When the Atlanta Falcons play a football game, they can’t make it look easy even when they win. Fans can have a heart attack watching this team play. This past Sunday was no different as the team beat the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle by intercepting Quarterback Geno Smith late with 1:12 left on the clock to secure the 27-23 victory. The Falcons do not usually win these type of games. Over the years since I have been a fan of this team that dates back to the late 70’s, this team can’t finish a game, or they come up short late. This is what happened this year in game one versus the Saints and game two out west against the Rams.
This team has to put it all together and finish games strong and they finally did that on Sunday. Fans get too hyped up sometimes over one win, as I heard driving into work this morning. It’s exciting to win one game in this league, but that doesn’t mean that team will will their division.
Game Notes Versus the Seahawks
The game started off as most Falcons games do when Atlanta deferred the ball until the second half. Seattle drove it all the way down the field, then the drive stalled and Seattle kicked a field goal. Atlanta then took control and drove all the way down the field as Quarterback Marcus Mariota ran it in for a touchdown on 1st and goal from the 1-yard line with 7:13 remaining in the first quarter.
Offense
On the first play of that same drive Mariota went deep to Tight End Kyle Pitts, but over threw him. All week we have heard sports media and fans saying get Pitts the ball. He had less than 50 yards total from the two previous games, which ended in losses. This game didn’t disappoint. Pitts ended up with 87 yards on five catches. If the Falcons can get Pitts and rookie Wide Receiver Drake London going at the same time, and Cordarrelle Patterson giving this team the power from the backfield, this offense can be scary. Season is still young. Now that Pitts has gained some confidence and catching passes for yardage, he still needs touchdowns. He hasn’t caught one this season and only one last year in England.
London did record a touchdown on three catches for 54 yards. But the talk of the offense for the Falcons was Patterson. He touched the ball 17 times and rushed for 141 yards with one touchdown. He is currently third in the league with 302 rushing yards behind Cleveland Browns Nick Chubb (341) and New York Giants Saquon Barkley (317).
The offense this season hasn’t been the problem except for Mariota can’t hold on to the ball and has fumbled once in each game which led momentum shifts back to the other team. In the first two games the Falcons never regained the momentum, but in the Seahawks game they were able to overcome the momentum shift to win their first campaign of the season 27-23.
Defense
The defense stepped up during the game. They stopped the momentum of the Seahawks on their first drive to prevent a touchdown, and had a few three and out stops as well throughout the game. The Seahawks did have a 20-17 lead going into halftime, but only scored a field goal in the second half. That seems to never happen either to an Atlanta Falcons defense.
Mariota had just fumbled the ball late in the game and the defense had to stop the Seahawks in order to win. Score was 27-23 and this is where Falcon fans get nervous, but to my surprise Seahawks Quarterback Smith was sacked a couple times on the last drive, then over throws his receiver right into Falcons Safety Richie Grant’s hands. Sigh of relief on Falcon fan’s faces.
A hard fought first win for the Falcons.
Next Game: Georgia alum running back Nick Chubb and the Cleveland Browns (2-1) travel to Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. to play the Atlanta Falcons (1-2). Kickoff set for 1:00pm EST on FOX.
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