DETROIT — Now that was quite the way to earn the Seattle Seahawks' first win of the 2023 National Football League (NFL) season.
Battling back from an early deficit, the Seahawks outlasted the Detroit Lions 37-31 in overtime on Sunday afternoon.
Here are three takeaways from the Seahawks' big overtime victory.
Second half resilience
Unlike last week, when the Seahawks offense curled up into a ball and did nothing in the second half, Seattle matched each Lions punch with a counterpunch of their own.
Geno Smith, in particular, was in command of the offense from the opening kickoff. He totaled 328 passing yards and two touchdowns, averaging 8.0 yards per attempt. The veteran connected with nine different receivers in the win.
When the Seahawks won the coin toss at the start of overtime, Smith left nothing to chance, leading his team to a 75-yard touchdown drive to seal the victory.
Pass defense woes
If you are going to point out a negative in the game, the Seahawks secondary could not contain the Lions passing attack.
Jared Goff was more efficient than Smith, tossing 323 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Goff just had seven incompletions in a game that finished in overtime
There were three Lions with over 60 receiving yards, too. The Seahawks did not have an answer for the Lions passing offense.
Defense making plays
But there is a big positive to gleam from the defense: The unit made the most important plays of the game, offsetting the Lions' efficiency.
Detroit was driving down the field in the third quarter, and threatened to extend its lead, when the Seahawks defense met running back David Montgomery in the backfield and forced a fumble. Gifted with a short field, Kenneth Walker punched in a one-yard touchdown to keep the game tied at 14.
Later, when the Seahawks reclaimed the lead in the fourth quarter, cornerback Tre Brown beat Goff on one of his few mistakes and ran off for a 40-yard touchdown the other way. This interception, by the way, snapped Goff's streak of 384 consecutive passes without an interception. He was just 19 more passes from beating the all-time mark (402) set by Aaron Rodgers in 2018.
In all, the Seahawks created three turnovers while the Lions created zero. Two of the Seahawks' touchdowns followed a turnover.
In a game decided by six points, the turnover margin ended up being the difference.