Seattle Seahawks Defense: Despite Win Over Lions, Still a Problem

The Seattle Seahawks quieted early-season panic with their 48-45 win over the Detroit Lions in Week 4. However, the defense once again proved worrisome.

After a 1-2 start to the season and disappointing losses against the San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons, the Seattle Seahawks were, in the minds of some, in panic mode. It even got to a point where their own players were outspokenly down on the team, with Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs calling his team "obviously not that good."

Now, that panic has died down a bit, with Seattle reveling in the 48-45 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. 

That's the  optimistic outlook on Seattle following Week 4. Meanwhile, a much less encouraging reality still remains: the defense is a liability.

Said coach Pete Carroll: “We’ve got a lot of work to do. As (defensive co-captain) Big Al Woods said, ‘Grateful for the offense today. They came through and helped us win the game.’”

Indeed, for the first time in franchise history, the Seahawks didn't punt. And the Geno Smith-led offense was record-breaking in its work.

But ...

Detroit went into Sunday's matchup against Seattle without wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown, wideout D.J. Chark and running back D'Andre Swift. Brown and Swift alone combined for 50 percent of all Detroit's offensive yardage for the season going into Sunday. Nonetheless, the Lions somehow scored 45 points on Seattle.

Seattle has given up the most yards per passing attempt in the entire NFL over the first four weeks at a 8.7 yards per. Additionally, Seattle fares the worst in that metric by a lot, as the second-worst is Miami at 7.8 yards per attempt. As if that isn't bad enough, Seattle has allowed the third-most yards per carry (5.1) league-wide as well. In a game where they were missing the two best players on their offense, the Lions put up 520 offensive yards against Seattle.

Sure, a win is a win. Nonetheless, it's hard to ignore the struggles of this defensive unit. The Seahawks may not be hopeless this season, but the defense needs work to avoid that label.

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