Mike Vorel: Why Seahawks fans should feel oddly encouraged by loss to Lions

In a Monday to remember, Jared Goff became the first NFL quarterback to attempt more than 10 passes in a game without an incompletion. Goff’s 18 offerings turned into 292 passing yards and two touchdowns, and the 29-year-old even caught a 7-yard score for good measure.

Seattle, meanwhile, surrendered six touchdowns in Detroit’s 10 offensive drives (excluding a game-ending kneel-down that finally diffused the drama). Eight separate Lions recorded receptions, and they reached third down just six total times in 50 offensive plays. The first loss of the Mike Macdonald era — a 42-29 mauling in Motor City — featured a taped-together defense gradually ground into dust.

So why should Seahawks fans feel oddly encouraged?

The biggest reason wears No. 7 and starts under center. Though Goff’s statistical perfection stole the spotlight, Geno Smith continues to prove he can excel as well. With his 34th birthday approaching Oct. 10, Smith has never been better, buoyed by a blossoming partnership with offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb. On Monday he set a franchise record with 56 pass attempts while compiling career highs in completions (38) and passing yards (395).

Through four games Smith leads the NFL in passing yards (1,182), completions (115), pass attempts (159) and first downs (57) while sitting second in completion percentage (72.3%). Though his touchdown-to-interception ratio — 4:4 — does not reflect it, the back-to-back Pro Bowler has continuously put his receivers in advantageous positions.

Meanwhile, it’s been an unabashedly weird start to the season for quarterbacks across the league. To date, the NFL leaders in QBR are Buffalo’s Josh Allen (82.3), Carolina’s Andy Dalton (76.1), Minnesota’s Sam Darnold (73.5) and Washington’s Jayden Daniels (73.3). Smith sits at No. 10 (63.9) — ahead of No. 11 Jalen Hurts (61.4), No. 12 CJ Stroud (61.3), No. 15 Matthew Stafford (54.9), No. 16 Dak Prescott (53.9), No. 17 Patrick Mahomes (52.9), No. 19 Aaron Rodgers (50.1) … and No. 22 Jared Goff (47.2).

So, it’s hard to trust the sample size. But it’s still both tried and true: quarterback is sports’ most important position. The signal caller often sets his team’s ceiling.

Which makes Smith’s levitating ceiling even more encouraging.

“Coach Grubb, he has tremendous confidence in us and myself. I have no problem with him putting the game in my hand,” Smith said Monday night after throwing a touchdown pass and an interception. “I’m actually hoping for that every time I go out there. So whenever that’s the situation, man, I just got to do what I got to do to make the right plays.”

Plays also require playmakers, and the Seahawks have plenty of those. Under Grubb, DK Metcalf (seven catches for 104 yards Monday) became the first player in franchise history to surpass 100 receiving yards in three consecutive games. Fellow wideouts Tyler Lockett (five catches for 61 yards) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (eight catches for 51 yards) were also productive, and rookie tight end AJ Barner recorded his first NFL touchdown (a 9-yard score in the third quarter).

But it’s also worth wondering what this Seahawks offense wants to be. Though Grubb produced a similarly prolific passing attack at the University of Washington, Metcalf said in December that “he kind of nipped that in the bud the first offensive meeting that we had. [He said], ‘All right guys, I know we’ve had explosive plays [at UW in 2022 and 2023]. But we’re going to run the ball.’ ”

Occasionally.

So far, the Seahawks’ 94 total carries rank tied for 25th in the NFL. Running back Kenneth Walker III received just four carries in the first half on Monday night, compared with 24 pass attempts (a nearly 5 to 1 split). Walker exploded in the second half and finished with 12 carries for 80 yards (6.7 yards per carry), four catches for 36 yards and three rushing touchdowns.

Maybe Walker’s uneven usage is due to the oblique injury that cost him the previous two games. Maybe it’s due to issues on the Seahawks’ offensive line, schematic advantages against Detroit’s defense, or the fact that Seattle already trailed by two touchdowns with 14:58 left in the second quarter.

Or maybe Grubb prefers to put the ball in the hands of his best player.

So far, that might be Smith.

Either way, it’s hard to argue — at least, offensively — with the results. The Seahawks’ 38 first downs Monday were their most in franchise history. And though they tallied 516 total yards, the Seahawks left more on the table — thanks to a costly Metcalf fumble and a questionable pass-interference penalty on Lockett that wiped away a fourth-down conversion in the fourth quarter.

The Seahawks are not a finished product.

But it does look promising.

Defensively, it’s easy to pin Monday’s dud on the fact that six core Seahawks — defensive linemen Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II, rush ends Uchenna Nwosu and Boye Mafe, linebacker Jerome Baker and safety Julian Love — were stuck on the sideline. Unable to consistently pressure Goff with a depleted front four, the Lions’ lethal (yet stationary) quarterback unsurprisingly decimated Seattle’s defense.

As the Seahawks get healthier, and Macdonald somewhat schemes away their weaknesses, it’s reasonable to expect a return to form. And even in a short week, the 1-3 New York Giants — whose 15.0 points per game sit 29th in the NFL — may prove unable to take advantage Sunday.

Ultimately, the Seahawks must prove that Monday’s defensive letdown was an outlier, and their offensive outburst was the opposite.

After an oddly encouraging loss, the truth likely lies somewhere in between.

____