The Detroit Lions fell short in a shootout against the Seattle Seahawks, 48-45, in Week 4 of the 2022 NFL season. Here we'll look at some takeaways from the Lions’ Week 4 loss.
If you enjoy offensive football, Sunday's game between the Detroit Lions and the Seattle Seahawks was for you. Both teams, but particularly the Lions, played virtually little defense. Seattle did not punt once, marking the first time in team history that they went a whole game without punting. With wild abandon, the two teams lit up the Ford Field scoreboard.
Unfortunately, the Lions had no answer for Geno Smith and Rashaad Penny, who were outstanding in this game. Smith scored three touchdowns in the first half, and Penny added two more in the second half to help Seattle defeat the Lions.
It was another high-scoring game for the Lions, who are averaging 35 points per game while allowing slightly more. They are the only team in NFL history to score and allow 281 points in the first four games of a season. That's not really a good thing.
Here are our four takeaways from the Detroit Lions' Week 4 loss vs. the Seahawks.
4. Lions need more from Jared Goff
Lions QB Jared Goff needed to play a clean game with some important players unavailable due to injuries. Instead, with the Lions behind 24-15, the veteran quarterback began the second half with a costly interception.
Goff's original target was tight end T.J. Hockenson, but he was intercepted. The pick was then returned 40 yards for a touchdown by Seahawks rookie defensive back Tariq Woolen. That increased the Seahawks' advantage to 31-15.
Overall, we felt Jared Goff performed okay. He was not spectacular even if he threw 378 yards (again, no defense in this game), but that pick-six was a game-changer. In the first half, he would have thrown another one that should have been a pick-six, but Seahawks EDGE Uchenna Nwosu dropped the gimmie. Unfortunately, the Lions rely on him to be practically error-free, though that didn't happen in this game. Detroit needs more from its QB if they are to truly contend this season.
3. Lions special teams sputtered
The Lions' special teams were quite intriguing to watch during the contest. Kicker Dominik Eberle made his first start for the Lions in relief of the injured Austin Seibert. Based on the results, however, it may be his last.
Eberle's first extra point attempt was unsuccessful. He also missed another later in the game, making him 4-of-6 on extra points this season. Eberle did hit his one FG effort, but it was hardly an encouraging beginning.
Maurice Alexander, another special teams player making his Lions debut, showed some excellent juice on one kick return. His other two, on the other hand, were unimpressive, tumbling down on first contact and missing a potential seam for extra yards.
Punter Jack Fox, however, receives a game star. Fox's two punts averaged 45 yards, and he also completed an early fake throw to WR Quintez Cephus.
2. Terrific T.J. Hockenson
Someone had to step up on a day when the Lions were without two starting receivers and top pass-catching RB D'Andre Swift. Tight end T.J. Hockenson did exactly that. Hockenson had the best game of his professional career in this matchup.
He established the Lions' single-game receiving yardage record with 179 yards on eight receptions. One of them was an 81-yard run in which he broke tackles and ran nearly entirely on his own.
No. 88 just owned the Seahawks. He was regularly wide open, even when QB Jared Goff looked elsewhere. And, in that regard, Goff should have targeted Hockenson more than the 12 times he did.
1. Where was Detroit's defensive line?
It all starts up front when a team allows 555 total yards and 27 first downs. That's what the Lions' defensive line did in this game. All day, Seattle's offensive line battered Detroit's defensive front.
The players behind the DL were also fairly inept, but 33 carries for 235 yards is a clear indictment on the Detroit offensive line. To illustrate, during the Seahawks' game-winning run, starting DT Michael Brockers was planted seven yards down the field on 3rd-and-5 by a single Seattle blocker.
It didn't matter if you were Brockers, Alim McNeill, Aidan Hutchinson, Charles Harris, Austin Bryant, or Julian Okwara. All day, none of them could touch Geno Smith. Hutchinson was officially recorded with two QB hits, although neither had any effect on the Seahawks quarterback. Nobody else had a single tackle behind the line or a single QB pressure.
In their own right, the linebackers labored behind them, but the lack of any meaningful presence up front made their duties impossible to do well. The Lions have spent far too much on the offensive line for it to continue performing so poorly.
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