Seahawks-Lions Preview: 5 Qs, 5 As with Pride of Detroit

Sep 30, 2022 - 3:00 PM

The Seattle Seahawks opened the season facing off against a pair of familiar quarterbacks in Russell Wilson and Jimmy Garoppolo. The Week 1 win over Wilson and his new teammates on the Denver Broncos had fans excited for the potential of a Cinderella season. However, a 27-7 drubbing at the hands of the division rival San Francisco 49ers in Week 2 brought things back to reality.

Unfortunately, the team followed up that performance against the Niners with a Week 3 showing that did not do much to inspire confidence. The defense was once again gashed both on the ground and through the air, while the offense once again went stagnant after halftime and the Hawks fell 27-23 to the Atlanta Falcons.

Week 4 brings another quarterback with whom the Seahawks are familiar in Jared Goff, though he will be wearing a different uniform against Seattle this time around. Goff was, of course, a member of the Los Angeles Rams in his previous nine starts against the Hawks, with one of those starts being the biggest loss of the Pete Carroll era, the 42-7 drubbing with the NFC West title on the line in 2017.

In any case, in Detroit Goff is leading what is, at least through the first three weeks of the season, the second highest scoring team so far this year, and which could prove a challenge for a defense that has struggled to slow opponents down at all so far in 2022. To preview the game, Field Gulls joined up with Mike Payton of Pride of Detroit for this week’s installment of 5 Qs, 5 As.

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1. The Lions have been a juggernaut on the offensive side of the ball this year, but have given up more points than any other team in the league. Which side has the advantage when the Seahawks (30th in scoring at 15.7 points per game) face off against the Lions defense (32nd in points allowed at 31.0 points per game)?

The Lions defense has the advantage here simply because while they’ve allowed some points, they’ve had some moments where they look like a pretty good defense against some of the best players in the league. The Seahawks certainly have some talented players, but they’re a team in transition. On paper, this seems like an offense that the Lions will allow to score on them, but they should be able to stop more than any of their previous opponents.

2. Fans know the big names on the Lions roster in Goff, Swift, Williams, St. Brown, Hutchinson and the rest, but who is a player Seattle whose name Seahawks fans may not recognize who could have an impact on the outcome of the game?

I’m going to sort of cheat here. Most everyone knows Jeff Okudah’s name. He was the third overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. But since getting drafted his career has been forgettable due to two back to back season ending injuries. This season Okudah has been ballin out there. He held Devonta Smith to zero yards, Terry Mclaurin to 22 yards and Justin Jefferson to 14 yards. Okudah will probably be put on DK Metcalf and it could be another fun matchup.

3. Detroit dropped a heartbreaker to the division rival Vikings in Week 3. How high is the potential for an emotional letdown after that?

Normally I would say it’s incredibly high for the Lions. These days things are different though. The Lions continuously seem to be a team that learns from its mistakes in this regime. Still, how the Lions respond to last week could be pretty telling. This should be a game that the Lions win. But if they aren’t over last week, this has trap game written all over it

4. The O/U for this game is at 50 according to DraftKings Sportsbook, which equals the maximum combined points from any Seattle game to this point in the season, which means it appears oddsmakers are expecting the Lions offense to stay hot and carry both teams over the half century mark. Will that happen, or should we bet the under?

Last week I took the over and I got burned. So I’m taking the under this week. I think the Lions are still able to score points, but I have a hard time seeing them stay in that 30 point range. I think it could be close though.

5. What’s your prediction for this game? Is it the Lions or the Seahawks who will head into the second quarter of the season at .500? (Or will both teams enter Week 5 at 1-2-1, because that’s something I could see this Seahawks team doing).

Please no ties! I hope both of these teams don’t have to go through a tie ever again. While I think there’s reason to be concerned that this is a trap game, I think the Lions should be able to win this game. I’m going with the Lions in a 28-17 game.

And that’s it for this installment of 5 Qs, 5 As, so now it’s on to Sunday morning and a 10 AM start.

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