The Falcoholic
Atlanta has now lost seven of their last eight games, have ensured a losing season for the eighth straight year, and been blown out by more than 20 points on three separate occasions. A season that started out with some promise and quickly went sour has become fully rancid, with the stink televised for a national audience on a weekly basis. It’s tough to endure.
This one was actually a game in the first half. The defense clamped down and made Sam Darnold skittish, so while the offense struggled and picked up a questionable call on a would-be Darnell Mooney touchdown, it was tied 6-6 when the team went into the locker room. The problem was that things went wildly bad from there, as the Seahawks outscored the Falcons 31-3 in the second half, with a complete team failure that began with special teams on a 100 yard kickoff return and spread to the defense and offense. By the end, the Falcons barely looked like they wanted to be out on that field, and that was only fair given that we barely wanted to watch them.
There are four games to go, two in primetime unless the NFL mercifully flexes the Rams game out of it, and then we can move on to an offseason that has to provide more hope than this.
Here’s a drive-by-drive recap of the game you just watched against your will.
Deven Thompkins took it back past the 25 yard line. A quick Bijan Robinson carry went for five yards. On second down, he picked up two yards by fighting through contact. A quick hitter over the middle to Robinson picked up a few yards and a first down. Bijan then took it for a first down, and then picked up three yards. With pressure coming in fast on the play action, Kirk Cousins threw it away in the direction of Charlie Woerner. Cousins then fired it deep to Kyle Pits, but it was slightly underthrown, Pitts couldn’t corral it, and Julian Love was all over him to make it more difficult. Punt.
A quick screen to Jaxon Smith-Njigba lost a yard after A.J. Terrell and company fought through trash to get him. A quick pass to Kenneth Walker similarly was blown up swiftly, with Dee Alford hitting him and Mike Hughes finishing the tackle. Sam Darnold was then sacked near the end zone on third down, with James Pearce Jr. (who else?) getting him. Jamal Agnew took the punt 14 yards to the Seattle 40.
Cousins went right back to Pitts with some time and got 20. A quick handoff to Tyler Allgeier went for a yard. A crazy Bijan jump cut got him six yards. Then Cousins tried one to David Sills, but the ball was hit in the air and Sills couldn’t reel it in. The Falcons tried to get Seattle to jump offsides and ate the delay of game, and then Zane Gonzalez hit the field goal to...
