The Sports Xchange

RENTON, Wash. — Through the first three games of the regular season, a lack of ability to convert third downs regularly has been the biggest hindrance for the Seattle Seahawks offense.

The Seahawks rank 24th in the league in third-down conversion rate and were 0-for-6 in the first half of last week’s 26-0 victory over the Chicago Bears. Seattle is converting just 36 percent of third-down opportunities so far this season, but wide receiver Doug Baldwin says the numbers are even worse when they’re broken down a bit further.

“We’re last in the league in third-and-three to six right now, and we didn’t do too well, we had two mistakes on third-and-short this week that we should’ve gotten,” Baldwin said.

Seattle improved in the second half, going 5-for-10 against Chicago as they pulled away for an easy victory. Nevertheless, the struggles to keep the chains moving are a key reason for Seattle’s offensive struggles at times in the first three weeks.

“The first half really got screwed up because of the third-and-shorts that we didn’t convert,” head coach Pete Carroll said. “Normally we’re really good there, and we didn’t get them, so we lose all those third down opps. … Once we started getting our third downs in the second half, and running, then everything worked out really well.”

Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said they were among the best in the league in converting those distances last season. The Seahawks hope to get into third-down situations with six-or-fewer yards to gain and Bevell believes they are giving themselves enough chances in that range. Now they just have to do a better job of being successful when they get there.

“We know that we have the ability to do it but we’ve just got to find a way to do it more consistently and earlier,” Bevell said.

The Detroit Lions are ranked 26th in the league on third down defensively, allowing teams to convert 46 percent of the time.

Monday night’s game against the Lions gives Seattle a chance to get back to .500 after an 0-2 start to the season.

“Heck yeah. There was a lot of relief with that,” Carroll said of getting their first win last week. “But you’re still looking at 1-2, so it’s a long ways home. So we need to be very patient.”

Meanwhile, the Lions will desperately be trying to avoid an 0-4 start to the season. To do so, they’ll need to beat a Seattle team that has not lost a prime-time game at home in six seasons under Carroll. They are 13-2 in prime-time games over that span and have outscored their opponents 232-84 at home.

SERIES HISTORY: 13th regular-season meeting. Seahawks lead series, 7-5. Lions won last regular-season meeting, 28-24, in 2012. Seattle had won the prior three meetings.

GAME PLAN

–The Lions rank last in the league in rushing through the first three weeks of the season. Detroit will have to succeed throwing the football against Seattle’s stellar secondary to generate their offense. Matthew Stafford passed for 352 yards and three touchdowns in the last meeting between the two teams in 2012.

Linebackers K.J. Wright, Bobby Wagner and Bruce Irvin will have to play well in zones to cover the middle of the field against tight ends Eric Ebron and Brandon Pettigrew and former Seattle receiver Golden State.

Offensively, the Seahawks need to perform better on third downs. That will start with a successful running game and finding themselves in more convertible yardage situations. Thomas Rawls may have a large role in Seattle’s backfield again this week if Marshawn Lynch is unable to play.