Lightning Reactions: Detroit decimates Macdonald's weakened Seahawks defense

Well, that was ugly.

The Seattle Seahawks entered Ford Field on Monday Night Football with a chance to announce to the world that they had arrived as undefeated contenders. Instead, the undermanned defense allowed the Detroit Lions to score 42 points while moving the ball 7.8 yards per play. Jared Goff capped a fantastic night going 18 of 18 for 292 yards and two touchdowns, along with a touchdown reception of his own on Amon-Ra St. Brown's seven-yard completion.

Seattle fans will be quick to point out that the loss was due to the team missing five key defensive front seven players, and that is absolutely true. But at the end of the day, the players the Hawks put on the field defensively not only couldn't take the ball, they didn't even come close, as Detroit moved the ball almost at will and consistently generated explosive plays.

On offense, the Seahawks were on the field for 90 snaps, suggesting a group that consistently generates first downs and maintains possession of the ball. That's exactly what Seattle did with over 500 yards of offense and 34 minutes of possession, but they simply made too many mistakes despite Geno Smith and many of the offensive linemen playing every snap.

Perhaps most notably on offense, Christian Haynes saw his first extended action in rotation with Anthony Bradford, with Haynes playing 36 snaps. On the other hand, despite not being a healthy player for the first time in several games, Olu Oluwatimi was fit but did not see the field and returned to the state where he was playing in his sixth season of college football .

Defensively, the coaching staff leaned heavily on veterans Dre'Mont Jones, Jonathan Hankins and Jarran Reed up front, while Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy were sidelined. That's certainly not a definitive statement, but it shows what the team thinks of young players like Mike Morris and Myles Adams, who played less than one probably would have expected given the absence of key starters up front.

As Jake Bobo took on a larger role on offense on special teams, his role on special teams shrank slightly. Dareke Young also saw a decline in his special teams contributions, but did not see an increase in offensive usage.

Drake Thomas continued to lead all special teams players in snaps played, with Brady Russell and Coby Bryant making up the top three and Kenny McIntosh seeing a larger role on special teams.