Their Week 4 victory over the Detroit Lions was far from easy, but the Seattle Seahawks earned their second win of the year. While their 2-2 record is not an accurate representation of their talent (or lack thereof), they were able to do whatever they wanted on Sunday in a game that finished 48-45.

The offense was strong all day, as Geno Smith helped lead them down the field to score for what felt like every time they had the ball. Having had to deal with all of the extra noise facing the team after they traded Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos, Smith has more than carried his own this year, and he looks like a solid starter for the Seahawks.

Defensively, there are a lot of holes that need to be plugged up. Granted, the Lions are no sleeper on the offensive side of the ball, but they were without their top two offensive weapons (Amon-Ra St. Brown and D’Andre Swift) and still scored 45 points.

In a battle of two below-average teams, the Seahawks came out on top – here are a few main takeaways from Sunday’s win.

3. Geno may just be what this team needs – for the rest of the season

While he threw for less than 200 yards in each of his first two starts this season, the Seahawks trusted Smith to turn it around, and that investment has paid dividends so far. In games against the Falcons and the Lions, Smith has thrown for over 300 yards in each game, chipping in two passing TDs each game and utilizing his legs as well.

Smith is not going to be a top QB option for Seattle at this point in his career, but he certainly has been better than advertised when he joined the team. Thrust into the spotlight amidst a position battle with Drew Lock, Smith has fully taken the reigns of this team and looks to continue that into Week 5 and beyond.

2. Penny’s workload is of a bell-cow – but he just isn’t one

The revolving door at running back for the Seahawks continued this season with both Rashaad Penny and rookie Kenneth Walker III taking most of the backfield work. Penny has been the starter so far and has earned the majority of the work, but the fact he is very game script-dependent makes him tough to read.

Penny’s forte is not in the receiving game, as he is not known for having very good hands – plus he receives little attention in passing situations, a role that Walker has held ever since he was drafted. But Walker has not shown much overall and has not taken advantage of his limited touches up to this point.

While Penny continues to have a strong workload (including 17/25 RB carries Sunday), the Seahawks do not use him well enough for him to enter that bell cow role currently. If he is somehow incorporated into the passing game more (which is unlikely) that would change, but Penny profiles as the starter who won’t see a ton of work in games where the Seahawks fall behind early (the opposite of what happened against the Lions).

1. Upcoming schedule will bring this team back down to Earth

Sunday’s shootout win over the Lions was a nice end to the first four-game stretch of the season. As the Seahawks earned wins over the Broncos and Lions but fell to the 49ers and Falcons, inconsistency is the name of the game for Seattle.

But it looks like the easier part of their schedule has come and gone, and up next is a daunting middle slate of games that likely will knock the Seahawks back to where many expected them to be – below .500.

Saints, Cardinals (x2), Chargers, Giants, Buccaneers, and Raiders are their next seven games, with their bye week mixed in between their Tampa Bay and Las Vegas matchups. There is potential that this Seahawks team struggles and only win two of these games, which would put them at 4-9 on the year.

They looked good in Week 4 against a team like the Lions with a hapless defense, but Seattle’s own defense struggled to contain an offensive unit missing some of its top pieces. When this unit is forced to try and contain the likes of Alvin Kamara, Kyler Murray, Justin Herbert, Saquon Barkley, Tom Brady, and Davante Adams, they will be exposed on a weekly basis.