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.

The circus action continues in the second half for the Seahawks

The Seahawks opened the second half with a nice drive, but eventually stalled out. Blair Walsh the field goal he should have had a shot at to close the first half, and Seattle closed to within four points. Sadly, that lead would not last for long. Matt Ryan showed some speed of his own on a 14 yard scramble to sustain the Atlanta drive, then hit Levine Toilolo for a 25 yard touchdown. The Seahawks simply lost him in coverage. Not surprising, as he came into the game with five catches on the year. Atlanta stretched the lead to 11 points, 31 – 20.

Russell Wilson took offense to this, apparently, as he continued his ridiculously great play. The drive stalled, though, as the Falcon’s defense sacked Wilson for the third time. Blair Walsh hit his third field goal of the night to cut the lead to one score, 31 – 23.

The Falcons began to mount a nice drive, but the Seahawks came up big, back to back to back. Michael Bennett dropped Tevin Coleman for a two yard loss. Then Bobby Wagner popped Austin Hooper two yards deep in the backfield. The 12s put Atlanta even deeper, with their second forced false start of the night. Noisy place, apparently. The third quarter ended with Seattle trailing Atlanta, 31 – 23.

The Seahawks can’t find their fourth quarter magic

The Falcons were forced to punt for the first time all night. Unfortunately, they ran four and half minutes off the clock. Seattle went three and out for the first time all night, as Doug Baldwin couldn’t handle a pass for the first time since 1988. Trust me, that’s no knock on Baldwin; it’s just incredible he juggled a pass at all.

The Falcons got the ball with just under nine minutes left, and ate more of the clock, and Seattle yardage. Eventually Atlanta settled for a field goal, but that bumped the lead back up to 11 points with less than four minutes to play.

Angry Doug of course made up for his incredibly rare miscue with a beautiful touchdown catch, as the Seahawks pull within 3 points with three minutes left in the game.

Trailing by three after the two point conversion, it would have been nice to have that field goal Pete eschewed at the end of the first half. Nothing is automatic, but Walsh was perfect on the night to that point. With Atlanta facing a big third down to keep the chains moving after the two minute warming, Sheldon Richardson recorded his first sack of the season. Seattle ball with 1:46 to go and no timeouts.

Wilson continued his magic, but it would have been nice to have had the timeout Seattle blew challenging the obvious drop by Baldwin earlier. I have to assume Carroll challenged simply because he’d never seen him drop the ball before. With seven seconds left, Blair Walsh missed a 52 yard field goal, as he didn’t have quite enough leg.

Seahawks find some answers, but none of them are good

A few things we found out tonight: the football gods truly hate the Seahawks, as both Shaquill Griffin and Mike Davis left the game with injuries. Eddie Lacy has nothing left, as J.D. McKissic became the workhorse back for Seattle. Tyler Lockett is pretty good at special teams, as he had 197 yards on five kickoff returns. And Pete Carroll outcoached himself twice, first by not going for a very makeable 34 yard field goal at the end of the first half, then with the odd challenge of a clearly dropped pass in the second. That timeout could have been crucial on the final drive, as Seattle mulled trying one more play to get Walsh close to the uprights. One good thing: Russell Wilson is indeed incredible. Sadly, he can’t play corner or safety. At least, I don’t think he can. Hmmm…