Smith, Lockett lift Seahawks to OT win over Lions
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DETROIT (AP) — Geno Smith, Tyler Lockett and the Seattle Seahawks showed their season-opening lopsided loss may have been just an aberration.
The Detroit Lions, meanwhile, followed up a fantastic win with a loss that took some luster off their start to the season.
Smith threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Lockett on the opening drive of overtime to lift Seattle to a 37-31 win over Detroit on Sunday.
“We had been moving the ball really well all game," said Smith, who was 32 of 41 for 328 yards with two TD throws to Lockett. “We had a lot of confidence that we could go down the field and get that touchdown.”
The Seahawks bounced back from a 30-13 stinging setback at home to the Los Angeles Rams with the impressive win.
“We knew that wasn’t our team last week,” Smith said.
The Seahawks (1-1) earned the victory after the Lions (1-1) came back from a 10-point deficit late in the fourth quarter.
Detroit extended the game with Riley Patterson's 38-yard field goal as regulation expired after coach Dan Campbell was uncharacteristically conservative with his approach and settled for the tie instead of going for the win.
“I did not want to give the ball back," Campbell said. “That was No. 1.”
Detroit rallied after Smith threw a go-ahead, 3-yard touchdown pass to Lockett early in the fourth and Tre Brown returned a Jared Goff interception 40 yards for a score on the ensuring drive to give Seattle a 31-21 lead. Goff went 28 of 35 for 323 yards, three touchdowns and the one costly pick, his first interception in 383 attempts — 30 shy of Aaron Rodgers’ NFL record.
“This is a big weight off our shoulders,” Brown said. “Those guys are amazing and the energy was electric in here. Everyone was talking about Goff's streak."
Goff showed his resilience by throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass on the next drive to Josh Reynolds with 3:08 left in the game.
Detroit forced Seattle to punt on the ensuing possession on fourth-and-35, sacking Smith for the first — and only time — when Alex Anzalone tracked him down at his 3. That set up the tying field goal.
But the Seahawks won the overtime coin toss and Smith marched them 75 yards in nine plays for the game-ending score.
In the end, Detroit failed to give its fired-up fans a reason to cheer after opening the season with a win on the road against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
“This is good,” Campbell said. “We’ll get a little humble pie.”
Seattle started strong, going 75 yards on 12 plays in nearly 8 minutes with Walker scoring on a 1-yard run.
The Lions answered quickly on Goff's 22-yard touchdown throw to Josh Reynolds. They took a 14-7 lead late in the second quarter when rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon was fooled on a flea flicker in his NFL debut, allowing Kalif Raymond to get behind him to catch Goff's 36-yard pass.
“That was tough,” Witherspoon said. “They made a great play, but all my teammates were telling me to keep my head and my composure.”
On Detroit's first snap of the second half, David Montgomery fumbled at the Lions 22 and Seattle took advantage with Walker's 3-yard touchdown run to pull into a tie
“Take the turnovers away, we’re in control of that game,” Campbell said.
STEPPING UP
Seattle started offensive tackles Stone Forsythe and Jake Curhan in place of injured starters Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas and the pair of inexperienced players helped give Smith time to throw all day.
“Those two were the first guys I wanted to see after the game,” coach Pete Carroll said.
INJURIES
Seahawks: C Evan Brown (knee) and CB Riq Woolen (chest) were injured during the game and DK Metcalf played with a rib injury. ... LBs Boye Mafe (knee) and Devin Bush (shoulder) were inactive after being listed as questionable.
Lions: DE James Houston (ankle) may be out “a little while,” Campbell said. ... Montgomery (thigh) was carted off the field in the fourth quarter but Campbell thinks he just has a bruise. ... RG Vaitai Halapoulivaati limped off the field early in the fourth after appearing to hurt his left knee. ... WR Antoine Green was evaluated for a concussion. ... OT Taylor Decker (ankle) was inactive, putting Matt Nelson in the starting lineup.
UP NEXT
Seahawks: Host the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
Lions: Play the Atlanta Falcons at home Sunday.
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