After two tough road losses, the Falcons looked to bounce back with a home win against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. But the Seahawks were on top of their game as they trampled the Falcons 33-10.
“This was a very tough game for us in all three phases,” Falcons head coach Mike Smith said. “We couldn’t get into a rhythm offensively. We couldn’t stop their offense. We really didn’t do anything to help us on special teams.”
The first half for the Falcons was one they would like to forget. Not only did the Seahawks jump out to a 20-point lead, they outgained them in total yards (316-99), they nearly tripled the Falcons in first downs (13-5) and they won time of possession.
The Seahawks got on the board first early in the first quarter when Steve Hauschka kicked a 39-yard field goal. Hauschka added another field goal (43 yards) to give Seattle the 6-0 lead. Falcons cut the lead to three on the ensuing series thanks to a Matt Bryant 53-yard field goal.
After that, it was all Seahawks as they scored 17 unanswered points to end the first half. The first seven points came after the Falcons field goal. Marshawn Lynch ran for 37 yards on Seahawks first play from scrimmage and that led to a Russell Wilson 43-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse. Then the Seahawks added three more points with another Hauschka field goal after forcing the Falcons to punt.
The final score came with eight seconds left in the first half when Wilson threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Golden Tate. That final series only lasted seven plays and took over minute to finish.
“They were just making plays,” said William Moore who had six tackles for the Falcons. “They did not out physical us.”
Because of the large lead the Seahawks amassed in the first half, they didn’t need to do too much in the second half. They did add three points to their lead early in the third, but the Falcons did cut the lead to sixteen when Matt Ryan threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Darius Johnson. On that series, the Falcons got the benefit of getting 35 yards due to three Seahawks penalties.
Seattle made up for the lapse on defense as the offense put together a 12-play, 80-yard drive on the ensuing series which resulted in a Marshawn Lynch 1-yard score. Lynch finished the day with 145 yards while Wilson completed 19 of his 26 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns.
As for the Falcons, Ryan was solid, as he went 23-of-36 with 172 yards and one touchdown. But the run game could never get going. The Falcons racked up 64 yards on 16 carries and Steven Jackson only had 11 yards on nine carries.
“It’s frustrating,” Jackson said. “The thing about it is you just have to keep chipping away. No one is going to come from the locker room and save us, we have to save ourselves.”
The Falcons now stand at 2-7 and the hopes of being relevant in December and January are fading away. However, the Falcons are giving up on the season.
“You only have 16 opportunities to go out and compete,” Smith said talking about how the Falcons should approach the rest of the season. “You want to win every single time you go out there and play. You want to put your best players out there.”
The Falcons will get their 10th opportunity to get a win next Sunday when they face Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium. Kickoff is set at 1 p.m.
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