Atlanta, GA- In their season opener for the 2020 NFL season, the Atlanta Falcons fell 38-25 to the Seattle Seahawks at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
It was a rough debut for the Falcons in their season opener, who after a slow start battled to get back into the game but struggled in the second half to execute when they needed to, and the Seahawks were able to take advantage of every mistake.
Atlanta won the toss and elected to receive to begin the game, getting out to a good start on the opening drive behind newly signed running back Todd Gurley. The Falcons would settle for a field goal from Younghoe Koo to take a 3-0 advantage and looked to the defense to make a stop to hold onto the early lead.
The defense looked like they would be able to get off the field quickly, forcing a third and long situation for the Seahawks. Unfortunately, a pass interference call on safety Ricardo Allen set Seattle up to score as quarterback Russell Wilson found Chris Carson in the endzone to take the lead.
A turnover on downs at midfield on the next possession for the Falcons put the Seahawks in good field position, and they would take advantage with another touchdown from Wilson to Carson to extend the Seahawks lead.
The slow start put the Falcons in a 14-3 hole, but they’d settle things down with a drive capped off by a Todd Gurley touchdown as he leaped over the pile at the goal line for the score. A missed extra point only got the Falcons to nine points, but a FG right before halftime brought them within two as they went to the locker room trailing the Seahawks 14-12.
With just a two-point deficit, the Falcons were very much in the game as the second half began, and a big stop by linebacker Deion Jones looked to quickly get the Seahawks offense off the field.
Seattle had other plans, however, as the offense lined up on fourth down as Russell Wilson would find DK Metcalf for a 38-yard touchdown. This play really seemed like the turning point in the contest, as the Seahawks would take full command of the game from here on out.
With a now nine-point deficit, Atlanta would go three and out and line up to punt. The Falcons would instead attempt a fake punt to try and give themselves some momentum.
It looked as if Sharrod Neasman had gotten the first down, but Seattle’s Marquise Blair was able to get a helmet on the ball and pop it out for the Seahawks to recover. A mistake at this point in the game, especially after giving up the long touchdown, was another debilitating play for Atlanta as Seattle had taken all the momentum in the third quarter.
The Seahawks would once again take advantage of a Falcons mistake, as Wilson would find veteran tight end Greg Olsen in the endzone for another touchdown to take a 28-12 lead.
The Falcons looked to have an answer on their next possession and would take another big chance deep in Seahawk territory on fourth down, turning the ball over on downs for the second time after Matt Ryan was sacked for a nine-yard loss. Seattle would once again take advantage of the Atlanta mistake, adding a FG and a touchdown to take a 38-18 lead over the Falcons late in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons would add a late touchdown to give us our final score of 38-25, as Seattle would leave Atlanta with a comfortable victory in week one of the 2020 NFL season.
Overall the Falcons just made too many mistakes and it seemed every time they did, the Seahawks were able to take advantage and extend their lead. It was a disappointing start to the 2020 season for Atlanta, who look to improve on their 7-9 season from last year.
There were positive takeaways, as the offense put up 506-yards of total offense. Quarterback Matt Ryan passed for 450-yards and threw two touchdown passes as receivers Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, and Russell Gage all posted over 100-yards receiving.
Newcomer Todd Gurley showed flashed early, totaling 51-yards on the ground, but once the Falcons’ deficit grew saw his usage rate dip in the second half with only four touches.
On defense, the Falcons saw improvement in their pass rush with three sacks between Takk McKinley and Grady Jarrett, but all of that production came in the first half with the pressure failing to show up in the second half.
Seattle totaled just 383 total yards for the game, as they were able to mostly take advantage of good field position off of Atlanta mistakes, so perhaps if the Falcons are able to clean up their mental mistakes and execute better on third and fourth down, they can find success in 2020.
Quarterback Matt Ryan spoke about cleaning up the mistakes saying, “I think the biggest jump typically happens in football from Week 1 to Week 2. I think that the only way that happens though is the serious attention to detail that it takes and the hard work that it is going to take for us getting back and focused tomorrow.” He continued, “If we can clean up some of those things from the first time out there and be a little bit better, I think there are positives to take away from today. It’s a long season.”
The Falcons will be on the road next week, as they look to bounce back when they visit the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday.
Written by Brian Pohl
Image Credit: Henry Gomez/ The SkyBoat
