The defeat in Detroit shows: “We are not the team we need to be at this point”

The Seattle Seahawks’ undefeated season ended in epic fashion on Monday night with a 42-29 loss to the Detroit Lions.

Mike Macdonald’s defense faltered, allowing Jared Goff to set a record and only force three punts all night.

In three games against the Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins without Tua Tagovailoa, Seattle had 43 total points (14.3 per game), 3.9 yards per game, an average of 4.7 yards per pass attempt and a passer rating of 67, 0 allowed. In Week 4, Seattle’s defense gave up 42 points, 7.8 yards per game, 15.7 passing yards per attempt and a combined pass rating of 158.3.

Monday was considered Seattle’s first real test of the season. Macdonald dismissed that notion, but added that his team needed to get better in the future.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a litmus test. It just shows us that we are not the team we need to be at this point,” he said on the team’s official website. “That’s it. It just wasn’t good enough. They did what they did to win the game, they did a great job, they had a great plan and we came up short. So it’s about how do we move forward properly. “Now taking the next step as a football team because we have a short week ahead of us and there is urgency – I mean, there is always urgency, but we have to get there in the next few days go to work and create something this right.

Seattle’s defense had several offensive pieces on offense, with Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Byron Murphy II and Leonard Williams all out before the game. Then Julian Love lost safety in the second half. No matter the injury, it’s never a good time to get burned like you did on Monday night.

“The performance just wasn’t good enough on our front,” Macdonald said. “I have to give Detroit a lot of credit. I thought they had a great plan offensively…They just outplayed us on the defensive side of the ball.”

The positive for the Seahawks is that Geno Smith and the offense have been sensational. Smith passed for 395 yards as the unit racked up 38 first downs, the most by a losing team since the Rams (36) in Week 4, 2019.

Seattle needs to lean on this explosive offense as the defense gets healthy and clears things up.

“We’re 3-1, that’s what it says, and now we have to move on to the next game,” Smith said. “It’s just football, it’s NFL football. I think the only team that went undefeated was the ’72 Dolphins, so we’re just trying to go out and win every game we can. We didn’t make it today, but that’s why we have time next week, so we’ll improve, keep going and prepare for next week.”

The New York Giants come to Seattle next week before the schedule really gets going with the 49ers, Falcons and Bills.