Seahawks squash 4th-quarter magic of Lions QB Matthew Stafford
Jan 7, 2017, 10:17 PM | Updated: 11:09 pm
Matthew Stafford and the Lions were kept out of the end zone by the Seahawks on Saturday. (AP)
(AP)
Stephen Hauschka had just missed an extra point, and Detroit was down but not out with most of the fourth quarter to play.
This is where the Lions thrived all season long. Instead, the Seahawks’ defense did what a lot of others couldn’t do: hold strong at the end of the game.
Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford passed for more than 4,000 yards and had an NFL record eight fourth-quarter comebacks this season. And if there was to be another late comeback, it was going to come after that missed extra point inside the final 9 minutes.
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Stafford, who had been held to 152 yards passing at that point, started the drive with a 19-yard pass to Marvin Jones. And that was it. The next pass was right in cornerback DeShawn Shead’s breadbasket, though it was dropped. Heavy pressure on the next two passes led to incompletions and a fourth-and-10. Time for another punt.
Detroit didn’t see the ball again until there was less than four minutes to play, down by 20 points.
There would be no miracle on this day.
“We know that with this team, Matthew Stafford is a great quarterback, we had to play 60 minutes of football and we knew that going into this game,” said Shead, who noted that the team game-planned for Detroit’s comeback prowess. “We’re up, they only score six points, we’re dominating this game but every player on the defense knows that the game ain’t over until it’s over.”
After five straight seasons of leading the league in defensive scoring, Seattle finished third during this regular season (18.3 points per game) behind the Patriots and the Giants. But against Detroit’s potent offense, they held them to just 231 total yards and six points, continuing their years-long trend of being able to bend but not break with the best of them. The defensive group finished with three sacks (two in the final drive), no takeaways and forced only two three-and-outs, but it was more than enough to contain the punchless Lions.
“We’re aware of (their comebacks) but we know that if we continue to do what we did all three quarters, we’d be fine,” said middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, who finished with a team-high six tackles. “That was the thing. Stay focused, they could come back at any given time.”
Focus was something that appeared to be lacking on Detroit’s side. While the Seahawks’ wide receivers made a handful of incredible catches, the Lions’ receivers had multiple costly drops. That included one by Golden Tate, the team’s leading receiver, who whiffed on what would have been an easy first down during the Lions’ first possession. The former Seahawk was a relative non-factor Saturday, catching three passes for 25 yards – the longest of which was 13 yards.
“They really couldn’t get the ball to him today. Everything was coming out so fast because we were rushing so well, so Golden didn’t really get to be a part of the game,” defensive end Michael Bennett said.
Stafford was playing through a finger injury on his throwing hand, and he acknowledged after the game that he is “not 100 percent” but didn’t think the injury affected him too much. To that end, Shead said the Pro Bowler was still making the type of crisp throws they saw on film.
“Maybe one or two balls could have been affected by his finger but we don’t know,” he said. “We don’t anticipate that and we don’t expect that. We’ve just got to stay in position.”
Overall, Kam Chancellor said this was one of the Seattle defensive group’s best all-around efforts this season and credited the team’s ability to stick together.
“Play for your brother. Man up, stand up. Play to the end. Do your job. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake because ain’t nobody perfect,” he said. “Just play for each other.”
