Every week during the regular season Tim Twentyman will answer 10 good questions from his X account @ttwentyman in a feature we call "10 Questions with Twentyman."
20man: Just how good is this new-look Lions secondary? That's the key to this one for me. Just look at the last two games against Seattle where Geno Smith completed 55-of-71 passes for 648 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions for a 123.4 passer rating.
It was games like last year's 37-31 loss to the Seahawks that made Lions GM Brad Holmes completely retool the secondary this offseason with the acquisitions of Carlton Davis III, Amik Robertson, Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw Jr., plus moving Brian Branch to safety. Can the Lions eliminate the big plays in the passing game and make Seattle earn their points with long drives? Can Detroit avoid the track meet? That's my biggest key.
20man: The Marcus Davenport injury last week that ended his season was a gut punch for the Lions' defense. They had a good thing starting to develop with Davenport, Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill and DJ Reader being able to contain the quarterback and running game. Who fills in for Davenport and can get production from that spot?
I'm guessing we'll see Levi Onwuzurike play both inside and outside, but the Lions have been very open this week that third-year defensive lineman Josh Paschal is going to get a lot more opportunity to play on the edge. Paschal has three Pro-Bowl caliber players alongside of him and should see a lot of one-on-ones with Hutchinson drawing more and more attention on the other side. What a great opportunity for the former second-round pick. Can he grab the moment and run with it?
20man: When Frank Ragnow missed two games last year due to injury, the team shifted Graham Glasgow over to center and filled his guard spot. I'd expect the same Monday night against Seattle. A team never wants to lose an All-Pro caliber player at center like Ragnow, but the team is in a good spot with the veteran Glasgow being able to shift over.
Filling his spot at left guard, Kayode Awosika makes the most sense to me, but the team has options there as well. Awosika started the NFC Championship Game and played pretty well, so the moment certainly won't be too big for him. Michael Niese and Colby Sorsdal are also options.
20man: Ragnow is 28 years old and still playing at an All-Pro level. The guy is tough as nails, but the injuries continue to pile up. I think Ragnow still has some years left in the tank, but I'd never be against having a plan for the future with a young draft pick. Holmes has proven to be a step ahead on a lot of the decisions he makes and he'll always be ready for Plan B at such a critical position. I could certainly see Holmes look to add another youngster to the interior group via the NFL Draft, maybe a center who can also play guard, especially with Kevin Zeitler, 34, only on a one-year deal.
That being said, Ragnow has found a way to manage the toe injury that isn't going to get better. This new pec injury is unfortunate, but nothing out of the norm of football injuries, and he'll recover. Ragnow strikes me as a player who will hang it up as soon as he thinks he can't play the game at the level we've become accustomed to seeing and he won't leave the organization in a bad spot when that decision eventually comes.
20man: The Lions like what they have in Eguakun, but he's still a developing player they want to work with. He got some quality reps in camp and those were really good for him, especially the reps at guard, because the Lions really value versatility in those interior linemen spots.
This coaching staff, especially offensive line coach Hank Fraley, has shown the ability to develop talent, but I don't think Eguakun is there just yet. Glasgow playing center and a veteran slipping into the guard spot appears to be the better play for right now, but Eguakun is coming along and he could have a future here.
20man: It's a great question and it doesn't get any easier this week against a Seattle defense run by new head coach Mike Macdonald, who was the Baltimore DC the last two seasons. The Seahawks have allowed just 14 points in the second half of their first three contests.
I don't see defenses changing a lot of what they do against the Lions half to half from normal adjustments we always see. I think the boring answer is just a lack of execution. A missed block here, missed assignment there or a bad read or bad play call have been the culprit from what I've watched over the first three games and they've messed up more in the second half for whatever reason. It's just a simple case of playing good football for 60 minutes. So far this season, they haven't put 60 minutes together on offense. Monday would be a good time to take a step in that direction against a dangerous offensive opponent on a national stage.
20man: Actually, it's been the opposite for the Seahawks' defense through the first three weeks, but a little context is needed. Seattle has played a Denver team starting a rookie quarterback in Bo Nix Week 1, New England Week 2 and a Miami team without Tua Tagovailoa Week 3. As a result, Seattle is the first team since the 1979 Steelers to start a season 3-0 while allowing fewer than 150 passing yards in each game, according to NFL Research.
Seattle ranks 15th in the league in rushing defense at 116.3 yards allowed on the ground per game. Detroit is at its best offensively when they can get David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs going on the ground and build everything else they do in the passing game off of that.
Devon Witherspoon and Riq Woolen are two really good cornerbacks and Seattle is getting good safety play right now too. This is the best secondary the Lions have played at this point in the season, and I don't think it's to the Lions' advantage Monday to get into a one-dimensional game where Jared Goff is asked to throw the football 40-plus times.
20man: That's going to be one of the great matchups to look out for in this one. Both Davis and Arnold will get their cracks at Metcalf – but don't sleep on Tyler Lockett and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who make up the other two spots of arguably the best receiving trio in the NFL in Seattle – with Kerby Joseph and Branch over the top.
I don't suspect defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn will leave Arnold on an island with Metcalf too much without safety help. But if Smith sees it, he's going to take his shots to Metcalf and the Lions corners are going to have to make plays. That's why a team trades a third-round pick for Davis and absorbs that contract. It's why they draft a cornerback in the first round as a Day 1 starter.
20man: This coaching staff really values versatile players and Houston just doesn't offer them that right now. This defense prefers bigger ends who can not only rush the passer but also set the edge in the run game. That's not Houston. It's why the Lions tried to move him to SAM linebacker. Houston has shown the ability to rush the passer and they'll continue to use him in obvious passing situations, especially now that they are down Davenport, but Houston is never going to be a player that plays the majority of the snaps for this defense because they view him as a speed pass rusher. That being said, there are worse things to be really good at in this league.
20man: It's a good question. The Allen Robinson elevation surprised me a little bit seeing how he had two elevations from the practice squad left. Maybe another team was interested in signing him?
By signing Tim Patrick and Robinson to the active roster, they now have two new spots to elevate players from the practice squad for Monday. The team can elevate two players each week from the practice squad up to three times per player. Isaac Ukwu and Mitchell Agude are now candidates, and the team can elevate them three times before making a decision on their roster status. I wouldn't be surprised to see one of those players up this week.
