3 bold predictions for Seattle Seahawks vs. Lions in Week 4
By Lee Vowell
Seahawks RB Rashaad Penny has 125 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns
For all the national talking heads to say before the season began that the Seahawks wanted to get rid of Russell Wilson because Pete Carroll wanted to run more, they have been completely wrong through the first three games. So far in 2022, Seattle has dropped back to pass 109 times and rushed the ball 56 times. So basically, Seattle throws the ball twice as much as they run. Seattle has the seventh-most pass-heavy offense in the NFL, per TeamRankings.com.
And that amount of Geno Smith dropping back isn’t due to Seattle being blown out and having no choice but to throw to try to catch up. In fact, Week 1 and Week 3 probably dictated more rushes and fewer passes so a lot of the blame for the offense not being great should be put on offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
Rashaad Penny has done his best. He hasn’t had several long runs but he also hasn’t gotten the ball enough to do much of anything. Penny has 32 carries in 2022 and has averaged 4.7 yards a run. He’s had a couple of longer runs called back by penalties. Penny finished 2021 with a very strong six-game run and led the NFL in yards-per-carry. But this year? The Seahawks don’t seem to trust him to win games.
The Lions, however, are horrible against the run, even worse than Seattle. Detroit is 25th in the NFL in yards allowed-per-rush (5.0), 27th in rushing yards allowed per game (427), and last in rushing touchdowns allowed (7). There is absolutely no reason Penny can’t have a huge game in Week 4 and not giving him the ball a lot should cost Waldron his job.