Seahawks Enemy Overview: Rising Lions Present 'Good, Balanced' Opponent

In the past, the Detroit Lions have been a perennial afterthought in the NFC North, but the Seattle Seahawks know they will be facing a different animal led by coach Dan Campbell, Jared Goff, and an improved defense as they aim for their first win of the 2023 season.

For the better part of five decades, the Detroit Lions have been perennial laughing stock in the NFL, making the postseason only 12 times since 1970 and losing double-digit games 23 times during that span, including as recently as 2021.

But under the direction of coach Dan Campbell, as evidenced by their strong finish to a 9-8 record last season and 21-20 upset over the defending champion Chiefs last Thursday night, it's a new era in the Motor City. A young Lions squad has taken on the persona of their blue collar leader, playing a physical brand of aggressive football that Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has great admiration for as his team gears up to face the upstart NFC North foe on the road on Sunday.

"It’s a really good matchup for us coming up," Carroll said to open his Wednesday press conference. "We need hard ones, we need tough ones, and so here they come. It’s a good balanced football team, the way they play and their style. Coach [Dan] Campbell has done a great job getting these guys rolling and they’ve got a really good format to them."

Continuing his historic stretch without throwing an interception, quarterback Jared Goff threw for 253 yards and a touchdown to pace Detroit as Campbell's team outlasted Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City to kick off the 2023 season. The former top overall pick is a familiar opponent for Seattle, who faced him frequently when he ran Sean McVay's offense in Los Angeles as an NFC West rival.

Since relocating to Detroit, Carroll has seen Goff elevate his game in Johnson's system, which accentuates his strengths as a play action passer. Last season, he led the NFL with 16 touchdowns off play action and with an improved run game to complement him this year, he will be even tougher to defend on play passes.

"He gets the ball out of his hands really well in the play-pass game, which even back to his Ram days, has always been a feature of him. You’ve got to be on your stuff. We always have to play the run game first to not let them do that," Carroll stated. "He’s got enough throws in him and enough accurate decision-making that he can get you. He’s playing like a really well-equipped veteran quarterback. He’s got all of the stuff right now. We’ve seen him through his whole career. It’s a nice ascent for him.”

As the Seahawks look to bounce back from a rough Week 1 loss to the Rams, here’s a closer look at their Week 2 opponent, including series history, additions/departures, a deep dive into scheme, and Carroll's evaluation of the surging Lions.

Series History

17th regular season meeting. The Seahawks have dominated the all-time series, holding an 12-5 record, including beating the Lions in the wild card round in 2016. Since Dan Campbell arrived in Detroit prior to the 2021 season, Seattle has won both regular season matchups between the two franchises.

What's New?

Departures: Shuffling the deck in the backfield, the Lions lost Jamaal Williams in free agency and traded former second-round pick D'Andre Swift to the Eagles for a fourth-round pick and future seventh-round pick during the 2023 NFL Draft. General manager Brad Holmes also dealt former first-round pick Jeff Okudah to the Falcons for a fifth-round pick. Among other notable defections, center Evan Brown left to sign with the Seahawks and receiver DJ Chark bolted for the Panthers in free agency.

Rookies Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta already made an immediate impact for the Lions beating the Chiefs in Kansas City and will be focal points for their offense moving forward

Additions: Spending significant money in free agency to address weak spots on their roster, the Lions made their biggest splash by acquiring former Steelers cornerback Cameron Sutton on a three-year, $33 million deal. Holmes didn't stop there with the secondary, signing ex-Eagles star safety Chauncey Gardner Johnson and former 49ers starter Emmanuel Moseley to continue bolstering the back of their defense. As part of their backfield retool, the team also gave former Bears starter David Montgomery a three-year deal, pairing him with first-round pick Jahmyr Gibbs. Away from Gibbs, Detroit used another first-round pick on instinctive linebacker Jack Campbell as well as a pair of second-round picks on rookie tight end Sam LaPorta and slot cornerback Brian Branch, who already area playing significant snaps.

Injury Report

Though both players suited up in a season-opening win at Kansas City, starting right tackle Taylor Decker (ankle) and Moseley (knee/hamstring) did not participate in Wednesday's practice. Outside linebacker Julian Okwara landed on injured reserve after initial cuts and won't be available for Detroit in Sunday's game.

Inside The Scheme

Running an old school offense with modern flair, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson quickly popped onto the radar as a viable head coaching candidate by leading the Lions to a top-five finish in points and total yards in 2022. While the team utilized 11 personnel at a 56 percent clip, which ranked 16th in the NFL, Johnson deployed two-back personnel 10 percent of the time, the 10th-highest rate in the league, while largely sticking to under center formations to best fit Goff's style coming from coach Sean McVay's scheme with the Rams.

In Thursday's opener against the Chiefs, Johnson dialed up 21 personnel with two backs, a tight end, and two receivers on 26 percent of the Lions' plays, the sixth-highest rate among NFL teams in Week 1. Sticking to last season's tendencies where they ranked fifth in the NFL in power usage, according to Pro Football Focus, 18 of their 29 designed runs were gap schemes, as they like to get downhill with their physical offensive line using power and other gap concepts. Impressed by their run game as a whole, Carroll has taken note of their backfield talent heading towards Sunday's matchup.

“[David] Montgomery is really tough. He’s really physical and an aggressive guy," Carroll said. "He’s always been that way and they look like they’re leaning on him first. He’s going to give you everything he’s got. [Jahmyr] Gibbs looked really special. Like we saw him in the draft, we thought he was a fantastic potential athlete and a guy that can do a lot of things. He can catch the ball out of the backfield, he can run all of the stuff. They used him in a handful of plays last week and maybe we see him a little bit more. I’m sure that they can see it to. He’s really special. That’s a good one-two punch for them.”

Under the direction of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, the Lions were one of the NFL's most aggressive units a year ago, finishing seventh in blitz rate (31.2 percent) according to Pro Football Reference. That aggressiveness helped the team finish ninth in pressure rate, but they were in the middle of the pack with 39 sacks and allowed the third-most points in the NFL thanks to a dismal run defense that surrendered 2,491 yards and 5.2 yards per carry.

Against the Chiefs last week, Detroit only blitzed 11 percent of the time while holding Patrick Mahomes and company to 20 points, which may have just been the game plan for that opponent rather than a change in philosophy. Though they didn't play multiple linebackers often or bring extra pressure much, they didn't need to with the quartet of Hutchinson, Charles Harris, John Comisky, and Joshua Paschal combining for 16 quarterback pressures.

Scheme-wise, Detroit's base defense is a 4-3, but the team plays quite a bit of nickel with an extra safety on the field similar to how Seattle hopes to deploy Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs, and Julian Love. In part due to Mahomes and the opponent, the Lions played nickel or dime on 67 percent of snaps against the Chiefs, spending the majority of the game with at least five defensive backs on the field to great success, including a pick-six by Branch. Compared to a year ago, though he didn't dive specifically into coverage changes, Carroll sees a more polished defense anchored by better personnel in the secondary and a fantastic front line.

“They’re a little different. They adjusted some of their focus and some stuff on the back-end. They’ve got new guys back there. They still have the good dudes up front that give them a special push. They have adjusted coverage-wise some of the things that they’re featuring.”