It's Seahawks vs. Everybody this week: Can they unmask the Lions?
'In the 22 year history of Ford Field, I can't think of a bigger game than this one': Seaside Joe 1657
A Week 2 contest between the Seahawks and the Lions is “the biggest game in Detroit in over 20 years”? I didn’t see the Rams coming to steal Seattle’s ‘early season optimism’ last Sunday, but hearing that statement this week from people who actually cover the Lions as their job is even more surprising.
Each week, I’m going to share some of the YouTube videos that I come across from the opposing team, and from the Seahawks side, as another way to preview the upcoming game. The “lead story” this week for me was hearing this on the Ermanni & Edwards show (that being former Seahawks receiver Braylon Edwards) in their interview with Dan Miller, who has been the voice of the Lions since 2005, but has covered the team since 1997.
Ermani: In the 22 year history of Ford Field, I can’t think of a bigger game than this one as far as fan excitement.
Miller: Yeah. I remember a couple of times where something happened during a game when you kind of look around and like ‘Man, I don’t know if it’s ever been louder than this’… But as far as buildup going into a game? Man, I can’t remember this.
You know what that means?
That means that this Sunday’s game between the Seahawks and Lions is more hyped up than any home game that Matthew Stafford EVER played in with Detroit. That’s a lot of games. Ford Field opened in 2002 and not including interim replacements, Dan Campbell is the seventh head coach of the Lions since that day and he’s by far the most beloved, respected, and believed in.
I wonder why that is because the Lions still haven’t actually done anything better than with some of his predecessors…yet. And I’m not saying that I disagree, only that so far the fuel behind it seems to be “an energy” more than anything that’s been accomplished on the field.
“No, you’re wrong, Joe: The Lions went 9-8 last year!”
The Lions went 11-5, 7-9, 9-7, 9-7 in four years with Jim Caldwell.
“No, you’re wrong, Joe: The Lions were a top-5 offense!”
The Lions were a top-5 offense with Jim Schwartz in 2011 and ranked seventh in scoring in 2017 under Caldwell.
“No, you’re wrong, Joe: The Lions have Jared Go-”
Yeah, we know not to finish that sentence.
The Lions ranked 32nd in total yards allowed and 28th in points allowed last season. They rebounded from a 1-6 start by winning eight of their last 10 and the two playoff teams they beat (Vikings, Giants) played each other in the wild card and then New York lost 38-7 in the divisional round.
They showed a dramatic improvement from 2021 to 2022, winning six more games and going from -142 to +26 in point differential, then beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1. Yet the bigger takeaway from that game for me is that Patrick Mahomes is even better than we thought because he nearly (and should have) won despite not having Travis Kelce or Chris Jones.
This isn’t me denigrating the Lions or arguing that Seattle’s about to have a walk in the park—I think the Seahawks have their work cut out for them because they appear to be so far out-matched in the trenches compared to Detroit’s offensive line and potentially facing Aidan Hutchinson without their offensive tackles—this is me simply investing the cause of “the energy” that has Lions fans more excited for this game than ANY home game in the 21st century.
Lions fans will be sporting blue ski masks on Sunday, meaning that for the first time in decades they will be covering their faces out of pride instead of shame.
What’s my answer?
It’s probably a combination of factors, including: Dan Campbell’s character + him on Hard Knocks last year; winning nine of their last 11 games, including Aaron Rodgers’ final game with the Packers and now beating Mahomes at his home; coordinator Ben Johnson’s top-5 offense; hitting home runs with first round picks like Penei Sewell and Aidan Hutchinson, plus excitement for Jahmyr Gibbs; stealing Amon-Ra St. Brown, a legitimate star, in the fourth round; and optimism that the Lions can win a playoff game for the first time since 1991.
In another clip from a different show on Woodward Sports, the topic is whether or not the Lions will break the record for “loudest indoor stadium” this Sunday against the Seahawks (Seattle and Kansas City’s record for “loudest stadium” is also discussed) and whether they do or don’t really doesn’t matter: The fact that Lions fans THINK that they can do it is what matters.
This could be the loudest away game that the Seahawks have played in since—I don’t know when—and an early lead by Detroit or a close game in the fourth quarter will take noise to peak levels. Unrelated to the people who will actually be at the game, the vast majority of NFL fans without ties to either team will be rooting for the Lions. Maybe not if you’re a Bears, Packers, or Vikings fan either, but that’s only out of divisional necessity; otherwise, there is all kinds of national momentum supporting Detroit to finally break whatever they’re cursed with and no “storylines” for Seattle since Geno Smith didn’t write back.
This game is as “Seahawks vs. Everybody” as any that I can remember because typically Seattle embodies the underdog mentality. The Lions aren’t going to let them have it, even if on paper and in the trenches, that’s exactly what the Seahawks are this week: The Seahawks are the underdogs.
Will Pete Carroll get the team to believe it and to use it to their advantage?
The Seahawks need to find that energy.
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K.J. Wright is breaking out of his shell
I have followed K.J. Wright’s show since episode one and I feel like a proud Internet papa watching his podcaster grow up before his very eyes. The recent Xs and Os breakdowns are what Seahawks YouTube needs more than ever, not another interview show. I much prefer Gee Scott playing the role of “ignorant fan who needs to have the game explained to him” (because that’s me) than trying to get an interview answer to go viral.
