3 reasons the Seahawks will beat the Lions in week eight
By Lee Vowell
Jarran Reed is becoming a bad bad man and forms a great duo with Frank Clark
Admittedly, the Seahawks pass rush is extremely inconsistent. But you can’t blame that on Jarran Reed. Or Frank Clark. Reed has the third most sacks in the league from the defensive tackle position in 2018. Clark is 11th in sacks overall.
Reed has already surpassed his career-highs for sacks and for tackles for loss. Reed has four sacks and five tackles for loss. The third-year pro has developed into the kind of player Seattle hoped he would be when they drafted him in the second round.
Clark has 5.5 sacks through six games. But he is extra motivated by the fact that this is the final years of his contract and he can make big money with a huge season. So far he is having a good year.
The great thing about having Clark at end and Reed at tackle is that teams can only double-team one position. Slow Clark and Reed should be able to get pressure inside. Double-team Reed and Clark is free to roam and create.
And Clark and Reed appear to just be realizing how good they can be. Against a depleted Raiders line, Clark forced multiple fumbles from quarterback Derek Carr and those fumbles were recovered twice by Reed. One fumble didn’t count. But Reed seems to have an instinct for what Clark is doing and vice versa.
The Lions have allowed only 10 sacks in 2018. Seattle needs to slow Stafford and one obvious way to do that is through pressure. If Seattle gets the pressure, it will be because Clark or Reed had a lot to do with it.