Seahawks clicking like a playoff team, but schedule about to get serious

1:03 pm | October 28, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

4:39 PM ET

Brady HendersonESPN

DETROIT — The Seattle Seahawks are looking more and more like legitimate playoff contenders.

It started to seem that way when they went blow-for-blow with the Los Angeles Rams in Week 5, nearly upsetting the NFL’s only unbeaten team for what would have been a third-straight victory.

It continued two weeks ago in London, where the Seahawks turned in a dominant performance in a blowout of the Oakland Raiders.

The latest evidence: a stress-free 28-14 victory over the Lions in Detroit.

You’d have to look hard to find something that wasn’t working for the Seahawks (4-3) Sunday at Ford Field. They looked the part of a team that Pete Carroll said is as healthy as it’s been all season following last week’s bye.

Russell Wilson completed his first 10 attempts and finished the first half with three touchdown passes to go along with a perfect passer rating. The running game, which has again become Seattle’s offensive identity, produced 176 yards, including 105 yards and a touchdown from Chris Carson. The defense, with its remade and largely inexperienced secondary, held up with the help of a pair of fourth-quarter takeaways.

One of the only real miscues was Tedric Thompson — Earl Thomas‘ replacement at free safety — allowing Marvin Jones to get behind him on a scramble play for Detroit’s first touchdown. But Thompson redeemed himself by forcing a fumble on a kickoff to set up Seattle’s second touchdown.

Part of Carroll’s claim about the Seahawks being in the best shape they’ve been in all year was due to the returns of linebacker K.J. Wright and tight end Ed Dickson, who both made their 2018 debuts Sunday. Wright finished with five tackles while Dickson caught two passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. His 42-yard reception was the result of a nifty play design that got him wide open after a play-action fake — a part of Brian Schottenheimer’s offense that has produced one big gain after another.

The Lions were threatening to make it a one-score game before Justin Coleman‘s interception at the goal line slammed the door.

The Seahawks are very much in the thick of the wide-open NFC playoff race even with the Rams running away with the division. But it’s about to get tougher. Of Seattle’s first seven opponents, only the Rams had a winning record entering Sunday while the Seahawks’ next four opponents — the Chargers, Rams, Packers and Panthers — are all above .500 with a combined record of 19-6-1. All four have quarterbacks that are above average — or in Green Bay’s case, elite.

That stretch will tell us more about how far the Seahawks might be able to go. But as of now, they look more like a playoff team than one merely in transition.