Lions Eat 'Humble Pie,' Must Grow from Loss

Detroit Lions must quickly turn page on disappointing loss to Seattle Seahawks.

No ifs, ands or buts about it, the Detroit Lions deserved to lose to the Seattle Seahawks Sunday. 

Going into the Week 2 matchup, the Lions were presented with a prime opportunity to improve to 2-0 on the season. 

Detroit rode a "blue wave" of optimism into the home-opening tilt, coming off a Week 1 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Meanwhile, the Seahawks, with multiple injuries on their offensive line, limped into the contest, after suffering a disappointing 30-13 defeat at the hands of the L.A. Rams in their season opener.

So, it was presumed to be a given that Dan Campbell's team would easily dispose of Seattle, in front of a raucous, capacity crowd at Ford Field.

However, Campbell & Co. – derailed by an ineffective pass rush and multiple turnovers – failed to capitalize on the terrific energy provided by the home fans, and were beaten fair and square by the Seahawks for a third consecutive season. 

It was a deflating loss for a Detroit team that had looked ready – building off the momentum it gained from an impressive season-opening win in Kansas City – to join the upper echelon of NFL teams.

But, instead of stringing together a second straight win, the Lions were delivered a not-so-delicious piece of humble pie from Pete Carroll's squad, and subsequently, it's back to the drawing board for Detroit.

"We had some really good opportunities that we just didn’t capitalize from. I know it stings, and those guys are disappointed," Campbell told reporters after Sunday's loss to Seattle. "I’m disappointed, the staff is. But, my gosh, man, this is good. We’ll get a little humble pie here. We’ve got a real good opponent coming in here next week (the Falcons), and they run it as good, if not better than these guys, and they have better weapons.”

Just like in the Lions' past two matchups against Seattle, Detroit struggled to get off the field Sunday against Geno Smith & Co. 

Aaron Glenn's defense allowed 28 first downs and 326 total yards of offense, en route to permitting the Seahawks to score 37 points. 

Additionally, Smith, with the Lions' pass rush being "MIA," had a clean pocket all day. He completed 32-of-41 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score in overtime. It was eerily similar to the veteran signal-caller's stat line from a season ago, when he threw for 320 yards and two scores in a 48-45 win against Detroit.

"Defense has to figure out a way to get a stop in overtime, to, you know, help seal the deal," said Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone, who recorded the lone sack of Smith on Sunday. "So, like you said, we just have to make plays, and it's disappointing. But, you've got to live with it."

Meanwhile, on the offensive side, Detroit coughed up the ball three times. Jared Goff threw his first interception – a pick-six – in 383 pass attempts, while David Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown each lost a fumble. 

As Detroit found out the hard way Sunday, you're not going to beat many good teams when you turn over the football three times.

"If there’s some magic world where we can take away the turnovers from today, I thought we played pretty well,” Goff said in his postgame media session. “Outside of that, the turnovers are what kill you, and you got to take care of the ball and we didn’t. It ended up costing us.”

Campbell is well aware of the fact that his team needs to clean up a variety of things, including the miscues above, in order to get back on the right track. 

“It’s Atlanta, it’s getting back to what we do. It’s cleaning up all the little things, and forgetting everything else, man. If we’re not all, collectively, me included, all just focused on what’s right in front of us, then we’re not all on the same page," Campbell expressed, in reference to turning the page on Detroit's disappointing loss to Seattle. "I just think that's what happens with losses. It stings to lose, it does. But, this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. I know this, though, we’ve got to get it cleaned up in a hurry. We’ve got some good opponents coming in.”

There is no denying the fact that Detroit got out-muscled and out-played in its home opener against Seattle. And there's also no getting around the fact that it was an embarrassing defeat, in front of a sold-out Ford Field crowd.

Yet, there's no time for Campbell's squad to grieve the loss. At this point, it's all about learning from the setback and getting better because of it. 

It's the only option the Lions have if they want to get back in the win column, and most importantly, avoid reverting to their "Same Old Lions" ways.