While they are not complete mirror image of each other, the Seattle Seahawks (3-3) and the Detroit Lions (3-3) are two teams that are trending upwards in a similar fashion.
After a 0-2 start, the Lions have won three of their last four games and are on a two-game win streak. The Lions resume includes wins over the New England Patriots ( 26-10), Green Bay Packers(31-23) and most recently the Miami Dolphins( 32-21). After giving 48 and 30 points in its first two games, the Detroit defense has clamped down and given up 10, 26, 23 and 21 points respectively in it’s last four games for a 26.3 season average.
The Lions boast a 12th ranked offense led by quarterback Mathew Stafford who has 12 touchdowns and four interceptions to go with his 1,602 passing yards. Kerryon Johnson (444) leads the Lions rushing attack with former Seahawk Golden Tate the team leader with 37 receptions for 467 yards.
FROM THE COACHES
Detroit Lions Head Coach Matt Patricia
(On the upcoming game)
“Well, I see that we’ve got an incredible challenge in front of us here, trying to get ready for the Seahawks. It’s a great football team. Coach (Pete) Carroll does a great job of building his team year in and year out and putting them at a high competitive level. They’re obviously coming off a good stretch of games here, coming off the bye week and getting ready to go. We’ll have a big challenge in front of us. A lot of hard players that we’re going to have to defend and a lot of things that we’re going to try to prepare for.”
(On trading for Giants DT Damon Harrison)
“Yeah, I know there are some reports out there right now involving us and the Giants but I can’t comment on anything at the current moment until any of that situation or process is complete. Right now, just trying to stay focused on Seattle. When everything is completed or that process does go through or does not go through, then at that point in time, our PR department will do all of the proper releases.”
(On Kerryon Johnson and the run game helping Matthew Stafford)
“I would say anytime you stay balanced as an offense or have the ability to be balanced as an offense, I think it helps everything across the board so certainly the run game helps the pass game, whether it’s the play action game, the move-the-pocket game or even just the downfield (game). When you have to commit to the run, something that’s very difficult as a defense from that standpoint to do, that’s where you’d like to stay as balanced as possible as an offense. Certainly, Seattle is in the same situation. They do such a great job of running the ball with Chris Carson and Russell Wilson is dangerous at any point he has the ball and that’s just opening up a lot of the play action game where they’re able to get the ball downfield. Very similar situations on both sides of the ball.”
(On former Seahawks TE Luke Willson) “Luke has been great. I really liked him, in free agency, some of the versatility that he had as a player. I think he’s a guy that can obviously help in the run game and the pass game, but he can also line up in a bunch of different alignments. He can be in the backfield, he can be on the line of scrimmage, he can be off, so some of that versatility factor was great. We thought it really fit some of the things that we wanted to do and when you meet Luke and you get a chance to spend some time with him, his energy, his enthusiasm for the game and the way that he loves to play and practice and get after it was just something that I thought was a good fit for our team.”
(On former Seahawks CB DeShawn Shead)
“He’s done a great job. He’s been back on the team and been playing for us and helping us through some games. He’s an extremely mentally and physically tough player. He’s very long. He does a great job of using his leverage and played quick for us on special teams. He does a good job, of course, on defense in whatever role we ask him to go out there and do.
He’s kind of been a quintessential part of our team here for the last several weeks. (He’s a) guy that we got to know during the spring and worked through training camp and just glad at this point of how he’s out there working hard every single day to get better.”
(On the Seahawks secondary)
“Well, Coach (Pete) Carroll has done such a great job and obviously, with Ken Norton being back into the system on the defensive side of the ball, to me I think that the defense looks like it’s young, it’s fast, it’s aggressive. The corners are extremely long, (Shaquill) Griffin and (Tre) Flowers. Their length, their ability to get up on you on the line of scrimmage (to) jam (or) bail out, stay on top of the routes, take away the deep balls – they looked exactly like what you would expect a really good (pair of) Seattle defensive corners to look like. I think they’re doing a great job.
I think the safeties, obviously (Tedric) Thompson stepping in and making sure the deep part of the field is solidified with (Bradley) McDougald down in the box and being able to play both in man against tight ends and in the zone coverage for run game. His ability to fit kind of that down box safety role, I really think they just haven’t missed a beat from that standpoint. Obviously, things change and names change. The scheme is very similar. It’s very aggressive and I think what ties it together is Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright in the middle. Those guys do an excellent job of kind of solidifying the front and then connecting the front to the back end and making sure the middle of the field is just packed. To me, it looks aggressive.
It looks like they’ve come into kind of their own as far as what they are this year and what they are doing right now in the last several games and I think it’s a real dynamic group, a very dangerous group. They do a great job with the turnovers and that’s the biggest thing, is getting the ball back to the offense and giving them a chance to score. Just a real impressive group from my standpoint.”
