Lions vs. Seahawks: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2017 NFL Playoffs

The Detroit Lions will have to wait another year to capture their first playoff win since 1991.

Although their defense did a commendable job of containing the Seattle Seahawks for three quarters, the offense couldn't string together sustained drives. The NFC West champions captured a 26-6 Wild Card Round win at CenturyLink Field on Saturday night to book a spot in the divisional round. 

The Seahawks have won 10 straight postseason home games, while the Lions have recorded losses in nine straight playoff tilts dating back to 1991.

Saturday's low-scoring affair was defined by physicality up front. Thomas Rawls set the tone for the Seahawks on a day when he rushed 27 times for a franchise-postseason-record 161 yards, including an impressive 32-yard scamper in the third quarter, as NFL Network shared: 

Seattle's running back picked up chunks of yards early and often against an overwhelmed Detroit defensive front. Rawls did his best Beast Mode impression, rolling to 107 hard-fought yards by halftime.

He almost single-handedly set up Seattle's offense for its first score of the game midway through the second quarter.

Facing 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line, the Seahawks took the lead when wide receiver Paul Richardson made a spectacular one-handed grab with a defender draped over him, as the NFL documented:

On a night when Richardson finished with three catches for 48 yards—all of which came in acrobatic fashion— The MMQB's Albert Breer wondered whether New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had found a way to suit up for the Seahawks: 

Speaking of Seattle's passing attack, Russell Wilson acquitted himself nicely to the tune of 224 yards and two touchdowns on 23-of-30 passing. Doug Baldwin, who recorded 11 catches for 104 yards and a touchdown, repeatedly found seams in Detroit's secondary.

The Lions didn't have playmakers emerge, and Matthew Stafford struggled to an 18-of-32, 205-yard showing as a result.

However, the Lions were able to keep pace through three quarters, and they got on the board with a 51-yard field goal by Matt Prater before halftime to cut their deficit to 10-3.

Prater tacked on a 53-yard conversion to trim Seattle's lead to four points with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter, at which point WNDU's Terry McFadden posed an important question, given Detroit's dearth of reliable receiving options:

The Lions' clear deficiencies in the drop department didn't help matters, though, and they eventually saw things slip away in the fourth quarter, when Rawls and Baldwin iced things with a couple of touchdowns to help push Seattle's lead to 20.

Thanks to Detroit's inconsistency, the Seahawks are moving on to a divisional date with the Atlanta Falcons, who hold the upper hand after sneaking out a 26-24 win in Seattle on Oct. 16.

This time, the Falcons will have the luxury of playing in front of a home crowd.

That's bad news for the Seahawks, who went 3-4-1 away from CenturyLink Field during the regular season.

However, if the Legion of Boom puts the clamps on Atlanta's dynamic receiving corps and turns in a performance like the one that sealed Saturday's win over Detroit, Seattle could be primed for its third NFC Championship Game appearance since 2013.

Postgame Reaction

"That was the game we were looking for, style-wise," Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said, according to John Boyle of the Seahawks' official website.

Cornerback Richard Sherman agreed and noted that Saturday felt like a throwback performance.

"That felt like old times," he said, per the News Tribune's Gregg Bell. "That felt great...That felt right."  

As for Rawls, Carroll couldn't have sounded happier with the way his starting running back showed out against the Lions defense. 

"That's Thomas Rawls," he said, per Boyle. "That's the guy we fell in love with last year."

On Detroit's side, Stafford and head coach Jim Caldwell were left to reflect on the factors that facilitated their downfall, as Fox Sports Detroit documented: 

Elsewhere, Caldwell reportedly told NBC during an off-camera interview that one of the game officials told him "they got it wrong" and missed an offensive pass interference penalty on Richardson's touchdown, per ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert. 

"Oh, they were terrible," Lions cornerback Darius Slay said of the officials, per the Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett. "They terrible. But it’s a game, so."