With the injury to Sam Laporta and the strength of this Mike Macdonald Seattle defense, I’m mostly looking to target the short passing game for Detriot. Jared Goff hasn’t had quite the season many expected after last year’s heroics and Ben Johnson should look to set up easy completions for him considering the Seahawks lead the league in total QB pressures. With such a strong pass rush you don’t have a chance to take those deeper developing routes and will need to take more checkdowns.

Luckily for Detriot, Gibbs is one of the best pass-catching backs in the league. He’s already recorded 34, 22, and 20 receiving yards this season and this tracks to be his best matchup yet. He’s a big play waiting to happen, ranking second in Missed Tackles Forced per Attempt. This is a great opportunity to get designed touches in space and make something happen against a strong Seahawks team.

DK Metcalf gets a fantastic matchup against a Lions secondary that’s been getting absolutely torched this season. They’ve especially struggled against WR1’s allowing Marvin Harrison to go 5-64-1, Chris Godwin 7-119-1, and Cooper Kupp 14-110-1. With Kenneth Walker banged up, the running game is not as strong, I expect the Seahawks to lean even more on their receiver core.

While his huge physical frame he’s a top-5 receiver in the NFL against man coverage, which is great for us considering the Lions run the 3rd most man coverage in the NFL. They have also consistently played high rates of single high safety coverage which allow for those 1v1 deepball opportunities. Metcalf should fill up the stat sheet, but the best price is currently on his touchdown. The Lions don’t have anyone to match up with that size on the outside, and in a fairly high-scoring game, we should get a couple of red zone opportunities.

Whether or not Kenneth Walker is healthy and ready to go, the Seahawks face a tough test on the ground against a strong Detriot rush defense. The Lions combination of a strong defensive line and weak secondary have made them a pass-funnel team over the last couple of seasons, and the addition of DJ Reader this offseason only furthers that.

The new Seahawks offense led by Ryan Grubb is off to a great start despite facing three strong defenses to start the season. Smith is currently 3rd in the NFL passing yards and has cleared 275+ passing yards in each of his last two games, he needs a touch more here but that is well within his reach.

Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the best receivers in football and I expect him to have success even in a tougher matchup against the Seahawks’ defense. Devon Witherspoon and Tariq Woolen are some of the best corner duos in the NFL, but Detriot should be able to get Brown involved in enough creative ways to overcome a tough matchup. The Lions are known for moving their guys around in unique formations, and Brown should 3 screen targets alone in this one. When you can’t get the downfield passing game going you need to settle for more short passing, and Brown has shown an ability to succeed in that role from the slot.

After starting the season slow with only 13 yards on 6 targets, he’s now gone 11-119 and 8-75 in back-to-back games. With Sam LaPorta injured, that’s one less weapon to target in this dynamic offense. If Brown continues to get his 8 targets per game he should be able to cruise over this number. I normally don’t go against the Seattle defense but St. Brown’s skill set is a great counter to their ability to get quick pressure and eliminate explosive plays.