BRANDON GUSTAFSON

10 numbers that stand out from Seahawks’ blowout of Lions

Jan 2, 2022, 6:14 PM | Updated: 7:10 pm

Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny...

Seahawks running back Rashaad Penny rushes against the Detroit Lions during the first half. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)

(AP Photo/John Froschauer)

Was Sunday a home sendoff for one or multiple of Seahawks franchise legends – head coach Pete Carroll, quarterback Russell Wilson, linebacker Bobby Wagner and general manager John Schneider?

Instant Reaction: Seahawks blast Lions 51-29 in home finale

That remains to be determined for at least one more week, but what Seattle did do on Sunday was club the Detroit Lions 51-29 in the team’s final home game of a disappointing 2021 campaign. With the win, the Seahawks are now 6-10 on the season.

As you’d expect from a 51-point outburst, there were a lot of fun numbers to glance at when searching this game’s box score.

Rost: What can you put stock into from Hawks’ victory over two-win Lions?

Here are 10 figures from the Week 17 blowout win that stand out for the Seahawks.

1. Rushing yards: 265

Let’s start with the rushing attack, which was the name of the game for the Seahawks this week.

Led by Rashaad Penny (more on him shortly), the Seahawks ran for 265 yards on 41 rushing attempts, good for a 6.5 yards per carry average.

We know Carroll loves to run the football, but even by his standards this performance was something else, even against the lowly Lions and their very poor run defense.

This was the first time the Seahawks ran for 200 or more yards as a team since Week 7 of 2020 against the Arizona Cardinals. The 265 rushing yards are also the most the Seahawks have had as a team in a single game since Week 10 of 2018, when they ran for 273 yards against the Los Angeles Rams. Funny enough, that game was Penny’s first 100-yard rushing performance.

2. Penny rushes for 170 yards and two scores

Of the Seahawks’ 265 rushing yards, 170 of them belonged to Penny.

Penny’s been on a tear of late as this was his third game with 130 or more rushing yards in the last four weeks. He also has five rushing touchdowns in that span.

Speaking of those five touchdowns, that is a new career high for Penny. This week was his second multi-rushing touchdown game of both the season and his career, and it was his third multi-touchdown day (including receiving scores) of his career.

Penny’s the first Seahawks back to rush for over 160 yards since Thomas Rawls, who ran for 161 in a playoff win over, you guessed it, the Detroit Lions back in 2016. Rawls also had 169 rushing yards in Week 5 of 2015 against the Cincinnati Bengals and 209 against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 11 of 2015.

Penny is a pending free agent and is certainly riding high into the offseason before he hits the open market for the first time in his career.

3. 51 points scored

With Wilson at quarterback, the Seahawks have won a lot of games and scored a lot of points.

But prior to dropping 51 points on the Lions in Week 17 of this year, the Seahawks had only scored 50 or more points twice in Wilson’s career, and they both came in Wilson’s rookie season in 2012.

Not only that, but those 50-point games were done in back-to-back weeks in 2012.

First, the Seahawks clubbed the Arizona Cardinals 58-0 in Week 14. They followed that up with a resounding 50-17 win over the Buffalo Bills in the following week.

That win over the Bills was the last time the Seahawks had scored 50 points up until Sunday.

4. Wilson throws for four touchdowns

It’s been a down year for Wilson overall as he suffered a right middle finger injury and struggled for weeks upon his return, but he had a massive day against the Lions.

Wilson completed 20 of 29 passes for 236 yards and four touchdowns and didn’t turn the ball over.

Sunday was Wilson’s second four-touchdown game of the 2021 season, the other being a Week 1 win over the Indianapolis Colts. It was the 17th time in Wilson’s 10-year career he’s thrown four or more touchdowns in a game.

By hitting that mark, Wilson ties Hall of Fame quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Dan Marino for the most games with four passing touchdowns in a player’s first 10 seasons.

Wilson has one more game to try and take that record for himself when Seattle travels to Arizona to take on the Cardinals.

5. Metcalf scores three touchdowns

Third-year receiver DK Metcalf started the 2021 season very well, scoring eight touchdowns in his first eight games. But from Week 10 to Week 15, Metcalf was held out of the end zone.

He returned last week with a long score against the Bears, but he had the biggest game of his season and career touchdown-wise against Detroit. For the first time in his career, Metcalf caught three touchdowns in a single game.

It was his first multi-touchdown game since Week 8, his third such outing of the 2021 season, and the seventh of his three-year career including playoff games.

