Seahawks Lose 36-20 to Falcons: Same Ol’ Song
By Ben Renner
The Seahawks couldn’t overcome the problems that had been plaguing them all season in a Divisional Round loss to the Atlanta Falcons in the Georgia Dome.
We’ve seen this movie before. The Seahawks struggled to protect quarterback Russell Wilson and open up holes for Thomas Rawls. Their defense couldn’t hold up against an excellent offense without their anchor, safety Earl Thomas and so on.
It was certainly a disappointing reversion to the same script we’ve seen all year, certainly since the Week 13 beatdown of the Carolina Panthers when Thomas broke his leg. The once-feared Legion of Boom wasn’t up to the challenge of stopping Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan and his legion of fast running backs and receivers.
The Seahawks lost 36-20 to the Falcons for many of the same reasons they lost five games in the regular season. For all the demons that appeared exorcised in the Wild Card victory against the Lions, the ones that remained with this team reared their collective ugly heads in Atlanta.
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To his credit, this loss can’t be pinned on Wilson. He ended the first half 8 of 9 for 92 yards and a touchdown on a quick out to tight end Jimmy Graham at the end of an impressive and hope-bringing opening drive. He ended with the most rushing yards for the Hawks, with 49 yards.
But the Seahawks’ offensive limitations stood in stark contrast to the Falcons’, which essentially did whatever it wanted throughout the game. Nothing is more emblematic of this than how the game ended, when Wilson dodged endless waves of pass-rushers and tossed a wild jump-ball for an interception.
The special teams crew did its part to keep the Seahawks in the game, but newly-signed returner Devin Hester‘s 80-yard punt return was called back for a questionable holding call. There was also a clear and egregious pick play on the Falcons’ first drive, but bad penalties and missed calls aside, the Seahawks simply had no answer for Atlanta defensively.
An ACL injury to cornerback Deshawn Shead left the Seahawks with their fourth and fifth-string corners to go with backup safety Steven Terrell trying stop Devonta Freeman in the open field. An injury to guard Germain Ifedi left Rees Odhiambo in the game to step on Wilson’s foot and cause a safety (you don’t need to see that one).
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The bottom line is that the Falcons were the better team on Saturday. All the profanity-laced tirades on much-beloved reporters can’t change that. The Seahawks took their flawed team as far as it could go this season. It will be a long a potentially tempestuous offseason in Seattle.