Quick Slant: Grit and Grace on MNF - Motown's Underdog Against Seattle's Overachiever
Seahawks @ Lions, Monday @ 8:15 PM
The Lions were last year’s darling – representatives of a city that’s a blue-collar hammer, cold and tough, devastated by the end of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the Great Recession, driven to mass poverty, and desperate for a win. And the city was lifted by its lovable underdog – the 12th team the NFL ever founded, as historical and foundational as the Motor City’s manufacturing, cultural, and once powerful economic roots. The Lions had been a microcosm for the entire Motown experience – mighty and unstoppable in the fifties, downtrodden and inauspicious since. And last year, they almost stuck it to every prosperous and spoiled trust fund baby franchise en route to an NFC Championship game. But with the world behind their backs just this once, they fell short.
Seattle is overachieving in its own way. Three years ago, it rebelled against the establishment when it traded its MVP-candidate quarterback, clearing the way for a left-for-dead vegan poet who took the long road back from ruin to become an icon of late-career development and overcoming mental health challenges to embody quiet strength. The Seahawks emerged from a long, successful era under HC Pete Carroll as underdogs; three games in, they are undefeated and demand our attention.
Seahawks’ Implied Team Total: 21.5
The Seahawks are slightly above average in most offensive categories. They are 16th in the NFL – right in the middle – in offensive EPA per play.
They are led by QB Geno Smith, who constantly surprises people, and he is right on the WR1/WR2 borderline in PPR. He hovers in the same range in TDs, QBR, and FPOE. He ranks ninth in CPOE + EPA composite.
The Lions run 40% man coverage, one of the highest rates in the league. They are also effective in it, surrendering only 0.40 fantasy points per dropback from man. Smith is the third-most effective QB in the league this season against man, scoring 0.64 fantasy points per dropback against it.
Detroit is vulnerable in pass defense to a degree; they rank 20th in defensive EPA per dropback. They are far better at stopping the run.
