The Seattle Seahawks entered Monday night with one of the top pass defenses in the NFL, but they left Detroit making unwanted history.
Jared Goff had a flawless game, completing 18 passes out of 18 for 292 yards and three touchdowns. He even caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Geno Smith did his best by throwing for 395 yards and rushing for another 38, but he couldn’t save the defense in the 42-29 loss.
“Give Detroit a lot of credit, but it just wasn’t a good enough performance on the defensive side of the ball,” said Seahawks coach Mike MacDonald. “Our guys fought hard, and we were in it until the final seconds, but we’re clearly not the football team we need to be.”
The Seahawks faced nothing unexpected from the Lions. David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 118 rushing yards, marking the fourth straight game with over 100 yards for Detroit’s running backs.
Goff spread the ball around. His 18 completions averaged only 4.1 yards in the air, but the receivers added another 218 yards after the catch.
Even Jameson Williams’ 70-yard touchdown reception included just 14 yards in the air and 56 yards after he caught the ball.
“There were a lot of things that we’ve been executing at a high level defensively — taking the right angles, tackling, and all the stuff we emphasize daily,” MacDonald said. “That didn’t happen today, so we will watch the tape, find out why, and fix it.
“You can’t give up that many yards after the catch.” MacDonald’s defenders agreed with him.
“Honestly, we just couldn’t stop them,” nose tackle Johnathan Hawkins said. “That’s not Seahawks football. We didn’t do our part, but we’re going to bounce back from this.”
