Mike Macdonald from the Seahawks after the first defeat: “We are not yet the team we want to be”

Eric Williams

NFL reporter

As one of only three undefeated teams to face the Detroit Lions in a Monday Night Football contest, 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 recovering New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins without injured Pro Bowl QB Tua Tagovailoa.

So Seattle faced its toughest test yet this season, away from home against Detroit. And the record for Mike Macdonald's Seahawks remains incomplete after a 42-29 loss to the Lions – Detroit's first win after losing the last five meetings with Seattle.

Playing without several defensive starters up front, Seattle was unable to keep up with Detroit's smash-mouth running game, as Detroit totaled 116 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Seattle played without Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II and linebacker Jerome Baker up front. And the Seahawks lost safety Julian Love to a hamstring injury in the first half.

“It's obvious we're not the team we want to be yet and we shouldn't be where we want to be,” Macdonald said after the game. “We have time to grow as a football team. We have a short week, so we need to have a sense of urgency. 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 quarterback Jared Goff a trick play near the goal line after a throwback from receiver Amon Ra St. Brown.

The Seahawks allowed Goff to complete 18 of 18 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. That's right, Goff didn't miss, the most pass attempts and the most yards in NFL history without an incompletion. He finished with a passer rating of 155.8.

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

Entering Monday's contest, the Seahawks had allowed an NFL-low 40 yards in missed tackles, according to Next Gen Stats. Seattle also led the league through three weeks with a tackle efficiency of 91.7%.

But everything changed against the Lions.

“The game plan was good early in the game,” Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins said. “We have to implement it better and understand how they attack us. We knew they wanted to run the ball and they obviously did that tonight.”

“So we just have to do our job and everyone has to hold up their end of the bargain. That’s all.”

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

Walker's big play included an acrobatic 10-yard catch and run in which he somehow managed to free himself from the grasp of Detroit linebacker Alex Anzalone as he tried to wrestle him to the ground.

Quarterback Geno Smith performed well again, setting a career high by throwing for 395 yards and a touchdown. DK Metcalf totaled seven catches for 104 yards on 12 targets, but also had a critical fumble while fighting for extra yards in the first quarter that led 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 fight, including a safety on a sack by Dre'Mont Jones that gave the offense the ball back late. McDonald says these types of plays and effort are the foundation for his team.

“We just won’t give up, no matter the situation,” Macdonald said. “That will be us.”

Eric D. Williams has covered and covered the NFL for more than a decade 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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