Heading into Sunday’s game against Detroit, the Seahawks had a total of three interceptions, tied for worst in the NFL

But the Seahawks’ fortunes changed against the Lions. They grabbed five interceptions against Lions rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford – two by linebacker David Hawthorne, bringing his season total to three, and one each by safety Deon Grant and cornerbacks Marcus Trufant and Josh Wilson.

The Seahawks’ five interceptions tied the third most in franchise history. Seattle had a franchise-record seven interceptions against San Diego on Dec. 13, 1998.

Wilson returned his interception 61 yards for the clinching score with 22 seconds remaining.

Asked what he changed to help his defense make more plays defensively, Seattle coach Jim Mora couldn’t point to anything specific.

“Guys just stepped up and made some plays,” he said. “I wish I could tell you exactly why, because then I would try to bottle them up and feed it to them every Sunday.”

Grant said Seattle’s coaching staff put them in position to be successful against Detroit.

“I have to give all the credit to the coaches on that,” Grant said. “They made the right calls, and we were in the right position. It ain’t like we were playing man-to-man and we came up with some crazy plays. He put us in some great zones, and we played exactly the way we were coached.”

In his second game of the season, Trufant earned his first interception of the year by fighting the ball away from Detroit’s big receiver Calvin Johnson in the fourth quarter. Seattle is 13-2 when Trufant picks off a pass.

Rankin boosts return game

Adding speedy running back Louis Rankin to the kick return game gave Seattle a boost. Rankin finished with three returns for 82 yards, including a long of 41 yards. Running back Justin Forsett also had a 46-yard return, helping Seattle average 28.8 yards a return against Detroit.

Five Lions return home

The visitors’ side of Qwest Field had its share of players who once graced the Seahawks’ sideline. Linebacker Julian Peterson, defensive back Kevin Hobbs, running back Maurice Morris, tight end Will Heller and safety Marquand Manuel all wore Seahawks uniforms in their career with Peterson, Morris, Hobbs and Heller all playing for Seattle last season.

“It was cool,” Peterson said of his return to Seattle. “It was good. I was happy. The only thing I’m mad at is that we didn’t win.”

All five played.

Peterson had four tackles and forced an early fumble on Seattle fullback Justin Griffith that led to a Matthew Stafford touchdown pass to Bryant Johnson.

Hobbs had seven tackles and also forced a fumble. Morris rushed four times for 20 yards.

“We didn’t to a good job of closing the game out,” Peterson said. “They made some plays and we couldn’t make any more plays after that.”