Seattle Seahawks Snap Counts: Defense Resembles Preseason Squad in 42-29 Loss to Detroit Lions

Down five starters as well as rookie Byron Murphy II, injuries unfortunately took a toll on the Seahawks' defense in a tough road loss to the Lions.

Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) runs for a first down against Seattle Seahawks safety K'Von Wallace (24) during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While the Seattle Seahawks won't use injuries as an excuse coming out of a 42-29 loss to the Detroit Lions that knocked them from the ranks of the undefeated, playing without as many as five defensive starters on Monday night undoubtedly played a role in the humbling prime time defeat.

Before the opening kickoff, the Seahawks already were short-handed on the defensive line with starting defensive tackle Leonard Williams, edge rushers Uchenna Nwosu and Boye Mafe, and linebacker Jerome Baker all inactive. In addition, first-round pick Byron Murphy II also didn't suit up, leaving the team down four key defensive linemen against a physical Lions offense, and things only got worse when Pro Bowl safety Julian Love exited in the second half with a thigh contusion.

Without those five players, Seattle relied heavily on reserves and practice squad elevations to try to fill the void, especially along the defensive line. In the trenches, the quintet of Myles Adams, Mike Morris, Quinton Bohanna, Trevis Gipson, and Tyus Bowser logged 75 combined defensive snaps, while linebacker Drake Thomas and safeties K'Von Wallace and Coby Bryant also played substantial snaps on defense.

At times, whether a fair assessment or not, it felt like a mid-August exhibition game with all of the reserves forced into action, and all of the moving parts led to communication breakdowns along with struggles setting the line of scrimmage and finishing tackles.

After allowing six touchdown drives on 11 defensive possessions, letting Jared Goff complete all 18 of his passes for 292 yards and two scores, and getting gashed for 118 yards and three scores on the ground, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald told reporters that all of the injuries didn't affect their game plan, attributing the lackluster showing in defeat to poor execution at all three levels, including a coverage bust in the third quarter on a 70-yard touchdown catch by Jameson Williams.

"We’ve got to play it better. A great plan [by Detroit], the one long one to [Lions receiver Jameson Williams] 9 was a good job by them, but it was a massive bust on our end that we have no business making. So, we’ve got to look inwardly, we’ve got to – when we hit adversity we can’t be pointing fingers, we can’t be blaming, it’s just, ‘Hey, where’s my area of responsibility, where do I fall short?’ And then, as a team, that’s how you grow. So, that’s what we need to do.”

Looking at snap counts from the Seahawks first loss of the season, what else jumped out? Week 4 observations linked to statistics courtesy of PFF and film study:

• Easing him back into action in his first game back from an oblique injury, the Seahawks were somewhat cautious with Ken Walker III, who played 59 percent of the snaps with Zach Charbonnet rotating in for nearly half of Seattle's offensive plays. Some of this also boiled down to game flow as well with the Seahawks playing catch up throughout the evening an often being in two-minute offense with Charbonnet subbing in as the preferred third down back for pass protection purposes. Both backs played well, as Walker rushed for 80 yards and three scores on just 12 carries and Charbonnet had more than 50 total yards on seven touches to make strong contributions on offense.

• As has been the case in all four games, DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba once again eclipsed an 80 percent snap share, combining for 15 receptions and 155 yards. The Seahawks sprinkled Jake Bobo in a bit more, however, as the second-year wideout played a season-high 27 offensive snaps and caught three passes for 30 yards with those opportunities. Laviska Shenault played just one snap, but he made that play count, catching a tunnel screen and turning it into an 18-yard gain and a first down.

• Earning his increasing playing time by week, rookie AJ Barner played a season-high 35 offensive snaps, catching two passes for 27 yards and scoring his first NFL touchdown while out-snapping veteran Pharaoh Brown, who continues to be weened back into action coming off a foot injury. The fourth-round pick may be in line for even more snaps moving forward, as he made a couple key blocks in the run game to help spring Walker on Monday night.

• As Macdonald hinted earlier in the week, the Seahawks did indeed mix Christian Haynes in at right guard after he didn't play at all in Week 3, seeing a season-high 36 offensive snaps at a 40 percent play share platooning with starter Anthony Bradford. Playing fine football with those chances, he only allowed one pressure on 25 pass blocking reps, including pancaking star rusher Aidan Hutchinson, which could open the door for him to further turn up the heat on Bradford as they continue to compete for the long-term starting job. The rest of Seattle's starting offensive linemen expectedly played all 90 snaps.

• Doing their best to help pick up the slack with Williams and Murphy out, the Seahawks once again asked veteran defensive tackles Jarran Reed and Johnathan Hankins to take on expanded workloads, including the latter playing 77 percent of the team's defensive snaps at nose tackle. Reed registered his second sack of the season on the game's opening drive, but otherwise, he and Hankins had quiet games with six combined tackles. Behind them, Adams generated a pressure and had two tackles on 20 snaps, while Morris had no stats on 10 snaps.

• At the edge spots, Derick Hall rarely left the field in the absence of Nwosu and Mafe, playing 81 percent of the Seahawks defensive snaps while contributing a sack on Goff and three tackles, while Dre'Mont Jones played a season-high 79 percent snap share and produced a sack and a safety in the fourth quarter. Away from the starters, Gipson had a rough evening on 12 snaps with a missed tackle and was charged with allowing Goff's touchdown catch in coverage. Playing in his second game off the practice squad, Bowser posted one tackle and one pressure while seeing the field for 26 snaps, receiving the brunt of the rotational playing time as the game progressed.

• Minus Baker for a second straight game with a hamstring injury, the Seahawks primarily stuck with rookie Tyrice Knight next to starter Tyrel Dodson on Monday night, as the fourth-round selection played 74 percent of the snaps while Thomas only saw the field for nine plays as a sub-package cover linebacker. Though he missed his first tackle of the season, Knight held up fairly well, making nine total tackles and had a pair of stops netting two or fewer yards in the run game. In his brief action, Thomas allowed a 17-yard catch and posted one tackle.

• Already seeing more playing time in dime packages, Coby Bryant received the lion's share of reps after Love exited in the second half with an injury instead of K'Von Wallace, logging a season-high 19 defensive snaps and allowing no catches on one target in coverage with those reps. Wallace struggled on 12 defensive snaps, ultimately failing to pick up Williams on the 70-yard touchdown from his deep safety perch.