3 biggest overreactions to Seahawks Week 2 game versus Lions

Overreaction No. 3: Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas are not as good as we thought

There was a lot of understandable concern about the offensive line heading into Detroit. This was mainly due to being without either of their starting tackles. It was notable how bad the offense was during the second half against the Rams, especially after both Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas left the game with injuries.

With the recently-signed Jason Peters not ready to play yet, the Seahawks were forced to go with a couple of backups at the left and right tackle spots. In the end, though, both Stone Forsythe and Jake Curhan performed better than expected. The offense only gave up one sack -- which in all honesty was more on Geno Smith -- with the quarterback also only (officially) hit once.

As a result, it would arguably be easy to claim Charles Cross and Abraham are not as good or important as previously believed. Not just anyone can come in and play at the tackle position in the Seahawks' offense, obviously. However, there are certain factors to consider in making this assertion.

The main one is that the Seahawks came up with a game plan which exposed Forsythe and Curhan less, and gave them a better chance to succeed. This included remaining committed to the running game, despite it not producing particularly impressive numbers. It is usually easier for an offensive lineman to run block rather than pass protect, and keeping the Lions off-balance with what the Seahawks were doing offensively helped minimize the pass rush.

The Seahawks also got their tight ends more involved, as Will Dissly, Noah Fant and Colby Parkinson combined for nine catches. Having more shorter dropbacks and underneath passes again minimized the pass rush. In addition, there were also times when Smith helped the O-line look better statistically, with a variety of occasions when he got rid of the ball a split second before the Lions defense got to him.

Regardless, performing well for a game is one thing - it's repeating the trick week after week on a consistent basis. Along these lines, this is exactly what both Cross and Lucas did last season. Despite both being rookies in 2022, the first-round and third-round picks started 17 and 16 regular season games respectively.

You don't remain in the starting lineup if you're not good enough - we already know Carroll won't hesitate to make changes if he thinks someone else can do a better job. Yes, Forsythe and Curhan have both shown promise that the Seahawks' offensive line depth is actually pretty good. Ultimately though, Cross and Lucas will be back in the starting lineup as soon as they are healthy enough to play again.

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