Detroit Lions Week 17 Report Card: Battered Lions get bludgeoned by Seahawks

The Detroit Lions ventured to Seattle in their penultimate game of the 2021 season. However, this was not a pleasant trip, as the Seahawks bludgeoned the Lions by a score of 51-29.

From start to finish Seattle was in control of this contest. Detroit failed to generate offense when it mattered, and their defense couldn’t stop much of anything.

To put it simply, the Seahawks outclassed them in every facet on Sunday. Detroit had some good moments but couldn’t put it all together.

Detroit Lions Week 17 Report Card

Offense-3/5 Stars

The Lions offense was missing numerous pieces from the passing attack, and Tim Boyle was once again starting at quarterback in place of Jared Goff (knee).

Surprisingly though, the 29 points the Lions scored tied for the third-most they’ve put up this season.

But untimely turnovers and a constant deficit were way too much to overcome.

While the offense wasn’t phenomenal was better than could have been expected.

Best offensive player: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown

I’m running out of ways to describe how good St. Brown has been playing as of late. He has fully established himself as a centerpiece in this offense.

In this game, he accounted for 37.5 percent of the Lions’ offense. Racking up 111 yards receiving and adding an additional 23 yards on the ground, he also scored two touchdowns—one through the air and one on the ground.

St. Brown has exceeded even the rosiest of expectations as a rookie this season. His production brings into question how big a need the wide receiver position really is this offseason. He has been that dominant over the last five games.

Worst offensive player: QB Tim Boyle

To be fair to Boyle, he had a patchwork receiving corps and tight end group to throw the ball to. And he did throw for 262 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Given the patchwork group of pass catchers, an interception or two could’ve been overlooked. But three? That’s crossing the line to unacceptable, even for a backup quarterback making his third career start.

It’s unknown ir Boyle will be playing in the season finale against the Packers, his former team, next week. If he does, he will need to put forth a better game than what he did in Seattle.

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.

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.

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.

Coaching Staff-2/5 Stars

Dan Campbell gets some credit for calling some good plays for Boyle and offense. However, some personnel decision are worthy of criticism.

D’Andre Swift made his return to the lineup this week, and he only had four carries and two receptions. Jamaal Williams saw 11 carries and three receptions, and Craig Reynolds saw four carries with a single catch.

Swift is easily this team’s best and most electric offensive player, only giving him six touches in favor of less-talented options is highly questionable. Yes Swift was returning from a lengthy absence, but you seriously couldn’t give him more than six touches?

Beyond upsetting countless fantasy football managers, you only hurt your offense by not giving your best player the ball.

The defensive coaching staff also deserves some flak for how poorly their unit played in this game. For as great as Aaron Glenn has been all season, this was far from his best work. Detroit struggled to generate pressure and failed to stop the run all game long.

Final Thoughts

There’s no way to sugarcoat this, it was a truly terrible game for the Lions. Stretches of good play but not nearly good enough to dig themselves out of a big hole.

The only good news to come from this game is regarding the Lions’ draft position.

With the loss, Detroit is now locked into a top-two selection in the 2022 draft. To reclaim the No. 1 overall pick, the Jacksonville Jaguars would have to beat the Indianapolis Colts next week. Given how unlikely that appears to be, the Lions seem destined to pick second overall.

Detroit closes out the season at home against the Packers. Green Bay will likely rest their starters after clinching  the top seed in the NFC, and the Lions have nothing to lose. So it could be a competitive game.

Aside from that, there’s not a lot of good to talk about right now. This was just a bad week for Lions football.

Final grade: 2/5 Stars