Seahawks-Lions, final points

Lions could be without superstar DB tonight: Seaside Joe 2038

Seaside Jay and I are on a short trip and in a bit of an unusual location for tonight’s game, so while I do not anticipate that to interfere with the post-game article, I still want to send out a pre-game article as a failsafe. I also think that given the importance of playing a Monday Night Football game against a very recent (but still formidable) rival, it’s worth the opportunity for Seahawks fans to share their last minute thoughts with Seaisde Joe and each other in the comments section:

The Seahawks have ruled out Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy, Boye Mafe, and Uchenna Nwosu. You can tell from the way that non-Seahawks fans talk about him, including Jon Gruden and our friend All-22, that Mafe could be the biggest loss here.

If there is a silver lining, it’s getting to see more of Derick Hall as a lone assassin. And as far as the DL losses go, at least Seattle’s backups will be facing Detroit’s backups with center Frank Ragnow ruled out and guard Graham Glasgow moving further inside.

Meanwhile, as was pointed out in the SSJ comments on Sunday, all-everything DB Brian Branch is doubtful to play on Monday. I highlighted Branch as the player that Geno Smith needs to avoid in the secondary and at this rate it seems the Lions took care of that problem already.

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Furthermore, don’t underestimate the losses of linebacker Derrick Barnes and edge rusher Marcus Davenport. The Lions put both players on IR and Detroit lacks a second edge rusher threat beside Aidan Hutchinson. The middle of their defense isn’t what it was in Week 2, so the Lions might not be as good at stopping the run as they would normally be at full health.

As to the status of linebacker Jerome Baker, there was no update at the time I wrote this. Given Seattle’s three games between now and next Thursday, Mike Macdonald could choose to keep Baker out of harm’s way tonight, especially given that next Thursday’s opponent is potentially even more banged up than the Seahawks. That being mentioned, here’s a few updates on the NFC West.

(Apologies for any typos, I am writing this on a mini iPhone)

NFC West

2-2 49ers:

I think the SSJ commenters can fill any additional details I’m missing, but Fred Warner left Week 4’s game with an ankle injury and his status for next TNF against the Seahawks is definitely in doubt. The 49ers have also only gotten progressively worse news on the calf of Christian McCaffrey, it seems. He will be out next week.

Furthermore, Niners defensive tackle Jordan Elliott suffered a knee injury and it seems they’ve liked what he was giving them on defense so that’s another one to watch.

The 49ers haven’t been all that fearsome this season, but did blow out the Patriots with ease in Week 4. I don’t expect the 49ers to be a bad team, so it would be great if the Cardinals could beat them (and leave some marks) in Week 5 prior to next Thursday’s huge division matchup.

1-3 Rams

Who was that fool who wrote that the Rams were a bigger threat than the 49ers? To be fair, these are not the Rams that we expected to get this season, as playing without both Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua has proven too much of a handicap for a team that really needs the offense to score at least 30 points to have any chance of keeping ahead of LA’s atrocious defense.

I could see the Rams surviving if they had Puka, but to me that’s the injury that could end their season. The Rams play the Packers next week and then have a bye. Kupp could return after the bye, but is it too late?

1-3 Cardinals

The good news is that I could see Arizona being improved enough to beat the 49ers and Rams. The bad news is that they’re also a bigger threat to the Seahawks now.

Their next three games are against the 49ers, Packers, and Chargers. The Cardinals feel like a 7-10 team to me, but what do you think so far?

Again, please feel free to join tonight’s live chat with fellow Seahawks fans at 5:15 PT. And I hope that without any complications you’ll hear from me again (with good news) after the game tonight.

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