Now we know what happens to Mike Macdonald’s defense when you subtract five starters: It becomes latter-day Pete Carroll’s defense.
Without Leonard Williams, Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Byron Murphy and Jerome Baker, Seattle simply did not have the talent to stop Detroit’s complex and well-stocked offense Monday. The result was a rather predictable shootout win by Detroit, 42-29.
It was a memorable game, but one the Hawks and their fans are better off forgetting. Better days are ahead.
The Seattle defenders’ heads clearly were spinning for most of the game as Detroit OC Ben Johnson’s scheme confused them and set up big plays for Jared Goff and company. The Hawks made history by allowing Goff to pitch a perfect game: 18 of 18 for 292 yards, with a touchdown CATCH to boot.
It was an epic fail by Seattle’s defense, which let the Lions score TDs on six possessions in an eight-drive stretch, including a 70-yard TD pass, and surrendered 7.8 yards per play.
The Seahawks’ offense was going to have to be perfect to win this one. Geno Smith and Kenneth Walker did their best, keeping the Hawks within striking distance until the final few minutes. But their star receivers had a couple of unlucky bounces. DK Metcalf’s first-quarter fumble loomed large, as did a controversial flag on Tyler Lockett that negated a fourth-down conversion as the Hawks drove to potentially tie the game.
Smith threw for 395 yards on a team-record 56 attempts, Walker returned from injury to score three touchdowns, the Hawks earned a team-record 38 first downs and they possessed the ball for 34 minutes. But it was not quite enough.
However, the Hawks showed that even at three-quarters strength they can stick with a Super Bowl contender.
It certainly left us wondering how different it might have been if a couple of those star defenders had been healthy enough to play.
Maybe the Hawks don’t get burned by Goff on the trick-play touchdown. Maybe they don’t end up getting caught in a two-safety blitz with only Tyrel Dodson between Jameson Williams and the end zone on that 70-yard TD. Maybe Mafe or Nwosu would have forced Goff into an incompletion or two — or even an interception.
But you have to play the hand you are dealt, and the Hawks had a bad one for this game. (The Lions had injuries, too — missing their center and a few defenders of their own.)
The Hawks still are sitting in a good spot at 3-1, with a winnable game against the Giants next, before a huge Thursday night matchup with the 49ers. Then come tough games against Atlanta, Buffalo and the L.A. Rams before Seattle gets a bye.
Other notes from Detroit
Goff’s trick-play TD catch fooled Trevis Gipson, who was one of the B players filling in for Mafe and Nwosu. The Lions really took advantage of the Seahawks’ inexperience and overall newness. Dodson admitted he played a poor game; he and Drake Thomas got burned by Williams on the 70-yard catch-and-run TD.
We agree with Macdonald’s assessment that the O-line held up pretty well, all things considered. Stone Forsythe seemed to do a pretty good job when matched up against Aidan Hutchinson, the NFL’s top sack man.
We were scratching our heads over Macdonald’s decision to go for two after the Hawks had cut the deficit to 28-20. The football nerds had to be happy with his choice; the coach said he followed the analytics on that one. “Without going through all the numbers, (the situation) does favor going for two,” Macdonald told 710 Seattle Sports. “Just play it out. At some point (if) you get two opportunities to get a two-point conversion, (it) about evens out. If you get the first one, now you just need the touchdown (and extra point) and that’s a path to win the game in (regulation). … If you only (convert) one, now you’re looking at going to overtime, and now you’re still at a 50-50 proposition about winning the game.” OK, but we still would have kicked it.
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