Atlanta suffers an ugly loss at the hands of Seattle.
The Atlanta Falcons have been a second half team in 2024, but they haven’t necessarily been an abysmal first half team. Against a Seattle Seahawks team looking to reverse a three game slide, however, they were an absolute mess early.
Atlanta scored just one touchdown in the first half, and they did so after a dominant effort on the ground from Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier. On other drives, Kirk Cousins missed throws, Younghoe Koo missed a field goal, and things collapsed to ensure the team didn’t get points. On defense, the Falcons were worse, routinely surrendering downfield bombs from Geno Smith and 17 points overall in the first half, including a frankly embarrassing over-the-middle deep shot into the end zone to D.K. Metcalf where nobody was around to help A.J. Terrell.
Things started off positively in the second half, with Atlanta driving and getting a touchdown on a short fourth down pass from Kirk Cousins to Drake London, but Seattle promptly answered with a score of their own thanks in part to a key roughing the passer call that wiped out a third down incompletion. Then a rare defensive stop gave way to a rough drive where Cousins hung on too long trying to make a pass happen, fumbled, and had it picked up and returned for a touchdown. At that point, there were almost 13 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Falcons were down by 17 points.
A single loss to a quality team is not a reason to panic, but the Seahawks had been struggling coming into this one and the result was incredibly ugly, so a lot of the good feelings are going to fade for folks after this loss. It’s more than fair to ask why we’re seeing some of the familiar mistakes from Atlanta over and over again, and it’s fair to ask why the Falcons got away from what was working (the ground game) when the game was still within reach. The only real highlights were a couple of nice defensive plays, Bijan Robinson having a terrific game, and a late glimpse at rookies like Michael Penix, Jase McClellan, and Casey Washington in a blowout loss.
The Falcons have an opportunity to bounce back in a big way against the Buccaneers in a week, and they’ll have to if they want to avoid falling back to .500 and facing familiar questions. Too often in recent years, the Falcons have let one bad game turn into a bad stretch and then into a bad season. These Falcons looked like they’d be able to avoid that through the first six games, and now it’s up to them to prove that this was only an eye-opening bump on the road to a successful 2024. Please, please let them do so.
Here’s a drive-by-drive recap of the game you just watched, in case you’re looking to wallow.
1st Quarter
The Falcons kicked things off by…kicking off. The Seahawks return went to the 23 yard line. Geno Smith was under pressure on first down and threw an off-kilter pass his receiver couldn’t reel in. On second down, he went for D.K. Metcalf on the sideline, but A.J. Terrell was called for pass interference and Seattle got a fresh set of downs. Kenneth Walker III then picked up nine yards by bouncing it outside. Walker then picked up four yards and a first down. Metcalf then was the recipient on a long ball that got the Seahawks to about the 25, but Walker was stopped for no gain on the next carry. Jaxon Smith-Njigba then caught a quick pass with pressure coming for five yards. Tyler Lockett then got the first down. On 1st and 20, a quick pass to Smith-Njigba went for three yards. A.J. Terrell then got a hand on a pass into the end zone to Metcalf, and on third down pressure from Grady Jarrett came in and forced a Geno throwaway. The 38 yard field goal try was good. 3-0 Seahawks.
Ray-Ray McCloud took it to the 25 yard line. A quick swing pass to McCloud went for six yards. Kyle Pitts then got one over the middle with pressure coming and picked up a first down and about 12 yards. A false start on Atlanta backed things up five yards, and then Cousins hit Pitts again for 10 yards. The next pass was dirted by Cousins in the direction of Bijan Robinson. Another false start backed the Falcons up again. And then yet another false start backed the Falcons up to 3rd and 15. Cousins then hit Pitts for eight yards and the drive was over. Punt.
The Seahawks started their first drive with a false start. Then Smith found Metcalf on the sideline for about 11 yards. A quick pass over the middle to Walker then got a first down for Seattle. Pressure got close on the next play, but a 21 yard pass to Noah Fant ensued nonetheless. Walker escaped first contact and ran for five yards. Walker then went for a first down. Zach Charbonnet then got nothing. Geno Smith then tried to escape the pocket but was tackled by Grady Jarrett and Nate Landman for no gain. Smith then lost the snap and fell on it, with Ruke Orhorhoro falling on him for the sack. Punt.
Bijan Robinson took the first carry of the game for nine yards. Robinson then picked up four yards and a first down. Then he took it five yards. Cousins then found Darnell Mooney for a first down. Allgeier picked up a yard and that took us to the next quarter.
2nd Quarter
Cousins hit Kyle Pitts for a first down. Tyler Allgeier then picked up another first down. McCloud then caught another swing pass for maybe three yards. The second down pass from Cousins was a bit too high for Mooney, and then he missed McCloud on third down on what would have been a wide open downfield grab. Then Younghoe Koo missed the 54 yarder.
Zach Charbonnet picked up a couple of yards. Charbonnet was then tripped up after a yard. Under pressure, Smith managed to get rid of it on the move and connect with Fant for a 28 yarder. Then Smith escaped from the pocket and found A.J. Barner for six yards. Then Walker took the carry all the way in for a touchdown. 10-0 Seahawks.
Touchback. Then Bijan Robinson fought through contact and picked up 26 yards. Robinson then cut inside and picked up six yards, and then cut inside again and picked up another six yards and a first down. Robinson then ran into the pile for about three yards, but Ryan Neuzil was down on the field. Allgeier then picked up five yards. Cousins then hit Drake London for the first time over the middle for a first down. Robinson then took it for five yards, and then picked up a couple of yards on second down. Bijan then plowed his way in for a touchdown. 10-7 Seahawks.
