It was a game of missed opportunities for the Seahawks in their 28-30 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. The Seahawks had a chance to get their record to 2-2 before going on the road to face the New York Giants instead sit at 1-3. While the Falcons needed this win after their poor showing last week.
The first half was all Falcons; Matt Ryan had their offense running on all cylinders with Seahawks defense unable to stop the running and passing game. Seahawks offense was held to only two rushing yards in the first half. Their only good series was four plays, with two big passes leading to a Seahawks touchdown. Going into halftime Falcons 24 and Seahawks 7.
Falcons started the second half with a field goal leaving the Seahawks down by 20. Tarvaris Jackson started getting the passing game going by using the hurry up no huddle offense. This got the Seahawks a quick touchdown and thanks to a Leon Washington punt return set the Seahawks up for a second touchdown in the third quarter.
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With the Seahawks down by six going into the fourth quarter the Falcons kicked another field goal to build their lead back up to nine. Tarvaris Jackson capped off a 60 yard drive to a wide open Ben Obomanu in the end zone for a touchdown and to move the Seahawks with in two. It was up to the Seahawks defense to hold the Falcons.
The defense held the Falcons to a third down and eight but thanks to a holding penalty on Brandon Browner on an over thrown pass the Falcons got a first down and kept the drive alive. This cost the Seahawks time on the clock by allowing the Falcons 10 more plays before they had to punt.
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Seahawks started their drive on their own 15 yard line with 1:49 left on the clock to move the ball into field goal range. Because the Seahawks defense had used two of their timeouts earlier in the half the offense needed to run quick plays and get out of bounds to stop the clock.
Seahawks moved the ball down to the Falcons' 45 but then a false start on Sidney Rice moved the ball back another five yards. There is no excuse for a wide receiver to ever have a false start. Seahawks were unable to pick up the first down and on fourth down had Steven Hauschka attempt a 61 yard field goal for the win. The kick was wide left and short which let the Falcons flying home with the win.
The offense can not get off to a slow start and expect to play catch up in the second half. Where is the running game? They had a total of 53 yards rushing with Tarvaris Jackson getting 16 of those yards. It is the fourth game of the season and I am still waiting to see a run game.
Tarvaris Jackson was making better throws but still not utilizing the middle of the field. It seemed in the first half they were forcing the ball into Mike Williams to get him involved in the offense which lead to one of the interceptions. Mike Williams left the game in the second half with a concussion. I don't know how Seahawks' rookie receiver Doug Baldwin knew where he was playing; he took two hard shots with the second shot being a helmet to helmet.
By the Numbers:
Seahawks defense was out on field twice as long as the offense. 40 minutes for the defense and almost 20 for the offense.
Falcons won the turnover battle 2-0 with two interceptions.
There was no sacks by either team in the game.
The Falcons ran 25 more plays then the Seahawks.
Fun Fact:
The first Seahawk to have a 100 yard rushing game was Sherman Smith with 124 yards on November 7, 1976 against the Atlanta Falcons.