Seahawks vs Lions grades

Monday night’s win over the Lions wasn’t as pretty as we were all hoping for, but ultimately it counts as a “W” and in the NFL that’s all that matters. We saw an 0-3 Detroit team come to CenturyLink and we wanted a blowout victory. What we got was a nail-biter with a controversial ending, but……. a win is a win right? Surely we would all take a 1-point victory this weekend in Cincinnati, no matter how ugly it may be.

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But before we look ahead to that one, let’s take one last look back at the Lions matchup. Here are this week’s grades.

OFFENSIVE LINE: F-

Yes, that’s really an F minus. If I could give them a Z grade I would. Do I really need to waste a bunch of words on this? They were terrible. If you want tangible evidence, check out @MyersNFL timeline on Twitter.

DEFENSE: A

How can you give them anything else? They held the Lions to just 53 yards rushing, and kept their playmakers from getting away for big plays. Golden Tate was a non-factor, and the Hawks did a great job of limiting Calvin Johnson. Cary Williams was particularly good in coverage, and Kam’s play to prevent the Megatron touchdown at the end was one that will go straight to his lifetime highlight package.

JIMMY GRAHAM: B

This could have been an A, as there was one opportunity where it looked like Wilson was getting ready to throw him a fade in the red zone with single coverage on the outside, but a dead ball penalty wiped that out. He’s getting a lot of grief for a couple poor blocking attempts, but there were just as many good ones. He caught 4 passes, and 3 of those were for first downs. His presence was a key in helping Doug Baldwin get free for his TD catch in the 2nd quarter. Too much is being expected of him after just 4 games. He wasn’t an obvious star in this game, but his presence was felt.

STEVEN HAUSCHKA and JON RYAN: Double A’s

Do we fully appreciate how good we have it as Seahawks fans? Did you happen to see how impactful it was around the league last weekend for teams who don’t have good specialists? Ryan might just be the best all-around punter in the league, with his ability to pin teams inside the 10 one minute, and then turn around and flip the field the next. Such was the case with a key 70-yarder he had on Monday. And Hauschka is as cold as ice. He made his two 50+ field goals looks easy, and as it turned out they were the difference in the game.

DARRELL BEVELL: B+

I thought the plan was balanced, with a great mix of run/pass. Despite the struggles of the offensive line and the absence of Marshawn Lynch, he didn’t abandon the running game. Too much revisionist history is used to judge his 3rd-and-short and 4th down calls, but throwing it on 4th to ice this game was the right call, whether it worked or not. Fortunately it did.

Next: Russell Wilson Summed Up In Two Plays

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