NFL News, Injury Updates: Seahawks QB Geno Smith leaves with knee injury as Lions lose more players in loss

On By Littum

Three more teams officially clinched playoff berths on Sunday, leaving just a handful of open spots across the board for teams as the NFL regular season begins to wind down.

The Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings all clinched postseason berths Sunday despite the Steelers actually losing to the Philadelphia Eagles and the Vikings not playing. The Vikings close out Week 15 of the season in one of two games on Monday night.

As the playoff picture begins to come together, some teams — including both the Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks — could be in trouble.

The Seahawks stumbled badly on Sunday night in their 30-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Quarterback Geno Smith went down in the third quarter of the game with a knee injury after taking an awkward hit to the lower leg while airborne. Smith landed awkwardly and limped off the field soon after.

Smith did not return to the game and the Seahawks went with Sam Hartman the rest of the way. While it’s still unclear how serious the injury is, Hartman struggled in Smith’s absence. And the Seahawks fell into a tie for first place in the NFC West standings with the Los Angeles Rams after the loss, so they could end up missing the playoffs if Smith is out for a significant amount of time.

His injury could not have come at a worse time.

The Detroit Lions lost a shootout to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, snapping an 11-game winning streak for what could very easily be the best team the city has seen in decades.

But it wasn’t the loss that was the hard part for the Lions. It was the injuries that kept piling up. The Lions lost both cornerbacks Carlton Davis III and Khalil Dorsey to injuries in the game. Davis went down with a jaw injury that coach Dan Campbell believes could be season-ending, and Dorsey was carted off with a brutal ankle injury.

Defensive lineman Alim McNeill also went down with a knee injury, which could also limit him for the rest of the season.

These injuries come on the heels of a number of injuries elsewhere that have already plagued their defense, including to defensive end Aiden Hutchinson, defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo, linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez and linebacker Alex Anzalone, just to name a few.

The team, whether Campbell will admit it’s a factor or not, is incredibly beat up. With the regular season coming to an end and the Lions fighting for first place in the NFC, injuries are bound to happen.