from pressure to deliver strikes downfield for first downs. Coming back from an injury, Walker shouldered the load in the second half with 74 of his 80 rushing yards produced after halftime, including three runs of 21 yards or more.
On a new episode of Locked On Seahawks, hosts Corbin Smith and Rob Rang discuss and debate whether Monday's defeat should be viewed as a setback for Mike Macdonald's team or a game to build off of, looking at perspectives from both sides of the coin, and flip the page to Week 5 with a new "Matchup Wednesday" diving into key matchups to watch when the Giants come to town on Sunday, including star rookie receiver Malik Nabers versus Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen.
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