Inopportune moments seal fate of Detroit Lions who fell to Seahawks in OT in home opener

DETROIT – As the old saying goes, whatever makes you laugh makes you cry, and the Detroit Lions thanks to a multitude of inopportune moments sealed their fate as they fell 37-31 in overtime to the Seattle Seahawks in heartbreaking fashion.

The Lions came into the week two matchup with their confidence at an all-time high as they’ve just defeated Patrick Mahomes and the Super Bowl defending champion Kansas City Chiefs on opening night on a national stage.

Detroit saw what former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford did to Seattle in week one, and they started kicking their chops. The Lions were so confident that they had players telling fans coming to the sold-out Ford Field to purchase blue masks, but it was all for not as the same ol’ Lions came back to play.

Dan Campbell

Against the Chiefs, One Pride loved when head coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down, but on Sunday (Sept. 17), his decision-making drew moans from Lions fans across the nation.

Campbell was one for three, and his decision-making either took points off the board or placed his defense in vulnerable situations, basically giving the game away.

“They earned it, and we didn’t,” said Campbell. “We wanted a fast start in both halves, and we didn’t do that. We did the opposite of that, and that’s not the type of game we wanted to play.”

Jared Goff

Lions quarterback Jared Goff came out the gates like a man possessed, completing his first four passes for 60 yards and a touchdown.

The touchdown was his 14th straight during a home game, setting a franchise record for the most consecutive home games with a touchdown.

Goff eventually completed nine consecutive passes to start the game. Still, on 4th down and 4 in field goal range, Campbell decided to go for it, and the play ended up getting broken up by rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon for a turnover on downs.

On the following drive, Goff hit wide receiver Kalif Raymond on a flea flicker to cap off a five-play 65-yard drive for their first lead of the game.

Before the end of the first half, he completed 11 of his first 12 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns for his sixth straight home game with two or more touchdown passes, which is the second-longest streak in Lions history.

It was at that point when the wheels started to fall off as Detroit got the ball back before the end of the half up seven with a chance to take a commanding lead as they were getting the ball back to start the second half.

But rookie running Jahmyr Gibbs dropped a wide-open pass that would’ve resulted in a first down, but instead, they went three and out to end the second quarter.

To start the second half, running back David Montgomery, on the opening possession, fumbled the ball and gave the Seahawks prime real estate as they cashed in to tie the game at 14.

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Goff also ended his historic interception streak when he threw a pick-six to cornerback Tre’ Brown.

The pick-six was Goff’s first interception in his last 384 pass attempts, which was the third-longest streak in NFL history.

“It was more on the route, man,” Campbell said. “We work them over and over, and we got to be decisive, man. You can’t do that to your Q (quarterback).”

Campbell continued:

“I thought Goff played really well as he looked comfortable and calm. I thought he was accurate as he threw the heck out of it, and I was really proud of how he played. There was a lot of guys that I am proud of, but we made critical errors, and you can’t do that.”

Goff finished the day by going 28-35 for 323 yards, three touchdowns, and the costly pick-six.

But the critical errors that Campbell spoke of started from him all the way down to the players, especially on the defensive side of the ball, as they could not get timely stops.

Defense

Every time the team in Honolulu Blue needed a key stop, Geno Smith was determined to break not only the will of Detroit’s secondary but the hearts of the Lions faithful as he connected down the field to tight end Noah Fant and wide receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.

There seemed to be a lack of pass rush, which left Smith with time for his pass catchers to get open play after play. He finished the game completing 32-41 for 328 yards and two touchdowns, with the most painful one coming in overtime to Lockett.

The defeat was the third consecutive against Seattle, as they’ve now scored 96 points over the last two years. And if you remember, it was an early season home shootout loss in 2022 that left Detroit out of the playoffs.

But maybe this year will be different, especially with the 2-0 Atlanta Falcons and their rushing attack coming into Ford Field next Sunday (Sept. 24).

How disappointed are you in the loss to Seattle? What would you like the Lions to improve on before their matchup against the dirty birds?

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