Kenneth Walker shakes off illness to shine for Seahawks early versus Falcons

The Seahawks had to settle for a field goal on their first drive. On their second they punted due to their own miscue. Seattle took it home on the third drive. So far, the Falcons have no answer for the Hawks offense.

This game was something of a snoozefest in the first quarter. The Hawks were able to score on their opening drive but had to settle for a 48-yard Jason Myers field goal. That was especially disappointing after Kenneth Walker III scored on that drive. Except he didn't, as rookie TE A.J. Barner was called for holding on the play. He redeemed himself to some extent later.

Luckily the Falcons were even less effective on their first drive. Three false start penalties certainly didn't help their cause. As broadcast analyst Jonathan Vilma said, that's pretty unheard of for the home team to struggle with the snap count. It could be that part of the issue was that Atlanta was in a hurry-up offense. I believe that the Hawks giving them different looks on defense also led to some of that confusion. But I'd rather talk about the Seahawks offense.

Seattle Seahawks turn to their star running back at the right time

The Seahawks finally realized that Zach Charbonnet is not Kenneth Walker. Charbonnet is a one-cut back. If he doesn’t have daylight, he puts his head down and bulls through. Or at least tries to. Hey, he’s pretty successful at it; I’m not knocking him. But Charbonett cannot avoid swarming tacklers. It’s not his fault; most humans can’t.

That’s exactly why I get so frustrated when the Hawks decide it’s a Charbonnett series. That has never been made more apparent than on Seattle’s third drive of the game. Walker was out, Charbonnett was in. He ran for one yard on first down, then two on second. Geno Smith pulled off another of his Houdini acts and escaped relentless pressure to complete a 28-yard pass to Noah Fant. Smith again escaped the rush and found A.J. Barner for five yards.   

Enter Kenneth Walker III. On second and five at the Atlanta 20-yard line, Walker darted through a nice hole on the right side of the line and scored the first touchdown of the game. That hole, by the way, was largely courtesy of fourth-string tackle Michael Jerrell. Not too bad for a guy who played at a Division II school. So far, the worst-case scenario has outplayed Stone Forsythe with ease.

Please, Seattle. Please realize that Charbonnett is not the same back as Walker. You cannot take Walker out of the game for any extended series of plays. I mean, not if you want to win.

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