The Seahawks can’t quite pull the rabbit out of the hat against the Falcons

It looked rough for the Seahawks in the early going. They almost turned it around with the usual Wilson magic, but ultimately it just wasn’t enough.

Ultimately Seattle didn’t have enough magic. The Seahawks did not get off to the best start in their game against the Falcons. Atlanta played on a short field twice in their first two series of the game. The first drive started courtesy of a 50 yard kickoff return. The second short field was due to Desmond Trufant’s interception of Russell Wilson’s second pass of the night. In what seemed like mere moments, Seattle was down 14-0. Even worse, Shaquill Griffin went down on the second play of the game. Suddenly it was a really big deal that the Seahawks signed Byron Maxwell.

That’s when the Seahawks found their power running game. No, Eddie Lacy didn’t rediscover his speed. Mike Davis, who was on Seattle’s practice squad until about three seconds ago, looked good every time he could find a crease. That wasn’t often as Seattle’s line got zero push. But what else is new, right?

Russell Wilson worked his usual magic act and found Jimmy Graham in the red zone to cut Atlanta’s lead down to 14 – 7. Seattle looked like they were seizing the momentum. For about a minute, they did.

The second quarter was as wild as the first

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The quarter was less than a minute old when Wilson was sacked and fumbled. The Falcons were suddenly ahead 21-7 on Adrian Clayborn’s 10 yard return.  All the momentum had shifted back to Atlanta. Which to Russell Wilson means it’s time to go back to work. Seattle quickly drove down inside Atlanta’s 10 yard line, but had to settle for Blair Walsh field goal. The score was now 21-10, Atlanta.

Finally, the Falcons had a miscue as they couldn’t handle Walsh’s ensuing kickoff and Tedric Thompson recovers the ball at the Atlanta 11 yard line. It took a few tries, but of course it was Russell Wilson working his magic once again:

The Seahawks pulled within four of the Falcons, 21-17. The Falcons added a field goal, but gave Wilson just over a minute. He didn’t quite make it, as Pete Carroll called for an odd fake on the 34 yard field goal attempt. A shovel pass to tight end Luke Willson with seven seconds left went nowhere. I suppose Willson could have gotten to the sideline in time for one more play, but for the life of me, I don’t see the point. Willson was highly unlikely to score from the 17 yard line. Moving the ball a few yards closer makes no difference to either Walsh or Wilson, whether you’re going for a field goal or a last-chance touchdown. Odd call.

The half ended with Atlanta leading 24 -17. A few typical Seattle trends popped up again. Running back Mike Davis, who had been a real spark in the running game, went down with a groin injury. Because the Seahawks can’t have anything nice, I guess. The stats were just a bit crazy, as seems usual for Seattle this season.