Enemy Reaction 2021: Detroit Lions

How about an Enemy Reaction to start 2022?

Yes, the Seattle Seahawks beat up on the Detroit Lions, but it’s still a win and it’s something to enjoy. Really if nothing else, it was a fun game to watch in a season where the Seahawks have been unusually boring just in terms of the quality of play. This team was a yard away from setting a new Seahawks record for offensive points scored and a tie for most points in a game in franchise history. Hold that thought for one of the more humorous reactions towards the end of today’s ER.

In the interest of time and also due to spans where comments weren’t plentiful, I did leave out a couple of key plays but you get the gist of it.

Game thread comments courtesy of Pride of Detroit.

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Rashaad Penny scores the first touchdown (7-0 SEA)

After huge Freddie Swain catch-and-run, Rashaad Penny gets another TD (17-0 SEA)

Amon-Ra St. Brown scores on 3rd and 10 handoff (17-7 SEA)

Russell Wilson and DK Metcalf beat the Cover-0 blitz (24-7 SEA)

Tyler Lockett scores on a tap pass (31-7 SEA)

D.J. Reed gets the Seahawks’ first interception from a corner all season (31-7 SEA)

DK Metcalf on the fade route for his second TD (38-7 SEA)

Amon-Ra St. Brown gets his second touchdown (38-15 SEA)

After onside kick recovery, left tackle Taylor Decker draws the Lions closer (38-22 SEA)

DK Metcalf with the hat trick (45-22 SEA)

D.J. Reed with another pick (48-29 SEA, 51-29 SEA Final)

Bonus: ...You’re upset that the Seahawks didn’t run up the score?!

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Post-Game: Outmatched and undermanned (Jeff Risdon, Lions Wire)

Sunday’s trip to Seattle to face the Seahawks felt a lot more like a preseason game than a Week 17 contest.

Through that prism, the blowout 51-29 loss is a little more palatable. If the focus of the game was to see what the bottom-of-the-roster and practice squad players thrust into starting roles all over the Lions lineup could do, we did get some answers there. And not all of them were negatives, though there were a lot more nays than yeas.

In terms of an actual competitive football game, the Lions had no chance. Starting seven rookies overall and without over a dozen regulars from even six weeks ago, the undermanned Lions had no real chance. Tim Boyle at QB throwing to KhaDarel Hodge as the top outside receiver, with Tommy Kraemer starting at right guard and a tight end, Jared Pinkney, who was on the Rams practice squad on Monday, yeah … it went exactly as you might expect.

And that meager offense was handily the better of Detroit’s two units in Seattle. Demoted safety Will Harris was the Lions’ top cornerback and played exactly as you’d expect a player often tabbed as the NFL’s worst coverage safety might while trying to cover talented Seahawks WR DK Metcalf. Metcalf scored three touchdowns — one versus the other Lions starting CB, rookie Ifeatu Melifonwu, who would normally be 6th on the depth chart. It didn’t help that the pass rush, prominently featuring backups Austin Bryant and Julian Okwara, did very little to impact QB Russell Wilson all day.

Post-Game: Lions need linebacker help (Dave Birkett, Detroit Free-Press)

Lions linebackers: The Lions sure look like they will be in position to take a pass rusher early in next year’s draft, but they need to spend a high draft pick on a linebacker, too. Jalen Reeves-Maybin made the “up” list last week, but he struggled to get off blocks Sunday and was one of two Lions (along with Will Harris) who missed tackles on Colby Parkinson’s third-and-7 conversion in the third quarter. Rookie Derrick Barnes has struggled the second half of the season, and, like Reeves-Maybin, was out of place or unable to free himself from blocks on several of Rashaad Penny’s long runs.

Enemy Preaction: Arizona Cardinals

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One more game to play and then a potentially monumental offseason lies ahead. It’d be cool if the Seahawks got to play spoiler and deny the Arizona Cardinals the NFC West title, but that would involve giving the Rams the division and that just feels gross. But still, it’s an opportunity to end a pretty disappointing campaign on a high note.

Thanks for reading and go ‘Hawks!