VIDEOS LIKE THIS are what we need from The K.J. Wright Show and nothing else:
Upcoming Docuseries by the Seahawks, about the Seahawks
The Seahawks released a trailer for an upcoming docuseries that they have produced about the 2013 team and I’m a little surprised it only has 2.4k views as of this newsletter. They released a teaser a week ago that has 10k views, so maybe people feel like they got the message. The first episode comes out on September 19th.
I wonder if this will be replacing The Sound in any capacity.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jared Goff discuss the Seahawks
Amon-Ra St. Brown has a podcast with his brother Equanimeous St. Brown, who is a receiver on the Bears (my condolences). Pretty interesting that the podcast world lets us into the player’s minds during the season. I’ve queued this up to his thoughts on the Seahawks, but honestly how often are players or coaches going to say anything other than, “Yeah, they’re a great team”?
Here is Jared Goff calling the Seahawks a great team that really wants to get a win:
The Utilization Report: Kenneth Walker
I don’t play fantasy football but because a lot of people do, there’s a ton of statistical content out there about skill players and it often dives deeper than you’d see from a typical NFL article. Here are some thoughts I read about Seattle’s backfield situation from FantasyLife.com’s Utilization Report:
This situation could remain fluid given the second-round capital the Seahawks spent on Zach Charbonnet, but Walker was the top option in Week 1.
Walker bogarted 65% of the snaps and 71% of the rushing attempts against the Rams. His 59% route participation and 18% target share might be the most important data points of note. DeeJay Dallas still took the two-minute offense, but Walker remained on the field for much of the LDD work with 43% of the snaps.
We knew the second-year RB was likely to be a large component of the ground attack, but if he continues to see that sort of workload in the passing game, his utilization profile gets a boost.
Since 2012, backs that eclipsed 60% of their team’s attempts and were between 55% and 65% route participation have faired well, averaging 18.5 points. Walker wasn’t a strong target earner in college or as a rookie, but even if we limit the results to RBs with a 12% target share or lower, the average is still 17.1 points.
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Nate Tice on Matthew Stafford drilling the Seahawks
Not the easiest plays in the world to have to watch again, but The Athletic’s Nate Tice does a nice job of explaining how Matthew Stafford found Tutu Atwell for a back-breaking pass in the second half:
Can the Seahawks clean up their secondary in Week 2? I think Devon Witherspoon gives Seattle a lot of what they need. I wouldn’t expect Jamal Adams to return this week, but maybe Week 3 against the Panthers.
Survivor - Last Chance!
Now is your last chance to enter Survivor League: Second Chances. We have 92 entries right now—ANYONE CAN PLAY! ANYONE CAN PLAY! Go HERE to join the Survivor League, which needs you AND YOUR PICK THIS WEEK in it before Thursday Night Football.
This is also the last time I’ll be able to retirate what happened to the first league, an absolutely free game that is still ongoing: If you survived the first week, then you should have received not one by two emails from me about how to continue. If you didn’t receive those emails, then you either didn’t survive, you didn’t enter an email address that works, or maybe it’s in your junk/spam folder. I can’t share the link to that league here because it’s only for the email addresses that survived week one (almost everyone from Week 1 has now signed up, so we’re very close to 100%)—in either case, I am now running two leagues to make up for it so and the only objective here is to have fun with your fellow Seasiders.
I grew up near Windsor, Ontario just across the river from Detroit, so the Lions were my first team. Greg Landry was probably the best QB they had until Stafford, and I remember thinking when I first saw him that Detroit maybe had found their QB... then they proceeded to waste his time there. I went from being a fan of one sad-sack franchise to another when I moved to the west coast in 1993... so to see the Lions maybe on the cusp of doing well at the same time the Seahawks are loaded with good albeit young talent is fun!
This is going to be a tough game. It is going to be fascinating to see if Witherspoon makes a difference to the D and how he plays, and to see if Waldron can devise a game plan to keep Geno upright and slinging. The Lions are not guaranteed a win on Sunday, but a victory for the Seahawks will have to be well-earned.
I hope Pete does have the whole team "pissing hot"--this is a character test as much as anything to show what this team is really made of.
The Lions are a good team and will be ready to play. I can only say that I hope we are. My optimism level isn't high.
There's almost always a sentence or two that sticks with me in these newsletters. Today's was this one: "I much prefer Gee Scott playing the role of “ignorant fan who needs to have the game explained to him” (because that’s me) than trying to get an interview answer to go viral."
I always rather liked Gee on 710, but man, I wish he wasn't on KJ's show. I still usually listen, but he alone moves it way down my Seahawks podcasts feed. I get that his job might be to bring energy, but in my opinion he just brings noise. You could start a drinking game with it. Well, there might be nothing dumber than a drinking game, so let's make it Bingo. I can think of a few right off the top of my head:
1) KJ will be saying something level-headed and thoughtful and Gee will just start yelling.
2) A member of the LOB era will be on and Gee will ask about the final play in the Super Bowl.
3) A member of the LOB era will be on and Gee will ask their "real feeling about Russ."
4) Something won't seem political/racial/hot button in any way and he'll try to make it that.
I get it, they need soundbites to go viral to promote the podcast. But he's so obsessed with the end of SB LI that I sometimes wonder if Gee Scott even remembers the Super Bowl that we won. He's a likeable enough guy, but the energy he brings contrasts more with KJ's own rather than compliments it, for this listener at least.