Atlanta, GA- Despite a late comeback attempt, the Atlanta Falcons fall 27-20 to the Seattle Seahawks and move to 1-7 on the 2019 season.
Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn on the loss, “From a team standpoint, we came out in the second half and fought back. [We] can’t lose the turnover battle zero to three and expect to come out ahead.” He continued, “Losing that turnover margin and digging yourself into a hole at the start, [is a] tough way to get started into a game.”
It was a tale of two halves for Atlanta, as the Falcons seemed outmatched from the opening kickoff, unable to put things together on either side of the ball in the first half while making things interesting in the final minutes.
It started with the offense, who were forced to start long time back quarterback Matt Schaub in place of an injured Matt Ryan, who missed action for the first time since 2009 due to an ankle injury suffered last week against the Los Angeles Rams. Schaub was a bit inconsistent, completing 13 of 20 passes for 151-yards, but was unable to put a complete drive together and get points on the board. The UVA product had one big mistake with a costly interception in the second quarter, which led to a Seahawks touchdown and stretched the lead to 17.
The Falcons dug themselves a big hole in the first half, trailing 24-0 at the break as the defense allowed 240 total yards of offense with 130 coming from Seattle’s rushing attack. Atlanta’s defense seemingly had no answer but found a way to right the ship in the second half to give themselves a chance.
Things picked up when the action returned for the third quarter. Atlanta received the ball first and marched right down the field and into the end zone as running back Brian Hill scored on the ground from 23-yards out. The Wyoming product showed a lot of promise on the run and may earn his way to more playing time as a result of his performance.
Getting a defensive stop and a field goal on the ensuing possessions, Atlanta found themselves trailing 24-11 going to the fourth quarter and looking to pull within one possession. The game would change five plays later with the Falcons knocking on the door of the end zone, as Schaub completed a pass to running back Devonta Freeman at the one-yard line. As Freeman was falling to the ground, Seattle’s Bobby Wagner would punch out the ball from Freeman’s hand to force a fumble and turnover, taking the air out of the Atlanta crowd. The Seahawks would then tack on points with a field goal, really putting the game out of reach.
It was a bang-bang play on the fumble, with the review confirming the fumble call on the field. Coach Quinn was asked about the review not being overturned and said, “I thought that was a huge part of this. When you turn it over at the one, you don’t have a chance to keep answering. Especially when you’re in a hole; you have zero margin for any error. When that happens, from my vantage point I couldn’t tell hand down or not. They are automatically reviewable, so New York took a look and said from their vantage point it would not be overturned.”
The Falcons impressively kept fighting until the end, adding a touchdown on a pass from Schaub to tight end Austin Hooper and a field goal in the final minutes to trim the Seattle lead to seven. It was too little too late for the comeback, and the Seahawks were able to kneel on the ball to let the clock run out after a failed onside kick.
It was another tough loss for Atlanta, who now sit at 1-7 on the season. 2019 has been a disappointing season, to say the least, but with the arrival of a bye week, the Falcons have an opportunity to self-reflect, while hopefully finding a solution to their problems before resuming play in two weeks.
Written by Brian Pohl
Photo Credit Robert Narvaez
