Instead, Detroit increased its lead to 14 points on a three-yard touchdown rush from running back Jahmyr Gibbs. Trailing four defensive starters to start the game, the Seahawks were well behind where they hoped to be after the first quarter.

The Lions, meanwhile, turned up yards on the ground, totaling 88 rushing yards between Gibbs and David Montgomery in the first half. The pair was also responsible for all three of Detroit’s first-half touchdowns against Seattle’s decimated defensive front. That made it easy for quarterback Jared Goff, who completed 12 of 12 passing for 92 yards in 30 minutes of play.

Goff completed 18 of 18 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns – the most pass attempts by a quarterback without an incompletion in NFL history. Seattle’s back end couldn’t stop the Lions while they were sick up front. It really was that simple.

When the third quarter clock started to run, the floodgates opened. Seattle lost its fifth starter to injury in safety Julian Love (thigh), but Detroit and Seattle traded touchdowns on five straight drives.

Even though Seattle felt kept at bay, the offense continued to make up for the struggles of the struggling defense. Walker scored two of his three rushing touchdowns in the second half, and rookie tight end AJ Barner caught another from Smith.

The Lions got two third-quarter touchdowns on a “Detroit Special” — a goal-line touchdown pass from wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown to Goff — and a 70-yard touchdown catch by Jameson Williams on a one-play drive .

Seattle forced only its third punt of the game with 1:59 to go, trailing by eight. What would have been a fourth-down conversion at the Detroit 31-yard line via an 8-yard catch by Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was negated by an offensive pass interference commit by Tyler Lockett – forcing the Seahawks to punt on a drive that could have tied the game.

After seven more games and an 80-yard touchdown drive, even a possible safety no longer mattered to Seattle’s efforts. An interception in the end zone by Smith with 1:06 remaining sealed the deal.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a litmus test, it just shows us that we’re not the team we need to be at the moment,” Macdonald added. “I mean, that’s just – that’s what it is. Just wasn’t good enough. They did what they did to win the game, they did a great job, they had a great plan and we came up short.”

Seattle’s poor defense allowed Goff to set an NFL record for pass attempts without an incompletion against Macdonald’s unit. Backups or not, that is unacceptable. That ultimately has to be the responsibility of the coaching staff, otherwise it wouldn’t be a record. The Seahawks are far from the first team to be so limited by injuries.

Is that an indictment against Macdonald? Of course not. He has developed one of the best defenses over three weeks. But he needs to go back to the drawing board in a backup situation. The team had a large part of the week to prepare for the absence of the starters, and that was devastating.

“They are operating at a high level,” Macdonald said. “I mean, they had a really good plan. We know Jared is a great quarterback. He played clean, they ran sharp routes and obviously we didn’t deny the ball. That’s as obvious as it gets.”

In a losing effort, Smith posted career-highs in attempts (56), completions (38) and passing yards (395). He was the engine of the Seahawks, and that wasn’t enough. It’s tough to consistently be down one-on-two scores, but Smith did his best to keep the Seahawks in the game.

“We’re (3-1), that’s what it says, and now we’ve got to move on to the next one,” Smith said. “That’s just football, that’s NFL football. I think the only team that went undefeated was the 1972 Dolphins, so we’re just trying to go out there and win every game we can. Today it’s not us We succeeded, but that’s why we have next week.”

His only interception came when the game was on the line, with him continually making further drives despite the pressure around him. It doesn’t take much more than an eye test to see Smith’s effectiveness in this game. He is what makes Seattle’s offense functional. Put another quarterback in that system and a different (possibly even worse) outcome is likely.

Smith is Seattle’s best player. He avoids negative attacking play and creates wins when losses should be a foregone conclusion. Smith remains the best quarterback the Seahawks could have in 2024 – dodging pressure, extending plays and creating positive plays – while the league is seeing a decline in quarterback skill. There is no one better suited for this job.

Seattle was without four defensive starters to start the game (five key contributors, with Byron Murphy II also out), and it lost Love in the second half.

The Seahawks allowed touchdowns on five of Detroit’s 11 drives, making it far too easy for the Lions to rack up points. Whatever the offense did, it couldn’t keep up. The defense only forced three punts – one of which was the first drive of the game.

Gibbs in particular had his way with Seattle on the ground, rushing 14 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns (5.6 yards per carry). He consistently had huge holes to run through between the tackles, putting the inside of the Seahawks’ defensive line at a disadvantage. There was little they could do to slow the rushing attack.

Seattle was completely lost during the “Detroit Special”, in which Goff caught the first touchdown pass of his career. That’s not quite on the backup unit, but it was emblematic of the evening.

This game showed why the Seahawks have struggled to win the past two seasons despite having a decent offense. When the defense can’t make critical stops, it’s difficult for the offense to keep pace, even with the weapons it possesses.

Macdonald was of course called in to solve that. His largely reserve unit didn’t do its job Monday, leading to a 13-point road loss. The defense has been a bright spot for the Seahawks over the last three weeks, and it’s understandable that they would take a step back due to all the injuries.

However, if Seattle wants to be a Super Bowl contender (like the Lions), they need to be firing on all cylinders. That was not the case on Monday evening.

Seattle (3-1) will face the New York Giants (1-3) on Sunday, October 6 at Lumen Field. The kick-off is at 1.25 pm. New York is coming off a 20-15 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.