Seahawks fail at first test of the season, but still flash potential despite suffering first loss

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — That soft landing Mike Macdonald’s crew received to start his first season in charge of the Seattle Seahawks failed its first test.

Perhaps most bothersome for Macdonald was watching his defense get shredded.

“It just shows us we’re not the team that we need to be at this point. I mean, that’s just — that’s what it is. Just wasn’t good enough,” Macdonald said.

There’s context that goes with Seattle’s 42-29 loss to Detroit on Monday night considering the Seahawks were missing five key defensive players and lost another starter to injury during the first half.

Those absences hampered the pass rush, led to some breakdowns in the secondary and allowed Detroit QB Jared Goff to post one of the best passing games in NFL history, completing all 18 of his throws.

But the injuries and absences won’t be an excuse Macdonald will accept.

“We have time to grow as a football team, we have a short week, we have to have a sense of urgency about it, and we need to take the next step. But just wasn’t good enough, especially on the defensive side of the ball. So, we’ve got to make it right and move forward,” Macdonald said.

Seattle (3-1) started the season facing a trifecta of what would be considered lower-tier quarterbacks. They opened with Bo Nix in his first NFL game, outlasted Jacoby Brissett in Week 2 and instead of getting Tua Tagovailoa in Week 3 the Seahawks faced his backups.

But Goff took full advantage of all those absences from Seattle’s defense, posting the first perfect passing game of more than 10 attempts in league history. Goff finished 18-for-18 and throw in Amon-Ra St. Brown’s TD pass to Goff and it was a perfect night for Lions passers.

Coupled with some bad tackling and a run defense that allowed 5.5 yards per carry in the first half and it was a recipe for Macdonald’s team to make plenty of corrections in a short time.

What’s working

It’s become a broken record, but Geno Smith was spectacular in the losing effort. With Seattle unable to get the run game going in the first half, Smith made enough plays to keep the Seahawks within striking distance and then flourished in the second half. Smith set franchise records for pass attempts (56) had the second-most completions in a game (38) and set a career high with 395 yards passing — 230 of those after halftime.

Smith completed passes to 10 different receivers, continuing the early season trend of making sure Seattle’s pass catching stars get their targets but not isolating solely on them.

“I have no problem with him putting the game in my hand. I’m actually hoping for that every time I go out there, and so, whenever that’s the situation, I just got to do what I got to do to make the right plays,” Smith said.

What needs help

Seattle’s run defense was not good in the first half and allowed Detroit to find the balance in its offense that made the pass game so successful. The final numbers from the Lions weren’t overwhelming but 116 yards rushing was enough and continued a bit of the success New England had running against Seattle in Week 2.

Stock up

Welcome back Kenneth Walker III. After missing the previous two games with an oblique injury, Walker erupted with three touchdown runs and 116 yards from scrimmage. Walker rushed for 80 yards, including his cutback 21-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, and had four catches for 36 yards.

Walker also made one of the most athletic plays possible flipping out of the tackle from Detroit’s Alex Anzalone.

“I don’t think any other running back could do some of the stuff that he’s doing,” Smith said.

Stock down

Seattle’s 32 penalties are tied for sixth most in the league through four weeks. While it was a borderline call, none of the nine penalties against the Lions was bigger than Tyler Lockett getting called for offensive pass interference on a fourth down conversion early in the fourth quarter with Seattle trailing 35-27.

Injuries

Seattle was decimated on its defensive line with Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II, Uchenna Nwosu and Boye Mafe all missing the loss to the Lions. The one major injury to come out of the loss is safety Julian Love, who didn’t play in the second half because of a thigh contusion. Love is important to Seattle’s secondary and any significant time out would majorly impact the Seahawks.

Key number

38 — Seattle set a franchise record with 38 first downs in the game. It’s the most in any NFL game since Denver had 39 in a 2013 game against Tennessee.

Next steps

Seattle now faces consecutive short weeks to get its defensive issues fixed, beginning with Sunday’s game against the New York Giants, before hosting San Francisco on Oct. 10.

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Tim Booth, The Associated Press