WYMAN AND BOB

Schlereth on Seahawks: ‘They’re better than I thought they were’

Oct 2, 2024, 10:41 AM | Updated: 1:14 pm

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The Seattle Seahawks dropped to 3-1 with their first loss of the season on Monday night, falling 42-29 to the Detroit Lions in front of a raucous crowd at Ford Field.

But considering the circumstances, this was far from a bad loss.

Rost: What the Seahawks’ loss to the Lions tells us

The Seahawks were facing a talent-laden Lions team that’s a favorite to reach the Super Bowl after coming oh-so-close last season. They were playing in what’s become one of the most hostile road environments in the NFL. And they were missing five key defensive players due to injuries – which became six when safety Julian Love exited with an injury mid-game.

“When you start missing four or five and six of your guys – when you consider there’s only 11 dudes that get to play at one time – that is a big, big deficit that you have to try to overcome,” FOX NFL analyst Mark Schlereth said Tuesday during his weekly appearance on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. “And so that hurts.

“And it not only hurts from a physicality standpoint and your ability to play that position and play that role, but it really hurts the communication – being able to talk to one another, being able to be in the right place. … People just don’t understand how much you have to communicate on a football field to actually be a really good team.”

Despite all that, Seattle traded blows with Detroit all night and stayed within striking distance until the final minutes.

Led by a career performance from veteran quarterback Geno Smith and some highlight-reel plays from DK Metcalf and Kenneth Walker III, the Seahawks racked up 516 total yards – which is the 12th-most in franchise history. They also earned 38 first downs, which is tied for the sixth-most in NFL history.

And that came against what appears to be a much-improved Lions defense, which held its first three opponents to an average of just 17.7 points and 293 yards per game.

“Not that you ever get a moral victory, but you walk away from that feeling pretty good about what you did offensively,” Schlereth said. “That’s one of those that you can walk away from and say, ‘Hey, listen, we lost. Yeah, we’d like to clean some things up. Yeah, we can’t give up some of the big plays and the things that hurt us in the red zone and all that stuff.’

“But I think you do walk away from those games occasionally feeling pretty good about your football team, because I think the Lions are legit. … They do a lot of things exceptionally well (on offense). They’ve got talent. They can run. They’ve got all that stuff. And defensively, they’ve cured some of what ails them in the last couple of years. … They are a really good football team.”

For the Seahawks to hang around until the final minutes – given all they were up against – left an impression on Schlereth.

“They’re better than I thought they were,” Schlereth said. “You hang 29 points up on Detroit and you dominate some of the offensive statistics and you do what you did against them, that’s a heck of a game. That’s offensive output on the road, dealing with crowd noise.

“And look at Detroit right now. I think they’ve got star players at all three levels of their defense. And to put up the kind of offensive numbers you put up, … I was really impressed.”

Listen to the full conversation with FOX NFL analyst Mark Schlereth at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• Macdonald shares updates on injured Seattle Seahawks defenders
• Observations from Seattle Seahawks’ loss to Lions on MNF
After career night, Seahawks QB Geno Smith leads NFL in passing yards
• Seahawks’ DK Metcalf makes franchise history, but fumble proves costly
• ‘Unbelievable’ play highlights big return for Ken Walker III

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