The Seahawks went back and forth with the lowly Falcons for four quarters today. In the end, they lost 27-23 after falling behind late.
Buy Seahawks TicketsHere are six takeaways from a sobering loss to Atlanta.
1
Seattle's defense has serious problems
We need to talk about this Seahawks defense.
Coming into the year we had high hopes that Clint Hurtt and Sean Desai would get this group on strong footing. The early results have been extremely disappointing, though.
To be fair they haven’t been exactly been given a stacked deck as far as their personnel goes and losing Jamal Adams is a pretty big deal. However, there are serious problems all over the place, here. Seattle’s front line can’t get pressure, the middle of their defense can’t tackle and the back end has a couple holes too many. That all adds up to a bad unit.
Once again the worst of it was the Seahawks getting run over, with Cordarrelle Patterson racking up 141 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries. Meanwhile, Marcus Mariota was able to successfully attack the weak points of this group just often enough to move the chains consistently. Darrell Taylor and Josh Jones appeared to be Atlanta’s primary targets and that strategy proved wise.
That’s not to say it was all bad, though. At least we got to see promising moments from rookie corners Tariq Woolen and Coby Bryant. That said, until the Seahawks have a come-to-Buddy-Ryan moment or they get some serious upgrades this defense is going to struggle.
2
Kyle Pitts was a killer
It’s better to be big and fast than small and slow. That’s why athletic tight ends tend to give NFL defenses trouble, especially this one. Atlanta’s second-year stud Kyle Pitts had been very quiet heading into this week, but he came to life against some helpless Seattle coverage. He totaled a game-high 87 receiving yards on five catches.
3
Geno Smith was (mostly) sharp
On the other side of the ball the Seahawks got a mostly-encouraging performance from No. 7. On the whole, Geno Smith’s passes were accurate and had plenty of velocity. However, he was lucky to avoid throwing a couple more interceptions – one in the second quarter and another in the fourth. Aside from that, his decision-making was sharp. All together, Smith went 32/44 for 325 yards, two touchdowns and one desperation pick.
4
The Seahawks tight ends are thriving
Another positive was the performance of the tight ends, who had largely been left to rot by the previous starting quarterback. Will Dissly was the biggest beneficiary today, totaling 34 yards and a touchdown on three catches. Colby Parkinson chipped in 44 more yards and Noah Fant posted 27.
5
The run game was back on schedule
Another good sign was the status of the run game, which had often been stuck in neutral through the first two weeks of the season. Rashaad Penny got things going with a very strong first drive and finished with 66 yards on 14 attempts. Ken Walker and Travis Homer both added explosive runs of their own and as a team they averaged a respectable 4.9 yards per carry.
6
DK Metcalf got much more involved
Perhaps the best news of the day was the long-overdue arrival of wide receiver DK Metcalf. He was far more involved in the passing offense today, earning 12 targets from Geno Smith. He caught five of them, totaling 64 yards and a touchdown.
