Every week during the regular season Tim Twentyman will answer 10 good questions from his Twitter account @ttwentyman in a feature we call "10 Questions with Twentyman."
20man: Aidan Hutchinson, Charles Harris, James Houston and the rest of the players upfront have to be licking their chops with the news that Seattle could be without both of their starting tackles Sunday. Left tackle Charles Cross is dealing with a toe injury and right tackle Abraham Lucas (knee) has already been placed on IR.
Seattle signed 41-year-old Jason Peters to their practice squad this week for insurance. Backup tackles Stone Forsythe and Jake Curhan allowed six pressures in 20 combined pass-block reps in relief Week 1.
Detroit's front put a lot of pressure on Patrick Mahomes last week even though they didn't get home to record a sack. The Lions had 17 hurries and seven quarterback hits. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said Thursday he was most proud of how disciplined they were as a rushing unit. I'd expect them to make things difficult on Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith Sunday. They'll have to be disciplined again. Smith hurt them with his feet in last year's matchup and they can't afford to allow him to do that this time around.
20man: I'd expect him to get more than the nine touches he saw last week. Head coach Dan Campbell didn't want to put too much on Jahmyr Gibbs' plate in his first game in that environment, but Gibbs certainly made the most of the touches he got. He had 60 scrimmage yards and forced an amazing seven missed tackles.
Here's what Campbell said about it: "For Gibbs, he'll begin to get more touches now. So, that was just the beginning last night."
20man: I think the best candidate would be the Nov. 12 game at the Los Angeles Chargers. Right now, that's a Jets at Raiders game. Depending how things go with the Aaron-Rodgers-less Jets, that could be a game they look to flex. Lions at Chargers might be the best matchup of that weekend.
20man: The players and coaches have raved about new Director of Player Health and Performance Brett Fischer and the job he and his medical staff are doing not only from an injury treatment standpoint but also injury prevention.
Center Frank Ragnow said he owes his entire ability to play at the level he expects to play at this year with his toe injury to the plan Fischer and his staff, along with Campbell and GM Brad Holmes, put in place for him.
As for the fields at Ford Field and Allen Park, both facilities were upgraded with a new FieldTurf CORE system this offseason. The turf system features a heavyweight infill design, "proven to deliver a lower incidence of total injuries compared to various infill weights."
Still, it's not grass, which the players and coaches prefer. I'm not sure what other options there are for a dome stadium like Ford Field with no open roof and a cold and snowy climate through half the season.
20man: Defensive lineman Josh Paschal. I think we're going to start to see more impact plays from him like that huge 3rd and 1 tackle for a three-yard loss with under six minutes to play in last week's game that forced a punt and helped Detroit win.
Paschal had three tackles in that game. He can play inside and outside, and is finally healthy. I think we're going to see his level of playmaking continue to increase as the year goes on. I asked Glenn about him Thursday and he said we'll see him play more snaps moving forward.
20man: I think one thing you have to keep in mind is this secondary has so many more playmakers with Cam Sutton, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Brian Branch. They don't have to rely on Joseph making most of the plays back there like they did last year. He was thrown at five times last week and allowed three receptions for 49 yards, per Pro Football Focus stats. He also made three tackles.
Joseph made a lot of plays in training camp, but so did Branch, Gardner-Johnson and others. Joseph will make his plays. It's just now he has others around him who can and will make them too. That's a good thing. Also, not being noticed as a safety isn't always a bad thing. It means they didn't give up the big one.
20man: Let's not forget they get a big piece back Week 7 in Baltimore when second-year wide receiver Jameson Williams returns. That gives the Lions one of the fastest players in football back in their lineup and it will change the way teams have to play the Lions defensively. The Lions expect him to have a much bigger impact than we saw at the end of last year.
Also, I don't think Josh Reynolds gets enough credit. He makes big catches, and quarterback Jared Goff trusts him. He's a solid No. 2 behind Amon-Ra St. Brown right now. The Lions don't win that game last week, in my opinion, without Reynolds.
20man: It's a good question that I get often.
This year Detroit plays each team from the NFC South and AFC West in their yearly rotation of NFC and AFC division matchups. Those rotate every year. They also play the second-place teams from the NFC West, NFC East and AFC North based off them finishing second in the NFC North last season. Detroit and Seattle both finished second in their divisions last year.
Last year, the two teams played because both teams finished last in their respective division in 2021. In 2021 the Lions played all four teams from the NFC West in their NFC-AFC division rotation. That's why this is three in a row for Detroit and Seattle.
20man: I wouldn't say Top 10 is unrealistic based off what I saw last week.
I've been very consistent in saying if the Lions are just a Top 20 defense, this team is so much better than a year ago. I think they've got an active front and a ball-hawking secondary. That's a recipe for success.
This week will be a good test. Seattle has a nice trio of receivers and a good running game. If they contain Kansas City and Seattle in back-to-back weeks to start the season, the buzz around this defense is going to pretty loud.
20man: That will be interesting to see when the veteran Emmanuel Moseley returns, but when that will be is a little bit in question now that he showed up on Wednesday's practice report as a non-participant due to a hamstring injury that was added to his knee injury from last week. He also missed Thursday's practice.
When he does come back, the plan has been to work him into the role that Jacobs currently has on the outside opposite Sutton. Competition breeds success. Knowing Jacobs, he won't just step aside and give up his playing time without a good competition. Stay tuned.
