There's no question that the Detroit Lions were a better team than the Seattle Seahawks last season. In addition to finishing with a better regular season record, Detroit had the San Francisco 49ers on the ropes in the NFC Championship but just couldn't finish the job. Otherwise, they'd have gone to the Super Bowl already inspired with a one-point Week 1 win over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.
We'll never know what might have happened, but the point is sometimes a team just has your number - no matter how much better you might be in the standings. That has certainly been the case for Detroit against Seattle in recent years.
Going back to the 2003 season, the Seahawks have won nine of their last 10 matchups with the Lions, including the last six. Overall they're 13-5 against Detroit. That includes thrilling shootouts at Ford Field each of the last two seasons, with Geno Smith and Jared Goff firing volleys back and forth until the final minutes in both cases.
While we're taking the Seahawks over the Lions in a vaccuum every day of the week and twice on Monday nights, the smart money is still on Detroit for this one.
Seahawks vs. Lions Week 4 NFL odds
According to the latest odds available at Draft Kings Sportsbook, the Lions remain four-point favorites for next week's game. That was the case heading into Week 3's games, which saw both teams come out on top in their respective matchups.
The Seahawks suffocated the Miami Dolphins in a 24-3 win that proved once again that they can win ugly. Meanwhile, the Lions did Seattle a favor by beating the NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals, 20-13 on the road. Goff put up just 199 total passing yards but David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs came through on the ground, racking up 188 rushing yards between them.
Detroit has a magnificent offensive line, which should give Seattle's league-best pressure game its first true test of the season. However, given their nature and the Seahawks' success against the pass this year we expect the Lions to try to run the ball down their throat - especially if Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II wind up sitting out.
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