Eric Williams

NFL reporter

As one of only three undefeated teams left in a Monday Night Football game against the Detroit Lions, the Seattle Seahawks were considered a surprising success story in the NFL.

However, Seattle’s three wins came against a Denver Broncos team led by a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix, the rebuilding New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins without injured Pro Bowl QB Tua Tagovailoa.

So Seattle faced its toughest test yet this season on the road against Detroit. And Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks’ tally remains incomplete after a 42-29 Lions loss — Detroit’s first win after losing its previous five meetings with Seattle.

Playing without several defensive starters up front, Seattle couldn’t hang on against Detroit’s great running game as Detroit rumbled to 116 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Seattle was playing without Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II and linebacker Jerome Baker up front. And the Seahawks lost safety Julian Love in the first half to a thigh injury.

“It’s clear we’re not yet the team we want to be and we shouldn’t be where we want to be,” Macdonald said after the match. “We have time to grow as a football team. We have a short week, so we have to have a sense of urgency about it. And we have to take the next step.”

“But it just wasn’t good enough today, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”

Seattle’s secondary also proved leaky, giving up a long touchdown to Jameson Williams and allowing a trick play at the goal line to quarterback Jared Goff on a throwback pass from receiver Amon Ra St. Brown.

The Seahawks allowed Goff to complete 18 of 18 passes for 292 passing yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. That’s right, Goff has missed the most pass attempts and most yards in NFL history without an incompletion. He finished with a passer rating of 155.8.

The Seahawks did manage to sack Goff three times, but failed to force a turnover for a third straight game and allowed nine plays of more than 17 yards. The Seahawks also gave up 219 receiving yards after the catch.

According to Next Gen Stats, entering Monday’s game, the Seahawks had allowed an NFL-low 40 yards on missed tackles. Seattle’s tackling efficiency of 91.7% was also tops in the league through three weeks.

But that all changed against the Lions.

“The game plan really came into the game,” Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins said. “We have to execute better and understand how they attack us. We knew they wanted to run the ball, and they clearly succeeded tonight.

‘So we just have to do our job, and everyone has to keep to the agreement. That’s all.’

While the defense struggled, the offense was one of the few bright spots for Seattle. Kenneth Walker returned from an oblique injury and played well, finishing with 80 rushing yards and three scores.

Walker’s big play included an acrobatic catch and a 10-yard run, where he somehow managed to get out of the grasp of Detroit linebacker Alex Anzalone as he tried to wrestle him to the ground.

Quarterback Geno Smith had another solid performance, throwing for a career-high 395 yards and a touchdown. DK Metcalf totaled seven catches for 104 yards on 12 targets, but also had a critical fumble to gain additional yards in the first quarter, leading to an early Detroit score. Jaxon Smith-Njigba added eight catches for 51 yards.

The Seahawks trailed by 15 points in the fourth quarter but continued to grind, including a safety on a Dre’Mont Jones sack to give the offense the ball back late. McDonald says that type of play and effort is the foundation for his team.

“We’re just not going to give up, no matter the situation,” Macdonald said. “We will be.”

Eric D. Williams has been covering the NFL for more than a decade, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.

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