Monday Night Football Week 4: TV Schedule, Live Stream for Lions vs. Seahawks

Two 2014 NFL playoff participants enter Monday Night Football's showdown in desperation mode. Following unflattering starts, neither the Seattle Seahawks nor Detroit Lions can afford another early loss.

After a harrowing 0-2 start, the back-to-back NFC champions shut out the short-handed Chicago Bears with the help of a returning Kam Chancellor. Before assuming everything will return to normal, the Seahawks also have issues on the offensive side to address.

Meanwhile, the Lions must overcome one of the league's toughest road environments to avoid an 0-4 start that would leave them as the lone remaining winless squad. Experiencing declines offensively and defensively, little has clicked for a squad that won 11 games last year. 

Can Seattle erase the sour stench of a poor start, of will Detroit save its season with an upset? Let's take a look at Monday night's matchup.

Lions vs. Seahawks Viewing Info

Time: 8:30 p.m. ET

Location: CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

TV Info: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Spread (via Odds Shark): SEA -10.5

Beast Mode Deactivated

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

Hopefully, Skittles didn't buy any ad time for Monday night. On Sunday morning, Seattle officially confirmed, via its Twitter page, that Marshawn Lynch will not suit up:

According to ESPN's Ed Werder, the star running back unsuccessfully lobbied to play through the pain:

Although he arrived late and departed early last week, Lynch hasn't fully missed a game since 2011. Yet a heavy workload appears to have finally hampered the 29-year-old, who is averaging a career-low 2.4 yards per carry through three contests.

No wonder why head coach Pete Carroll didn't want him playing at less than 100 percent. He'd rather trot out Thomas Rawls, who gained 104 rushing yards on 16 carries during Week 3. With that type of production, nobody but Lynch's fantasy investors will miss the veteran.

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Then again, Detroit is much stingier against the run than the Chicago Bears. No longer the league's premier run-stopping unit without Ndamukong Suh, the Lions are still restraining adversaries to 3.7 yards per run.

The Lions have also enabled a 78.2 completion percentage, so Russell Wilson will shoulder a larger burden than usual in Seattle's traditionally run-first offense.

Meager Megatron

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

For the Lions to pounce on the Seahawks, Calvin Johnson must transform back into Megatron. While he has contributed, particularly in the past two games, the star wide receiver has yet to showcase his big-play acumen.

Johnson, who turned 30 on Tuesday, has averaged a career-low 9.95 yards per catch. His 20 catches look far less impressive when paired with 35 targets and 199 yards. Only Cecil Shorts and teammate Golden Tate recorded fewer yards per route entering Week 4:

Rank	Player	YPR
1	Cecil Shorts	1.16
2	Golden Tate	1.24
3	Calvin Johnson	1.45
4	Nate Washington	1.49
5	Brandin Cooks	1.56

While Tate functions as a high-volume possession receiver, Johnson is supposed to be the unstoppable monster who picks about double-coverage for huge gains downfield. Rather than express urgency to get his star going deep, head coach Jim Caldwell acknowledged his desire to feed Johnson the ball however possible, per ESPN.com's Michael Rothstein:

"

What I think is that one of the things that's important is that we get the ball to guys so they can do something with it, and we've been getting him the ball. It may not always be the ideal spot where we'd like to get it to him. That changes. Golden [Tate]'s also a guy where we try to get the ball to as well.

"

Detroit has amassed an NFL-low 135 rushing yards on 51 carries, and they aren't likely to exorcise those ground demons against a stout Seattle defense. In order to broach the win column, the Lions need some deep strikes from Johnson. 

Under Pressure

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

Neither offense has benefited from firm protection this season. Pro Football Focus has graded each in the bottom five of pass blocking, with Seattle sitting at No. 29 and Detroit perched at No. 31.  

Seattle's woes have resulted in Wilson taking a dozen sacks with the fourth-highest pressure percentage. Although opponents have only sacked Matthew Stafford five times, he has endured pressure on a league-high (before Week 4) 56 dropbacks. 

Despite eating more sacks, Wilson has also completed more passes with defenders in his face:

Player	Pressure %	Sack	Comp.	Attp.
Wilson	41.7	12	22	33
Stafford	40.6	5	20	49

That doesn't mean he's completely overcoming his line's deficiencies. Wilson is currently averaging a career-low 6.85 yards per attempt. Although known as a run-first offense, the Seahawks have succeeded over the years in making their aerial shots count. So far, however, Wilson hasn't received enough time to orchestrate huge plays.

Stafford's struggles under pressure help explain Johnson's uncharacteristic ledger. Without a stable pocket, he's settling for lesser gains. Against Seattle's second-best pass rush, the Lions will again struggle to move the football in chunks.  

Note: Advanced stats obtained from Pro Football Focus.