The Falcons will make their first and only trip to the west coast on Sunday when they take on the Seattle Seahawks. And just like any other game for the Falcons, it’s important for them to win to fend off the New Orleans Saints, who are just one game behind Atlanta in the NFC South. The Falcons also need a victory today to win two of their next three games to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
One thing the Falcons don’t have to worry about is reaching the playoffs because when the game kicks off at 4:05 p.m., they will have clinched a playoff spot because they either need to beat Seattle or have the Philadelphia Eagles or New York Giants to lose, and both teams are playing against each other Sunday at 1 p.m.
With that said, the Falcons should and will not go into the contest with the ‘Hawks as if the regular season is over. And despite Seattle’s record of 6-7, the Falcons are not going to take them lightly because the Seahawks are still in the NFC West race. However, Seattle does have a tough task ahead of them because the Falcons have won seven straight games and three of them have come on the road.
The Falcons come into the game with the eighth best rushing offense and that is spearheaded by Michael Turner who has 10 rushing touchdowns during the win streak. Turner currently has 1,174 rushing yards which puts him first in the NFC and fourth in the NFL. He looks to have a big game against a rush defense that gives up 119 yards per game.
But this could also be a big day for Matt Ryan because the Seattle pass defense has been dreadful, as they are ranked 30th in the league and opposing QBs have averaged an 88 rating against the Hawks. Ryan is having his best year as a pro with 22 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. One thing to watch for as far as Ryan goes is if he wins on Sunday, he will have 32 wins in his career. The only other QB to have more wins than Ryan since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 is Dan Marino.
The Falcons defense has been getting better as the seasons rolls on, but they want to improve on their rush defense, giving up over 300 yards in the last two games. This should be the game where they correct their mistakes in the run game because Seattle is ranked 31st in rushing offense. One player to watch for the Falcons is Curtis Lofton who is listed as questionable in the injury report with a knee injury.
Despite the rush defense struggling the last two games, the pass defense has been strong, especially last week against Carolina, as the defensive line came up with five sacks. John Abraham had two, Kroy Biermann notched two and Chauncey Davis had one. Abraham leads the team with 11 sacks and that put him in the top five in the NFL. He also has 100.5 sacks in his career which puts him at No. 22 on the all-time list. Abraham has a nagging groin injury, but he will play.
The biggest challenge for the Falcons could be the fact this game is on the west coast. But one thing to remember about this team since head coach Mike Smith took over in 2008 is every time they had made a trip out to the west coast, they have won. In 2008, they went out to San Diego and Oakland and won both games. Last year they made the trip to San Francisco and blew out the 49ers. So if the Falcons continue to play the way they have been playing, they should leave the state of Washington with their 12th win of the year.
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