NFC Wild Card 2017, Lions vs. Seahawks: Recap, Highlights, More

The Seattle Seahawks held serve at CenturyLink Field with a dominant NFC Wild Card victory over the Detroit Lions.

Neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Detroit Lions ended the regular season how they’d hoped. Seattle suffered a bad loss in their division to the Arizona Cardinals before struggling to pick up a season-ending win. Meanwhile, the Lions lost three-straight to drop their NFC North lead and just sneak in as the No. 6 seed. That left the two struggling squads facing one another at CenturyLink Field on Saturday night in the first NFC Wild Card matchup.

Only one team looked like they were struggling on Saturday, though.

Though it took both the Seahawks a bit to get going, they finally hit a high gear and never looked back. Running back Thomas Rawls looked healthy and dominant from early on and never wavered in that regard. Moreover, the Seattle defense bottled up Zach Zenner and force Matthew Stafford and company to make decisions quickly.

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At home, Seattle jumped out to a first half lead and never looked back. Though the stats may not be impressive for the defense, the Seahawks held the Lions to only six points. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson, Rawls, and the likes of Doug Baldwin and Paul Richardson played mistake-free and led the Seahawks to yet another big victory at home.

Three Stars

Thomas Rawls, Seahawks – Despite an inconsistent regular season, Rawls looked like a dominant force in this game as he torched the Lions all night long. The second-year back finished with 27 carries for 161 yards and a touchdown.

Doug Baldwin, Seahawks – While it may have been Paul Richardson with a trio of highlight-reel grabs, Baldwin was the workhorse and heart of Seattle’s passing game. He finished catching 11 of his 12 targets for 104 yards and a touchdown.

Ezekiel Ansah, Lions – Detroit’s defense may have gotten beaten into submission, but it wasn’t because of Ziggy Ansah. The edge rusher finished with nine total tackles, two tackles for loss, two sacks, and five quarterback hits.

Next: 5 Reasons Seahawks Can Win Super Bowl 51

Highlights

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/817917857627521025

Next Game

Clearly the Lions are eliminated after losing in the postseason. On the other hand, the Seahawks know their opponent for next week as they’ll move on to face the Atlanta Falcons on the road in the Divisional Round.