Detroit Lions vs. Seattle Seahawks Matchup Preview (1/2/22): Betting Odds, Depth Charts, Live Stream (Watch Online)

Detroit Lions vs. Seattle Seahawks Matchup Preview (1/2/22)

The Detroit Lions are two weeks out of one of the greatest upsets in football, when they beat the Arizona Cardinals 30-12. They went on to lose to the Falcons last week in a close game and are now 2-12-1. They head to Seattle this week to take on a struggling Seahawks team who blew a solid lead on the Bears last week where they lost in the last minute of the game. That was their second loss in five days as they were forced to play on Tuesday of last week, per Covid delays. Both teams have been eliminated from playoff contention, which leaves this game as no more than an exhibition game, but a chance for both teams to end on a high note. After this game, the Seahawks take on the Cardinals and the Lions take on the Packers, so this may be both teams’ last chance at a victory in their 2021 season.

Detroit Lions vs. Seattle Seahawks Betting Odds

The Seahawks are favored by over a touchdown in this game at 7.5 points. At 5-10, they have three wins on the Lions, who have less wins than anyone in the league. Despite their win/loss record, the Lions have been overwhelmingly good at covering this year. They may not be able to pull out a ton of wins, but they will likely give teams a run for their money and are 10-5 at covering this year, all of which they were named the underdog. Even though they haven’t put up results, they’ve put up solid fights, which has resulted in good performances against the spread.

The total for this game is set at 42.5 which typically wouldn’t be promising for the over considering these teams each average 20 points or less and have only hit the over four times this year. In the Lions two wins however, they’ve scored a combined 59 points. In the Seahawks’ four wins, they have a combined 119 points and score at least 28 points per game. So, either way, both teams show a strong promise that the over could hit. While the Lions deserve a round of applause for their performances lately, I think even a struggling Seahawks team can beat them. They’re offensive weapons can terrorize a defense when they decide to play well, especially against a team who is 0-7-1 on the road. 

My prediction: Seahawks win 31-17, Seahawks cover, over 42.5

TV Schedule

Date: 1/2/22
Time: 4:25 PM ET
Location: Lumen Field
TV Coverage: FOX

Detroit Lions vs. Seattle Seahawks Live Stream

Where can you watch Lions vs. Seahawks online? You can stream this game, and many other NFL games live online with Hulu. Hulu has a 7 Day free trial and is cheaper than cable options at $5.99/month. Watch Lions vs. Seahawks Free Online Now.

Detroit Lions Analysis

Along with their fellow Seahawks, the Lions are 2-3 in their last five games, which is a lot more than they could say at the beginning of the season. They beat Arizona two weeks ago in one of the greatest upsets ever, proving to their doubters that there is hope in the hopeless. Last week they fell to the Falcons with a late interception that sealed an Atlanta victory, but they held in for most of the game. Jared Goff was out on Covid protocols and replaced by Tim Boyle who threw for 187 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Goff should be back this week. 

Amon-Ra St. Brown has been hot for the Lions lately – he has 362 yards over the last five games which is over half of his yards he has on the whole season. He also has three touchdowns in those five games which accounts for all of his touchdowns this year. He has seen at least eleven targets in the last four games and the most targets by any receiver on this offense. Their other threat, passing-catching running back D’Andre Swift, has been out for four weeks but he returned to practice this week. Swift is leading the team in touchdowns and is just shy of 1,000 all purpose yards so if this Lions offense gets him back this week, they’ll surely be using him. Especially because he seems to be the one who can get into the endzone, and they need all the help they can get with a 43.24% red zone scoring percentage. 

This defense allows 127.3 rushing yards per game which gives Rashaad Penny an opportunity to keep his recent play going. In the air their defense is also mediocre. Amani Oruwariye, who has six interceptions this season, is their main defensive aerial threat, but he has now been declared out for the rest of the season with injury. Lucky for this pass defense, Russell Wilson hasn’t been playing well so they can probably count on the ball being on the ground a lot.

Detroit Lions Depth Chart

QB: Jared Goff
RB1: D’Andre Swift
RB2: Jamaal Williams
WR1: Amon-Ra St. Brown
WR2: Kalif Raymond
WR3: Josh Reynolds
TE1: T.J. Hockenson
TE2: Brock Wright

Seattle Seahawks Analysis

Losing two games in five days is tough to come by. In their defense, they got the short end of the stick in recovery days and didn’t have much time to prepare for the Bears. It showed in the second half. They blew a lead on the Bears, going scoreless in the fourth quarter which included a missed 37-yard field goal by Jason Myers. They looked flat out tired in the second half, making Nick Foles look good in the process, after a solid showing in the first half where they only allowed one drive of more than fifteen yards. The Rams game was an excusable loss (minus Russell Wilson’s performance) because they played well and were plagued by bad refereeing. But last week’s loss to the Bears was just straight up bad – they had it in their hands and they blew it. Last week’s loss gave Pete Carroll his first double digit number of losses in a season for the first time in his career. 

Rashaad Penny was the star of the show again last week, rushing for 135 yards and a touchdown. He now averages 5.5 yards per carry this season and has emerged as their biggest threat on the ground. Russell Wilson looks the worst that he ever has. He has thrown for 337 yards over the last two games with an average completion rate of 57.05% in those games. For context, Justin Herbert threw exactly the same amount of yards last week in one game, with a 77.1% completion rate. This offense has a pitiful 4th down conversion rate (30%), which we saw more of last week, but their red zone scoring percentage is impressive at 62.16% – the eighth highest in the league. Detroit’s defense has one of the highest opponent red zone scoring percentages (70%), so this bodes well for them. 

Arguably one of the greatest linebackers of all time, Bobby Wagner, recorded 12 tackles last Sunday which gave him 170 on the season. He broke the franchise record, which was set by him last year, for tackles in a season. Carlos Dunlap has had 5 sacks in the last two games and will cause problems for a weak offensive line that has allowed 35 sacks this season. 

This pass defense is 31st in the league in yards allowed and allows virtually everyone to run all over them, before holding teams to under 50% in red zone scoring drives and an average of 20 points per game. They surprisingly have one of the fewest point totals against them and are -1 in point differential on the season.

Seattle Seahawks Depth Chart

QB: Russell Wilson
RB: Rashaad Penny
WR1: DK Metcalf
WR2: Tyler Lockett
WR3: Freddie Swain
TE1: Gerald Everett
TE2: Will Dissly

Detroit Lions vs. Seattle Seahawks Daily Fantasy Picks

Rashaad Penny has had two 135+ yard rushing games and three touchdowns in the last three games. He didn’t get much of a chance at playing at the beginning of the year behind Chris Carson and Alex Collins, but now that he has, he has proved he is RB1 material. Against a weak run defense like he has been facing lately (Bears and Texans) I think he could pull off a high-yardage game again. 

Amon-Ra St. Brown is a good fantasy pick for this week as well. In his last four games, Brown has caught 35 of 46 targets for 340 yards and three touchdowns. He has scored 23+ fantasy points in three out of four of those games and is the Lions most-targeted player.