The Detroit Lions are heading into their Week 6 bye with a 3-2 record after absolutely dropping 45 points on the Arizona Cardinals, ending the game 45-21. While everyone’s talking about how their offense is basically a cheat code, leading the league tied for first in points per game at 32.8, sitting fourth in EPA per play, and also tied for first in touchdowns scored, you gotta wonder if it’s enough to hide some serious holes. Especially when our own Seahawks just took a gut punch that felt way too familiar right here at home.
Detroit’s Offense Is Carrying The Freight (For Now)
Look, you can’t deny the Lions’ offense is balling out. Nick Shook over at NFL.com even said they “wiped the floor” with the Cardinals over those final three quarters. Jared Goff, of all people, was slinging it for 271 yards and three TDs, carving up Arizona’s undisciplined defense. The national guys are finally catching on too, with NFL.com, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated all bumping them up to #11 in their power rankings from #16 and #18 respectively. Even USA Today has them at #12, up three spots. It’s clear their O gives them a shot to win every single week, and right now, that’s enough to get them to 3-2. But is that sustainable when you look at who they’ve actually beaten?
Can Detroit’s Defense Ever Get It Together?
Here’s where it gets dicey for the Lions. Their defense has been a mess, honestly. ESPN Staff, with Eric Woodyard’s input, is calling out their depleted secondary as the biggest problem. Kelvin Sheppard, their defensive coordinator, was under fire after they let teams score 30 points in three of their first four games. Yeah, they looked better against the Cardinals, but let’s be real, their secondary has given up a league-high 1,487 passing yards. That’s a huge problem! To be fair, they started the season without Pro Bowl safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, and they’re still missing Thomas Harper and Avonte Maddox on injured reserve. The silver lining, according to Connor Orr from Sports Illustrated, is Branch is apparently nearing his return for Week 7 after being out since December with a torn Achilles. That’s a massive boost, if he can actually make a difference.
An Easy Path (So Far) and a Gut Punch for the 12s
Chad Graff and Josh Kendall at The Athletic pointed out the Lions’ wins come against the Saints, Jets, and Cardinals, who are a combined 4-11. It’s not exactly a “murderer’s row,” right? They knew going into this season they had one of the easiest schedules, and they’ve taken care of business against the bad teams. That’s cool for them, I guess. But for us, for the 12s, we just watched the San Francisco 49ers roll into Lumen Field and stomp our Seahawks 32-29. That’s a tough pill to swallow. While the Lions are celebrating beating up on weaker teams, we’re seeing what a real contender looks like, and it stings. It’s a reminder that just “taking care of business” against soft competition doesn’t get you to where we want to be.
So, the Lions get a much-needed bye week, hoping Brian Branch comes back and fixes that secondary. They’ve gotta figure out if their defense can actually hold up against tougher competition, because that offense won’t always save them. For our Seahawks? We need to regroup fast. That 49ers loss was a wake-up call, and our squad, with Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Cooper Kupp, has to find that spark and answer back next week if we want to compete in this league.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pride of Detroit.
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