Mike Macdonald deserves a mulligan for Seahawks' lackluster first half vs. Lions

The Seattle Seahawks were one of just three unbeaten teams in the NFL heading into their matchup against Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football. Unfortunately, the national unveiling of new head coach Mike Macdonald's defense fell flat on their face.

Before this game, Seattle had not allowed a quarterback to top 150 yards passing in any game this year. However, the quarterbacks in question were Denver's struggling rookie Bo Nix, Patriots milquetoast veteran Jacoby Brissett

Not only did the Lions take a 21-7 lead into halftime, but the defense offered very little fight. Jared Goff completed all 12 of his passes, while David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs managed to plow into the end zone for three different rushing touchdowns. The Seahawks looked mortal, but that's because so many pass rushers were hurt.

Boye Mafe, who had a sack in every game this season? Out. Veteran defensive lineman Leonard Williams and protege Byron Murphy II? Both out. Uchenna Nwosu, who hasn't played all year? He's down. Pair that with a Lions offensive line that is one of the best in the game, and you get a recipe for disaster that gave Detroit a 21-7 lead at halftime.

Seahawks' defensive performance vs. Lions can be excused due to injuries

The entire gameplan for beating the Lions revolves around stopping the run and trying to get pressure on the immobile Goff in the pocket. With two talented defensive tackles and two speedy pass rushers both out, it became damn near impossible for the Seahawks to check those boxes.

While you would like to see a secondary with big names like Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon play better than this against Detroit, one of the most creative offensive coaching staffs in the league has enough schematic tricks up their sleeve to pick Seattle apart when no pass rush is supplied.

Be it at Michigan or with the Baltimore Ravens, Macdonald has had success on the defensive side of the ball at every stop in his career. It's unreasonable to expect his perfect defensive vision to be implemented in four games, especially with his stars hurt and many of his backups drafted for Pete Carroll's radically different scheme.

The Seahawks will be on Thursday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers on October 10. With many of these injuries expected to be healed by then, Seattle should be able to put on a much more encouraging show against that Super Bowl contender than they did against Detroit.

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