Additionally, Metcalf is the first Seahawk to catch three touchdowns in a single game since fellow receiver Tyler Lockett did so in Week 7 against the Cardinals last year. Lockett also had a three-score game last year in Week 3 against the Dallas Cowboys.

6. Lockett with 1,077 receiving yards

Speaking of Lockett, he caught just three balls for 24 yards in the blowout, but that was notable for a few reasons.

Firstly, one of those catches was a touchdown on a tricky 1-yard shovel pass from Wilson.

Secondly, Lockett now has a career-high in receiving yards despite missing one game this season due to COVID-19.

Lockett set a career high in receiving yards in 2019 when he had 1,057. He came up just short of breaking that in 2020 with 1,054 yards, though he did set a Seahawks franchise record with 100 receptions.

With the 24 receiving yards against the Lions, though, Lockett now has 1,077 yards this season, giving him a new career mark.

Lockett is just the second Seahawks player to have 1,000 or more receiving yards in three consecutive seasons, the other being Hall of Famer Steve Largent.

7. Zero to three for cornerback picks

The Seahawks entered the day with eight interceptions in 2021, all coming from safeties Quandre Diggs (five) and Jamal Adams (two) and linebacker Bobby Wagner (one).

That’s right, no Seahawks cornerback recorded an interception from Week 1 to Week 16 this year.

That changed in a big way against the Lions, though.

Thanks in part to poor play by backup Detroit quarterback Tim Boyle, Seahawks corners recorded not one, not two, but three interceptions.

D.J. Reed, fresh off the reserve/COVID list after missing two games, got the party started with an interception on the first play of the second half.

Nickel corner Ugo Amadi recorded an interception with roughly five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and that pick was the first interception in his three-year career.

And, for good measure, Reed picked off Boyle for the second time just moments later.

Those interceptions were the first by Seahawks corners since Reed and Shaquill Griffin each recorded one interception against Washington in Week 15 of last year.

Reed’s two-interception game was the first by a Seahawks defensive back since Griffin in Week 2 of 2018, and it was the first multi-interception game by any Seattle defender since linebacker K.J. Wright had two in a Week 15 win over the Carolina Panthers in 2019.

8. Brooks tallies 10 tackles

When you think of Seahawks linebackers tallying tackles, you naturally think of Bobby Wagner, who has the most tackles in franchise history and earned his eighth straight Pro Bowl nod this season.

Wagner left Sunday’s game against the Lions after Detroit’s first offensive play with a knee injury, leaving second-year linebacker Jordyn Brooks to lead the team in tackles with 10.

Wagner entered the day leading the NFL in tackles, but Brooks wasn’t far behind at third place. Brooks notched his 11th-career 10-tackle outing and the 10th of the 2021 season.

Wagner has just one year remaining on his current contract, and with so much uncertainty surrounding the franchise as it comes to core figures like Carroll, Wilson and Wagner, Brooks may be the next leader for the Seahawks in the middle of that defense come 2022.

9. Home record: 3-5

The previous eight figures were fun as it relates to the Seahawks succeeding, but the next two are more somber reminders of how poorly the 2021 season has gone.

Sunday’s win over the Lions at Lumen Field gives the Seahawks a 3-5 home record in 2021, which is the worst home record the team has had since Carroll came to town in 2010.

Carroll-led Seattle teams had gone 4-4 at home three times in the previous 11 seasons, but 2021 is the first time the Seahawks have had a sub-.500 home record under Carroll.

The three home wins are the fewest the team has had since going 2-6 at then-Qwest Field in 2008, Mike Holmgren’s final year with the franchise.

10. Still a shot at seven wins

By beating Detroit, Seattle kept the hope of a seven-win season alive ahead of the team’s finale in Arizona next Sunday.

Why is that notable?

Well, the Seahawks under Pete Carroll have never won fewer than seven games in a single season.

Seattle went 7-9 in each of Carroll’s first two years in 2010 and 2011, but the Seahawks won at least nine games every year after until this season.

Yes, there’s a 17th regular season game in 2021 for the first time in NFL history, but with a win next week the Seahawks can get to the seven-win threshold yet again under Carroll by beating the Cardinals.

If not, the Seahawks’ six wins will be the franchise’s fewest in a season since 2009, when they went 5-11 in Jim Mora’s lone year as head coach. Mora was fired that offseason as the team wound up hiring Carroll.

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