Seahawks will play their best game of the season vs the Falcons
The Seahawks are coming off a tough loss at home to the Ravens. There’s nothing like a road trip to a bad team to get back on the winning track.
Yeah, yeah, the Seahawks looked bad last week in their second home loss of the season. Whether you saw the game as a complete disaster or more the result of a couple of huge miscues, it was a very bad loss. There’s good news, though, 12s. The Hawks are on the road today where they’re undefeated in 2019. Even better, they’re facing a bad Atlanta Falcons team that just doesn’t match up well versus Seattle.
Let’s look at the Falcons on offense first. They’re 19th in the league in scoring, averaging just under 21 points per game. Their running game has really let them down here. What success they’ve had is based entirely on their passing attack, which has been among the league’s best. Matt Ryan has his team ranked second in both passing yards and touchdowns. Unfortunately for Atlanta, he’s out for the game. Matt Schaub will be under center instead, and that’s good news for the Seahawks. Schaub has thrown just 16 passes since 2015.
As I said, the Falcons running game has been atrocious. Devonta Freeman is averaging just 3.5 yards per carry and somehow has yet to score a rushing touchdown. In fact, Atlanta has only scored on the ground twice all season. His running mate Ito Smith has proved dangerous in limited play (4.8-yard average and a score), but he’s been ruled out of today’s game as well. I imagine that Dan Quinn probably wishes he still had Tevin Coleman in the backfield at this point.
The story of the Falcons defense is far worse. Their woes last year, when they ranked 25th in points and 28th in yards allowed, was blamed on a rash of injuries. They have their share of injuries again, but every team does. The Seahawks are an excellent case in point. Injuries or not, the Falcons defense just stinks. Atlanta has given up 223 points in seven games, almost 32 points per game. They have just five sacks and two interceptions. And they’re facing Russell Wilson, who most people would acknowledge is a pretty good player.
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The Seahawks have been picked as the lock of the week by several football prognosticators. In a nice little addendum, Rich Eisen of the NFL Network just mentioned that Schaub has thrown a pick-six in six of his last ten games. Are you listening, Shaquill Griffin? That’s just one more reason that I, along with the rest of our staff, see Seattle as a big winner over Atlanta today.