5 predictions for Seahawks vs. Lions on ‘Monday Night Football’

Happy Monday, Seattle Seahawks fans! As of this morning, Seattle is one of only three undefeated teams left in the NFL this season. That may only hold up for a few more hours, as the Seahawks are in for a tough night on the road against the Detroit Lions . If it continues, then this just might be a special Seahawks season we're in store for.

For the second week in a row, I'm taking a different approach to predicting a Seahawks game. Let's look back at last week's predictions :

defense will force at least one turnover from Skylar Thompson

Didn't happen. It probably could've happened if Thompson didn't leave the game with an injury, but Seattle was unable to recover either of his two fumbles.

Jaxon Smith-Njigba will score his first touchdown of the season

Wasn't close. He had 3 catches for 39 yards and none of them was anywhere near scoring range.

DK Metcalf and Jalen Ramsey will get into an on-field tussle

Not really, although Metcalf did get dinged for an obvious pushoff on Ramsey for an offensive pass interference penalty.

The run defense will improve, but still struggle

The run defense improved to the tune of 15 carries for 59 yards for Miami's running backs. There were a couple of bad plays but this is overwhelmingly a net positive, so I'm half-right in the sense of improvement but wrong about the struggles.

The Seahawks will pull away in the 2nd half

Ehh. If we consider the Zach Charbonnet touchdown in the fourth quarter "pulling away" in a two-possession game, then I was right. Even at 17-3 for more than half the game, it never felt like Miami had a real shot to win.

Let's see if I'm any better this week, but with a couple of tweaks.

Bold prediction: Anthony Bradford will NOT commit any penalties

This includes accepted, declined, or offsetting penalties. Bradford has been heavily criticized for his lackluster start to the season, particularly his propensity to commit any type of foul. His six penalties have already tripled his total from his 10 starts last season.

Mike Macdonald indicated that Christian Haynes will get some playing time, so Bradford having reduced snaps to some degree should make my prediction a little less bold. My big concern is Bradford false starting in a playoff-like environment, otherwise I believe he's in for his first penalty-free game of the season.

...That doesn't mean he'll actually play well, but I'm hoping that's also the case.

Seahawks offense prediction: DK Metcalf will get his third straight 100-yard game

Metcalf has only had three instances of back-to-back 100-yard receiving games, two of which came in the 2020 season. His first trifecta effort was close, missing out by just seven yards against the Minnesota Vikings while catching the game-winning touchdown. In his second attempt, he was held to just 23 yards in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams .

If Metcalf hits the century mark tonight, it'll be the first time any Seahawks receiver has gone back-to-back-to-back in franchise history. The likely absence of Brian Branch combined with Detroit's heavy use of man coverage has me believing that this will be a big Metcalf night... again.

Seahawks defense prediction: Devon Witherspoon will record either a sack, an interception, or both

So far, Devon Witherspoon has four penalties but no sacks and no interceptions. According to NFL Pro , Witherspoon has been targeted 15 times and allowed just 7 completions for 40 yards. He came close to at least one interception and a sack against Bo Nix in Week 1, but accomplished neither.

Penalties aside, Witherspoon has been great. He will be tested more against a formidable quarterback/wide receiver combination of Jared Goff/Amon-Ra St. Brown. Witherspoon's debut last season came in Detroit, and he took his fair share of lumps (including a flea-flicker touchdown allowed), but also had a couple of key pass breakups and a fourth-down stop.

I anticipate Witherspoon having more opportunities for a turnover just based on the matchups, and the lack of a healthy defensive line could mean more creative blitzing and simulated pressures from Mike Macdonald. Witherspoon is on pace to rush the quarterback more than he did all of last season, and I believe he's going to get one of those backside pressures that puts Goff on the turf.

Enemy prediction: Aidan Hutchinson gets at least one sack

Detroit's premier pass rusher has 6.5 sacks this season, including 4.5 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a loss. Hutchinson has faced exclusively backup right tackles, and that will continue against Stone Forsythe. While Forsythe has been way better than expected in his second go-round as the emergency starter, I'm not sure he'll be able to cope for the whole game against Hutchinson's speed off the edge.

Hutchinson was unable to sack Geno Smith in the previous two matchups, including last year when Jake Curhan had backup RT duties. The third time will probably be the charm, I'm afraid. I just do not trust this offensive line not to crumble at key moments, and I hope that Ryan Grubb leans on a little more 12 personnel (particularly with Pharaoh Brown's inclusion) to help Stone out.

Game prediction: The Seahawks put up a valiant effort... in a loss

I think Seattle is too undermanned in the worst possible position to be undermanned. The Lions don't have Frank Ragnow but still have a strong offensive line led by Penei Sewell. A Derick Hall-Jarran Reed-Johnathan Hankins-Dre'Mont Jones front is going to be at a disadvantage all night. I'm not sure the run defense will hold up against David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, and the standard four-man rush is unlikely to generate much pressure.

On offense, I trust that the passing game will have another solid outing with Geno Smith and the wide receivers, but the running game even with Kenneth Walker's return could have trouble against a Lions defense that is 7th in rush DVOA. There are still too many fundamental mistakes happening with blown blocks, drops, and penalties that have me confident in Seattle pulling off a tough road win against a quality opponent.

It'll be a Lions win (finally, for them) in a 31-24 victory. I'm not too worried as long as Seattle takes care of business against the New York Giants. I think we'd all have taken a minimum 4-1 record entering the San Francisco 49ers game.