Revenge is on Lions’ mind as Seahawks come to town, especially the defense
No team has had its way with the Detroit Lions defense the past two seasons quite like the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seahawks beat the Lions, 48-45, last October in a game in which they did not punt. A year earlier, they scored 38 points in the game’s first 31 minutes en route to a 51-29 victory.
That’s 99 points in two games, 1,017 net yards of offense and 12 touchdowns (including one defensive score) by seven different players.
“I hear you guys talking about how they have a bad taste in their mouth (from losing their opener to the Los Angeles Rams),” Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said Thursday. “Well, hell, I got one in my mouth, too. We gave up 50 points like damn near twice, so our guys will be ready to play. They’ll be ready to play.”
The Lions (1-0) host the Seahawks (0-1) on Sunday at Ford Field in a battle between two teams expected to contend for an NFC playoff berth this fall.
The Lions upset the Kansas City Chiefs last week, 21-20, to start the season on a winning note for the first time since 2017, but Sunday’s game has an even more personal feel.
The Seahawks handed the Lions one of their worst beatdowns of the 2021 season, in Dan Campbell’s first year as head coach and Glenn’s first season as defensive coordinator. They averaged nearly a first down a play (8.8 yards) against Glenn’s undermanned defense last year. And their early-season victory turned out to be the thing that kept the Lions out of the playoffs, after the Lions beat the Green Bay Packers in Week 18 to help Seattle qualify for the postseason.
The Lions and Seahawks finished with identical 9-8 records last season, but Seattle claimed the NFC’s final wild card spot based on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
“We got a lot pushing for this game,” linebacker Derrick Barnes said. “I’ll say that it’s important for the guys. You come in here, especially me being a third-year guy and the first two years you get your ass kicked by Seattle and you know exactly what they’re coming here to do. They’re coming in here to run the ball down your throat and see if we can stop it.”
The Lions could not stop Seattle’s rushing or
passing attacks last season as Rashaad Penny ran for 151 yards and two touchdowns and Geno Smith threw for 320 yards and two more scores.
Smith, who also had a rushing touchdown in that game, won NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors last season and is back for his second full year as Seahawks starting quarterback, but Seattle’s offense will have a slightly different feel.
Former Michigan State star Kenneth Walker has replaced Penny as Seattle’s featured running back, and Smith will be playing behind a battered offensive line that likely will feature two fill-in starters at tackle. The Seahawks placed right tackle Abraham Lucas on injured reserve Wednesday, and left tackle Charles Cross is not expected to play because of turf toe.
Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill said he expects the Seahawks, who could start 41year-old Jason Peters at one tackle spot, to be even more run-focused this week. The Seahawks have steamrolled the Lions for 500 yards on the ground the past two seasons.
“We’ve got to slow that down,” McNeill said. “I feel like we’ve got some good looks at what they kind of do over the week as this week went on, but yeah, that’s an explosive back we’re going to have to stop. We’re going to have to slow him down early.”
Barnes said the Lions’ struggles against the Seahawks the past two seasons were less about what Seattle did on offense and more about where the Lions were at in their rebuild
Though seven defensive starters remain on the roster from the Lions’ Week 17 loss at Seattle near the end of the 2021 season, just two —
McNeill and Charles Harris — remain in prominent defensive roles.
The Lions stymied reigning NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ high-powered offense last week, forcing one turnover and bottling up Kansas City’s rushing attack. And they seem better equipped — from a talent standpoint and mentally — to handle the Seahawks offense Sunday.
“This is one of those games where we kind of have a chip on our shoulder and this is a must for us, this is get-back for us, honestly,” Barnes said. “So we’re going to come prepared, we have a major game plan and as long as us and the guys go out there and execute, we’ll come out on top.”