The Falcoholic
We’re gearing up for a bloodbath.
The Seattle Seahawks have lost three games, all by four points or less, and all against solid opponents. They have a top ten offense, defense, and special teams unit, have scored at least 26 points for six straight weeks, and just finished beating up the struggling Vikings in a shutout. They have a credible case as one of the three-to-five best teams in football, and now they’re coming to town against our awful Falcons. If Atlanta wins it’ll be a miracle; if they make this a real game it’ll be a minor one.
We’ll still be tuning in for it, naturally, so here’s what you need to know about the game ahead.
Atlanta’s only real chance in this one is to take advantage of Sam Darnold’s willingness to turn the ball over and turn it into points.
Otherwise than that and a middling rushing attack, the Seahawks are just demonstrably better across the board than Atlanta, to a degree these rankings probably can’t properly capture. We knew this would be a tough game pretty early on this year, but we didn’t know Seattle would be this good.
Seattle just smoked Atlanta a year ago by the score of 34-14, and this is recognizably the same team. But there have been real changes since the last time the Falcons saw them, nonetheless.
The biggest is Geno Smith leaving and Sam Darnold entering. Geno’s play was flagging a little bit last year and has cratered this year, while Darnold has been brilliant for stretches and turnover-prone and shaky at other times while providing an overall upgrade for Seattle. The real rest for him will come in the playoffs, given that the Seahawks will definitely be in them. The offense has certainly improved under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who is making a push to be a hot head coaching candidate in the 2026 offseason.
The team traded DK Metcalf away along with Smith, let longtime receiver Tyler Lockett and tight end Noah Fant walk, and shed a few useful players, but brought in DeMarcus Lawrence (5 sacks), Cooper Kupp (38 catches, 438 yards, 1 TD), and legendary former Falcon Eric Saubert. Their draft brought in plus rookie starter Grey Zabel on the offensive line, receiver Tory Horton (13 grabs, five touchdowns), and impressive rookie defensiev back Nick Emmanwori.
The end result is a better team than the squad that went 10-7 in Mike MacDonald’s first year as head coach, and a team that looks like a juggernaut in the making if quarterback can stay relatively stable.
Your best shot is to have A.J. Terrell follow Jaxon Smith-Njigba everywhere, pressure Sam Darnold into turnovers, and take advantage of a comparatively soft middle of the defense by getting Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts, and ideally Drake London matchups with Seattle’s linebackers as much as possible. You’ll need to run the ball because you...
