The Seattle Seahawks offense had to do a whole lot just to keep the team competitive against a Detroit Lions juggernaut that tore apart an undermanned Seahawks defense. They did as much as they could, but it still wasn’t enough in a 42-29 loss.
If I were to tell you that in a non-overtime game, the Seahawks would rack up 516 yards of offense and 38 (!!) first downs, you’d probably assume this was a Seattle win. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The Seahawks now hold the modern NFL record for most first downs in a loss.
The Seahawks had 38 first downs (17 more than Detroit). Per ESPN Research, that’s the most by a losing team over the last 90 years.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) October 1, 2024
Using Stathead, the previous mark (playoffs or regular season) belonged to the Dallas Cowboys in last season’s playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers, but that was also a game where they were down 27-0 and 48-16, so they racked up a big chunk of garbage time. In regular season play, the 2019 Los Angeles Rams lost 55-40 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite 36 first downs.
I’m not caught up on NFL data in 1934 and question the availability of All-22 film from that era, so I will safely assume that “modern NFL history” (aka post-merger) has been made by the Seahawks.
The 38 first downs is also a new franchise record for the Seahawks, breaking the previous mark of 34, which happened twice against the San Diego Chargers in 1987 and 2002.
Eric Woodyard, ESPNOct 1, 2024, 02:00 AM ETCloseEric Woodyard covers the Detroit Lions for ESPN. He joined ESPN in September 2019 as an NBA reporter dedicated t
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