Bold predictions? Meh. It is a real thing, I guess. But being truly bold might be me saying, "The Seattle Seahawks will score 60 on the Lions in Week 2 by resting their starters!" That would be silly, right? Yep, but it would be bold.
Sadly, resting their starters is the way Seattle looked in Week 1 when they lost to a Cooper Kupp-less Los Angeles Rams team by 17. The first few offensive drives for the Seahawks looked fine, but after that? Not so much.
Seattle's Week 2 opponent, the Detroit Lions, beat the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1. The Chiefs were missing a couple of key players, but do I think that Seattle, the way they played against the Rams, would have beaten KC? No way. Here are four things I think will happen in Week 2, however.
Predictions for what will happen between the Seahawks and Lions in Week 2
The Seahawks will struggle badly against the Lions passing game
Is Lions quarterback Jared Goff perfect? No. But he is a lot better than most people probably give him credit for. In 2021 and 2022 combined, Goff had 48 touchdown passes against just 15 interceptions. Goff has also made three Pro Bowls. He is far from a first-round NFL draft bust, though he won't ever be a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
In 2022 when Seattle defeated the Lions 48-45 - and the Seahawks secondary was actually decent last year - Goff destroyed Seattle. He completed 26 of 39 passes for 378 yards and 4 touchdowns. In Week 1 against the Chiefs, Goff was efficient if not spectacular. He completed 22 of 35 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown. He didn't turn the ball over. He was also sacked just once. Goff's 7.5 adjusted net yards per pass attempt was also fifth in the league in Week 1.
Meanwhile, Seattle had nearly zero pass rush against Matthew Stafford and the Rams. Seattle got pressure only 5 percent of the time Stafford dropped back to pass, and his Stafford only twice, fewest in the league. Seattle ranked 30th in the NFL in allowing 8.8 net yards per pass attempt. In other words, Goff is very likely to run an extremely efficient offense against Seattle and eat up clock and score points.
Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker will gain 120 yards and score 2 TDs
One of the few parts of the Seahawks offense that was working in Week 1 was Seattle's running game, specifically Kenneth Walker III. Strangely, Seattle didn't run the ball enough against the Rams. For all those people who complain Pete Carroll likes to run the ball too much, just remember that Seattle threw the ball 60.9 percent of the time in Week 1 (12th in the league) and in 2022 Seattle passed the ball 59.4 percent of the time (13th in the NFL). More often, Seattle doesn't run the ball enough.
Against the Rams, Walker ran the ball only 12 times and gained 64 yards. He averaged 5.3 yards per rush. The rest of the offense averaged just 3.4 yards a play the 34 times Geno Smith wasn't handing the ball to Walker. And Seattle nearly completely went away from the run in the second half. This made Smith throw the ball far too much and made drives end too quickly so that the Rams dominated time of possession in the second half.
The Lions, however, allowed 3.9 yards per carry against the Chiefs. That isn't a ton, but that number was still 19th in the NFL. The Lions weren't fantastic against the pass, but they were also playing Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. Detroit didn't get much pressure against Mahomes, but the Kansas City offense is a different kind of beast than most every other NFL team.
The Seahawks are also unlikely to have left tackle Charles Cross. This is likely to affect Seattle's passing game more than the running game because Walker can run between the tackles and break off a long run or three. Handing the ball to Walker more in Week 2 than Week 1 is a must for Seattle.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba will lead the Seahawks in receptions
For all we hoped what the Seahawks offense would look like in 2023 and beyond, Week 1 was neither what we hoped nor a good preview of what is to come. At least, one hopes. If Seattle's offense looks just as good all season as it did against the Rams, 4-13 is a real possibility. But we know from what 13 previous seasons of Pete Carroll seasons that the Seahawks are going to find a way to succeed one way or another.
Part of that hope for the offense was based on Seattle choosing Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the first round of the 2023 draft. Smith-Njigba did have a drop on a tough pass against the Rams, but mostly the Rams seemed to know what Seattle was going to do before Seattle snapped the ball for most of the game. Smith-Njigba was limited but that may have been as much because of the Seahawks offense than the Rams defense.
We know Smith-Njigba can catch and run. We've seen his college film and we've seen him be good in limited snaps in the preseason. One might wonder if offensive coordinator Shane Waldron might simply have too many offensive weapons and doesn't know how to use them. For instance, had Seattle run Kenneth Walker more that might have helped Smith-Njigba, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
I do think Smith-Njigba and the Seattle offense bounces back against the Lions somewhat. I also think this is the perfect week for Smith-Njigba to lead the team in catches. That doesn't mean I think he will score a couple of touchdowns or put up big yards, but I think Geno Smith uses him more in the middle of the field. Seattle needs to use JSN to maximize its potential.
The Lions beat the Seahawks in a relatively low-scoring game
My guess is that Week 2 feels like three years for 12s. Week 1 was such a letdown because the team looked so bad. Or maybe the team just isn't what we thought they would be in 2023. Of course, it's super easy to overreact to Week 1. That is rarely indicative of how a season will play out for a team. Will the Kansas Chiefs go 0-17 and never have Travis Kelce and Chris Jones? No.
Seattle will also get some talent back soon, too. Rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon will practice this week and probably should play in Week 1. He could potentially be a disruptive play-maker. Jamal Adams will be back at some point soon as well and he could enhance a struggling pass rush. There is still hope over the length of the season.
Having said that, Week 2 won't have Jamal Adams and the game will be Witherspoon's first so expecting him to be great the first time he steps foot on the field in a real game might be asking too much. So yeah, starting 0-2 in the 2023 is a very real possibility for Seattle. That doesn't mean they won't still make a run at the postseason, however.
I don't expect the Seahawks to put up 45-plus points in Week 2. They have done so in each of the last two meetings with the Lions. I guess a truly bold take would be watching what Seattle did in Week 1 and then thinking they can be 32 points better the following week. That seems wrong. More likely, the Lions use a short passing game to control the clock, picking up third downs when Seattle can't get them off the field. Seattle scores 20, but the Lions score 27.