Seattle Seahawks Week 2 Report Card: Some bits of excellence mixed with some hope

The Seattle Seahawks got their first victory of the season in a Week 2 defeat of the Detroit Lions. Seattle didn't play perfectly, but they looked leagues better than they did in Week 1. After Week 1, Seattle looked like one of the worst teams in the NFL. Now, not so much.

Seattle now has two winnable games ahead of the Week 5 bye week. Up next is the Carolina Panthers at home. The Panthers could easily be 0-2 before they play Seattle.

The New York Giants follow the Panthers and while New York won in Week 2, they were playing a bad Arizona Cardinals team and lost running back Saquon Barkley to an ankle injury that will probably keep him out of Week 4. Seattle starting 3-1 is a real possibility. Heck, after Week 2, that should be the expectation. Here are the grades from Week 2 for the Seahawks.

Seahawks offense: 4/5 stars

First off, while the Seahawks didn't do a ton on the ground they did something they didn't do in Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams. That is that Seattle didn't completely give up running the ball. Seattle ran just enough to keep the Lions defense honest against the pass. This meant quarterback Geno Smith had a bit more time and truly helped offensive tackles Stone Forsythe and Jake Curhan (neither allowed a sack).

The tight end group combined for 9 catches (on 10 targets) and 133 yards. That is excellent production and once again shows how Smith gets a lot more from that group than Russell Wilson ever did. DK Metcalf had some tough early catches, including one where he his ribs were injured and he still held on to the ball. Plus, we learned yet again that if Seattle needs to get a completion then Tyler Lockett is the guy who should get the ball.

But I want to mention Forsythe and Curhan once again. Most people might have thought that Seattle was going to lose to Detroit and a big reason was that the Seahawks were going with two backup OTs. Seattle's offense wasn't perfect, but still scored 31 points (one touchdown came on a pick-six by the defense, of course), averaged 5.9 yards per play and Geno Smith only got hit one time. The one bad play where Smith got sacked was all on Smith as he ran backward and into trouble. Forsythe and Curhan should get a lot of credit for how well the overall offense played.

Offensive player of Week 2: Geno Smith

Smith might have taken the bad sack that could have been a big reason the Lions came back to win the game, but he got his offense set and understood he needed to get the ball out quickly. Smith had a massive 15-yard run to set up Seattle's first fourth-quarter touchdown. He finished 32 of 41 passing for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns and didn't turn the ball over for the second straight week.