Touchback. Geno Smith then handed it off to Smith-Njigba, who threw it downfield to Metcalf to get to the Falcons 35. James Smith-Williams then blew into the backfield on the next play to sack Smith. That was followed up by a false start, as the Seahawks backed up to 2nd and 21. A quick flip to Zach Charbonnet was brought down for a loss of five yards. On third down and a mile, Geno Smith scrambled for six yards, and Seattle punted.
Tyler Allgeier then kicked it outside and picked up about 20 yards. Bijan then took it for about seven yards, and then Cousins was sacked. Then Cousins hit Pitts for about five yards to bring it to 4th and 3. Punt.
Smith hit Lockett over the middle for 15 yards and a quick first down, and with the clock running he got Lockett again downfield for nearly 20 yards. Then he found Fant on the sideline for a first down. Fant then caught another one to pick up five and get out of bounds, setting the Seahawks up with 2nd and 5 for 17 yards. Grady Jarrett then got Geno Smith and nearly sacked him, but Smith threw it away and was tagged with intentional grounding. With 10 seconds left, somehow Smith was able to find Metcalf open in the end zone for a quarter-finishing touchdown. 17-7 Seahawks.
The Falcons took a knee.
3rd Quarter
No gain for Robinson after a 21 yard return for Avery Williams, but he caught a swing pass on the next play and got to the sideline with good blocking, taking it 26 yards. Robinson then caught it outside for seven yards. Allgeier then got the next carry and lost a yard on it. Then Cousins found Mooney and he was able to turn around and stretch for a first down. Cousins then hesitated and found Allgeier on a short pass that went for nine yards. Cousins then found London for an easy first down. Robinson then turned a doom outside toss inside to pick up nine yards. Robinson was unfortunately swallowed up for a loss by Byron Murphy on the next play. Cousins then got Mooney on a sideline ball and first down. Robinson then lost a yard on first down. Cousins was then able to get it out with pressure coming to get eight yards to London. On third and two, Robinson was able to pick up maybe a yard. Cousins then hit London for a touchdown on 4th and 1, capping off a long drive with a score. 17-14 Seahawks.
A quality return set the Seahawks up from the 37. A penalty on the Falcons gave Seattle 1st and 5. Kenneth Walker then got a couple of yards. Walker then spun through a tackle attempt to get a first down. Mike Hughes then almost had an interception on a downfield strike and it fell incomplete. A quick pass went for two yards before Hughes hit him. Geno Smith managed to get away from pressure and scramble, but Matthew Judon and Kaden Elliss brought him down a yard short. Charbonnet then got a first down on the fourth down try. Dee Alford then had tremendous coverage against Smith-Njigba, forcing an incompletion. Walker then got three yards despite being hit behind the line of scrimmage. A roughing the passer on Demone Harris wiped out an incompletion downfield on third down. Under pressure, Smith then found Walker in the end zone for a touchdown. 24-14, Seahawks.
Cousins’ first down pass was batted down, and then he was sacked on second down. A false start backed Atlanta up again. Then a pass to Kyle Pitts picked up about 13 yards, which was not nearly enough. Punt.
Charbonnet picked up a couple of yards on first down. Smith tried Metcalf downfield, but it was low and he couldn’t come up with it. On third down, the pass was skipped, but an illegal hands to the face penalty from Nate Landman gave Seattle a first down. Walker then got the handoff for three yards. A pass under pressure was bobbled on the sideline and dropped. A sideline ball to Metcalf was caught out of bounds, in part thanks to Justin Simmons making sure he landed out of bounds. Punt, and a fair catch at about the 22 for Avery Williams.
A swing pass to Bijan went for about eight yards.
4th Quarter
Robinson then took it for about a yard. Another carry up the middle just got the first down. Cousins then hit Pitts again for five yards. Then Cousins took the sideline shot to Drake Cousins looking for a flag and got it, which led to a big first down for Atlanta. Robinson then got about a yard. Cousins then went to London again down the sideline but missed by quite a bit, and there was no flag that time. Cousins was then sacked, fumbled, and it was returned for a touchdown, putting a nail in Atlanta’s coffin. 31-14 Seahawks.
The first down strike to Mooney went for six yards, and then Cousins aired it out to London for a big first down. He then found London downfield, but an offensive pass interference call on London for a push backed them up. Cousins went for Pitts and had it broken up, but a pass over the middle to McCloud was incomplete, with a picked up flag. Then Cousins got Mooney for 19 yards, but Raheem Morris challenged the spot and won. Unfortunately on the next play, Cousins threw one to Drake London that somehow went off his hands and was picked off.
Kenneth Walker picked up a couple of yards on first down. Walker then got three yards with a pile push. Smith then found Lockett on the sideline for a first down. Walker got a couple of yards, Walker then got four more yards on the next play. A withering rush on the next play forced Smith to throw it off-balance and it fell incomplete. The Seahawks decided to try a 59 yard field goal attempt and got it, making it 34-14 Seahawks.
Cousins nearly threw a pick on a pass to Robinson. Then one to Mooney was a little low, and he couldn’t come up with it. Bijan made a crazy one-handed catch and was able to pick up seven on the next play. On 4th and 4, Cousins found London on the sideline for a first down. On the next play, he threw a pick looking for Kyle Pitts.
Three straight carries led to eight yards for the Seahawks, and then a delay of game on fourth down gave way to a punt and a fair catch.
Michael Penix got into the game for the first time, and handed it off to Bijan for six yards. Then Jase McClellan got his first carry and went nowhere. Penix then fired one to Casey Washington for a first down. McClellan picked up three yards on first down, and then ran for five more on second down despite stumbling a bit out of the gate. McClellan then picked up the first down. Then he picked up two yards and the game was over for Atlanta.