Defense-1/5 Stars
Best defensive player: No one
Worst defensive player(s): Everyone
From top to bottom this was a bad game for the Lions defense. The run defense reverted back to its abysmal form, as seen against the Eagles for example, giving up 265 yards on the ground to the Seahawks.
Detroit allowed 47 rushing yards in Atlanta last week. Rashaad Penny has 74 yards on 7 carries in the first quarter today.
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) January 2, 2022
The pass defense didn’t fare much better, as Russell Wilson efficiently threw for 236 yards and four touchdowns. D.K. Metcalf was Wilson’s primary red zone target, catching three of those touchdown tosses from Wilson.
Detroit simply had no answer for anything Seattle did. And that resulted in the Seahawks posting over 50 points in this game.
Since going three-and-out to open the game, the Seahawks have scored 17 points on their next 17 plays and averaged more than a first down per snap (10.1 yards).
— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) January 2, 2022
Yikes.
Certainly nobody stood out in a positive way. While a few players stood out for the wrong reasons on Sunday, everyone gets the negative label in the Lions’ worst defensive effort of the season.
Special Teams-2/5 Stars
The Lions, poor play unfortunately even extended to the special teams this week.
Jack Fox had an uncharacteristically bad game, averaging just 44 yards per punt on three attempts.
Riley Patterson’s perfect season came to an end, as he missed his only field goal attempt of the day. He did hit all three of his extra points though.
The punt coverage was good, not that it got much work. The Seahawks had a couple good kickoff returns.
The only reason this grade isn’t a one-star is a pair of nice kick returns by Godwin Igwebuike, one of which went for 47 yards.