Seahawks snap Falcons’ winning streak, own losing streak, with 34-14 road win
By Jake Parr, edited by Charles Hamaker
Atlanta, GA - Our Seattle Seahawks ended their three game losing streak in a dominant win in Atlanta today, beating the Falcons 34-14 at Mercedes-Benz stadium. Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, and Kenneth Walker III all returned to form en route to three offensive touchdowns and 339 total yards. The defensive unit shut the door on Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, including two interceptions and a strip sack in the second half, doing so without cornerbacks Riq Woolen and Tre Brown. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson was the only standout player for the Atlanta offense, but wasn’t able to carry his team to victory as the Seattle defensive was able to somewhat contain him in what should be viewed as their best game as a unit so far this year. After three games in a span of eleven days followed by eleven days off, the Seahawks may be back to winning ways and it’s imperative that they rebound such as they did today considering the sort of opportunity they have to win the NFC West division this year due to their strong start and the relatively slow start that their divisional opponents have had.
Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III, who turned 24-years-old today, celebrates one of the two touchdowns he scored in his teams 34-14 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, October 20th, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Photo by Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
Offense returns to form
The Seahawks opened the game with a methodical 11 play drive that seemed like a return to the team’s early season form. It seemed like it was going to end with Seattle’s first opening drive touchdown all season, but a 13 yard run by Kenneth Walker III, who celebrated his 24th birthday today, was pulled back by an offensive holding penalty. That penalty set up a 1st and 20 that eventually melted away into a 4th and 17, forcing Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald to settle for a field goal by Jason Myers. But just two drives later, after the Falcons missed a 54 yard field goal try and gave the Hawks a short field, Walker would get his touchdown. It was a textbook 20 yard run through the right tackle that showed why he’s a premier running back in the league. After being down with injury early in the season and not making waves in his first couple games back, Walker may have found his groove again which could prove vital to a Seattle team that has struggled to find consistency on the offensive side of the football lately.
So too might have Geno Smith and DK Metcalf. The duo has been less electric than usual, shall we say, over the last three games. While the season started well against the Broncos, Patriots, and Dolphins, over the last three weeks the Hawks have played teams that are much more carefully assembled and did so while in a tough schedule considering how closely all three of those games were played. The secondaries of those teams have constantly shut down the vaunted receiver. But the Falcons’ secondaries were helpless against DK today, letting him break free for 99 yards on just four receptions, one of them finding paydirt. DK’s longest reception of the game was a 35 yard leaping catch that was hurled by a different Smith, Jaxon Smith-Njigba. In the second quarter, Geno Smith took the snap from the shot gun and threw a backwards pass to Smith-Njigba, who turned and looked to throw instead of run after it appeared he was in motion to catch a screen pass and not throw the football. Smith-Njigba made the most of his one shot, and fired a rocket to DK on the right side. A rocket that maybe had a little too much fire, as he almost overthrew Metcalf, but DK simply climbed the ladder and hauled it back down.
Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf and quarterback Geno Smith celebrate their second quarter touchdown connection that gave them a ten point lead at halftime during their teams 34-14 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, October 20th, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Photo by Dale Zanine/Imagn Images)
Other favored receivers were tight end Noah Fant, who picked up 65 yards, and Tyler Lockett who made some incredibly athletic plays that don’t really show up in the 45 yards in the box score. Kenneth Walker III even caught a pair of passes, providing payoff points on his second. Scoring both a rushing and a receiving tpuchdown is quite the birthday boost.
It wasn’t all good for the Seahawks’ offense, however. As mentioned before, a potential touchdown was called back due to a holding penalty, and that wasn’t the only instance. DK’s 35 yard aerial interception on the Smith-Njigba throw didn’t lead to any points either, as that catch was followed up by a sack, a false start penalty, and a negative play on a screen pass that set up 4th and 21. Those were two separate drives that had great potential but melted away due to offensive line penalties. Considering that this is a pass protection unit that also allows the most pressure in the league, some changes have to be made to keep the Hawks offensive productive. With the Seahawks down to their fourth string offensive tackle in Mike Jerrell, the hope is that Seattle will be able to get Abraham Lucas or George Fant back to health much sooner rather than later.
Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Leonard Williams sacks Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins during Seattle’s teams 34-14 victory over Atlanta on Sunday, October 20th, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Photo by Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
Defense gets its claws out
The Seahawks’ defense came alive today, shutting down the Atlanta offense in general and Kirk Cousins in particular. While Geno Smith’s two passing touchdowns and 7.4 average yards earned him a great passer rating of 110.3, Cousins was held to just 72.6, far below average. His favorite targets, Kyle Pitts and Drake London, were only able to pick up 9.3 and 10.5 yards on average respectively. London was able to score a touchdown at the start of the second half on a little five yard dump to the right, but he was the only Falcon receiver to put six points on the board.
There was a non-receiving Falcon who was able to peck and claw his way past the Hawks’ defense. Bijan Robinson was a force to be reckoned with today, showing why he’s one of the best rushers in the league while displaying his talents against a Seattle run defense that has struggled all season. Running for 103 yards and a touchdown, including a 26 yard explosion that was only stopped thanks to Seahawks safety Julian Love, the true extent of Robinson’s raw athleticism and balance were on display. That Seattle was able to keep him relatively contained is perhaps one of the biggest reasons they won today, which was part of such a big and critical defensive performance for the Seahawks as they played this game without cornerbacks Riq Woolen and Tre Brown who were ruled out and as safety Rayshawn Jenkins was placed on injured reserve this past week.
Seattle Seahawks defensive back Coby Bryant intercepts a pass thrown by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins during the fourth quarter of the Seahawks’ 34-14 victory over the Falcons on Sunday, October 20th, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Photo by Brett Davis/Imagn Images)
The other reason was that Seattle was able to take the ball away from the Falcons three times in a row in the second half. With a ten point lead nearing the end of the third, it was feasible that the Falcons could mount a comeback and snatch victory from the Seahawks’ talons. But instead, it was the Falcons who had the ball ripped from them. First, linebacker Boye Mafe sacked Kirk Cousins and forced a fumble that was scooped up by Derick Hall who carried it all the way back for six points. He was aided by Devon Witherspoon, who ran out of nowhere to execute a perfect block on Kaleb McGary, despite weighing 120 pounds less than the Falcons offensive tackle. The Falcons’ next two drives ended early as well, with defensive backs Julian Love and Coby Bryant each pulling down a pass of their own and ensured that the game was well and truly out of reach for any sort of Atlanta comeback attempt.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback and University of Washington alum Michael Penix Jr. made his NFL debut during his teams teams 34-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, October 20th, 2024 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. (Photo by Dale Zanin/Imagn Images)
Which actually gave Seattle fans a little present, as first round pick and former Washington Husky Michael Penix Jr. got to come out for the final drive of this game. He only attempted one pass, the other six of his snaps being run plays to end the game, but it was a perfectly placed 14 yard shot to the left side. Penix got to catch up with Seahawks offensive coordinator and former UW coach at the same position, Ryan Grubb, before the game.
What’s Next?
Following today’s road win over the Atlanta Falcons, our Seattle Seahawks return home next week to host the Buffalo Bills at Lumen field for a Sunday afternoon game. The Bills are 5-2 on the season, and are starting to look threatening after picking up Amari Cooper via a trade with the Cleveland Browns before week seven began. We will see if the Seahawks can carry today’s momentum back into the Northwest with them, and getting some reinforcements back from injury in the form of Riq Woole, Tre Brown and potentially one of Abraham Lucas or Tre Brown could benefit them tremendously. That game has a kickoff time of 1:05PM PDT and will be broadcast on FOX Sports, and going over the air waves on Seattle Sports 710AM and KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. This game against the Bills is the Seahawks’ “Halloween” theme game.
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Check out our previous Seattle Seahawks articles here.
Check out our previous articles written by Jake Parr here, and his Lookout Landing articles here.
Cover photo by Brett Davis/Imagn Images
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