The Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks have plenty of history over the last three seasons.
Dan Campbell and company have squared off with the Seahawks each of the last three seasons, including the last two being at Ford Field. Seattle has defeated Detroit in each of the meetings.
With there being so much familiarity between the teams over the years, one new element is the presence of coach Mike Macdonald. The Seahawks' new coach will lead square off with Campbell for the first time as a head coach after serving as the Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator last season.
"They're a really good football team. Hard playing, well coached, a lot of scheme diversity, but also hang their hat on their calling cards, so to speak, on special teams," Macdonald said Wednesday. "A hard-playing group. Again, it's a theme throughout all three phases. Obviously, they're really aggressive in certain situations and willing to take calculated risks, so we'll need to be ready for those."
Quarterback Geno Smith has looked exceptional against the Lions in each of his two opportunities at Ford Field over the last two years. In total, Smith has logged 648 passing yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in the two victories he's started in.
“What stands out on tape is just their effort," Smith told reporters this week. "A Dan Campbell coached team, they’re gonna play hard, they’re gonna fly to the ball, they’re gonna try to hit you and be physical. They want to out-physical you up front. They want to load the box, they want to play with base personnel, three linebackers.
"Really stuff the run, get you in some second- and third-and-long situations where Aidan Hutchinson and the rest of the pass rush can come alive. Just watching them on film, they run a lot of different coverages. Obviously coach Glenn is a DB, so he likes to tailor the defenses to his DBs. Up front, man, they’re stout. They can stop the run and they can pass rush. Another tough opponent for us that we look forward to.”
'Fun atmosphere'
Monday will mark the third consecutive time the Seahawks have played at Ford Field. Though Seattle has emerged victorious in each of the last two opportunities, Smith knows going into Detroit is no easy task given the passionate fan base.
“Was a really fun atmosphere. Detroit, they have a great crowd. I thought we went in there, we were down a couple starters on our offensive line," Smith explained. "But went in there against a really good team and got an early win. I thought it was obviously great for our season to start that way. It’s a new season this year. We’ve got a new staff, they’re doing some new things. We’ve got to play this game, none of those other games really matter. It’s just about this one and I think we’ve got a tremendous opportunity, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Detroit's fans have been known to create an excellent home-field advantage for the Lions over the last two seasons. Smith is anticipating much of the same in the primetime showdown Monday.
“It gets pretty loud, especially around the end zone," Smith said. "When you get down there around the end zone, the fans are right on you. You can kind of feel them being right on you. We handle those situations pretty well, so I think we’ll be ready for it.”
