Atlanta Falcons Unable To Slow Down Wilson, Seahawks In Season-Opening 38-25 Loss
The Atlanta Falcons hosted the Seattle Seahawks Sunday afternoon to kick off each of their respective seasons. Before the game, the Seahawks lined up in the south end zone, while the Falcons lined up on the north goal line.
A moment of silence in the name of social injustice and police violence followed an NFL video tribute that featured Alicia Keys.
Teams wore messages of their choice on the back of their helmets.
The Falcons wore shirts featuring a John Lewis voting quote in warmups.
The Falcons received the opening kickoff, which was a touchback. Atlanta started the drive with a heavy dosage of Todd Gurley II, and ultimately came away with a field goal after an intentional grounding penalty blew up the opening drive.
The foul put the Falcons in a third-and-16 situation from the Seattle 43-yard line. Matt Ryan completed a 12-yard pass to Julio Jones and set up Younghoe Koo for a 49-yard field goal, which he made.
The first defensive play of the season for the Falcons was a sack of Russell Wilson by Takkarist McKinley for a loss of nine yards.
The Seahawks were able to convert on the next two plays, however, with passes by Wilson.
Seattle mounted a drive into Falcons territory on their opening possession, but also stalled after a penalty. Following a holding penalty that set the Seahawks back into second-and-15, Grady Jarrett recorded his first sack of the season putting Seattle in third-and-23. However, the Falcons committed a penalty of their own, with Ricardo Allen committing a 41-yard pass interference penalty setting up Wilson and Co. with first-and-goal from the 10-yard line.
The Seahawks finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown pass to running back Chris Carson, extra point good. Seahawks led 7-3 with 4:43 left in the first after a six-plus minute drive.
Atlanta kicked off their next drive with a 28-yard completion to Jones, immediately moving back into Seattle territory. The drive stalled, however, and leaving the Falcons in a fourth-and-3 from the Seattle 40, where they did not convert. Ryan's pass was batted down behind the line of scrimmage, which gave the ball back to the Seahawks offense.
Seattle marched down the field with haste, capitalized by a 28-yard run by Wilson, which set the Seahawks up in the red zone. A 19-yard touchdown catch by Carson put Seattle out in front, 14-3.
The Falcons' offense moved into Seattle territory on the ensuing possession with Hayden Hurst's first catch with Atlanta.
Atlanta kept marching this time, getting inside the 10-yard line on Russell Gage's first catch of the 2020 season.
Gurley capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Koo missed the extra point after a Matt Gono penalty backed up the attempt to 38 yards. Seattle led 14-9 with 11:25 remaining in the second quarter.
The Falcons were finally able to slow down the Seattle offense on the next possession, with another sack by Jarrett forcing a punt.
Atlanta was able to hold down the Seattle offense for the remainder of the half. The Falcons were able to mount a two-minute drive and get into field-goal range in time for another attempt from Koo.
Koo connected on his second 49-yard attempt of the half, making the score at the break 14-12 in favor of the Seahawks.
Ryan finished the half with 182 yards on 13 of 24 passing. A balanced trio of Jones, Calvin Ridley and Gage led the way receiving. Gurley had 10 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown in his first two quarters as a Falcon.
The Falcons kicked off to open the third quarter.
Seattle was able to regain some rhythm offensively out of the half, driving into Atlanta territory on a handful of plays.
Wilson hit D.K. Metcalf for a 38-yard touchdown on fourth-and-5 to give the Seahawks a 21-12 lead with 9:41 left in the third quarter.
The Falcons went three-and-out on the ensuing possession. Rather than punting on fourth-and-2 from his own 33-yard line, Dan Quinn elected to go for a fake punt. The Falcons ran a direct snap to Sharrod Neasman, who fumbled before he could pick up the two yards to gain. Seattle recovered the fumble at the ATL 36-yard line.
Seattle capitalized on the mistake, with Wilson throwing his fourth touchdown of the game to Greg Olsen, giving the Seahawks a 28-12 lead with 5:05 left in the third.
The Falcons stalled out deep in Seattle territory on their ensuing possession, and never came back from there.
Seattle scored again early in the fourth, making it 31-12 with 11:19 to go after a successful 42-yard field goal.
Ryan finally got on the board with his first passing touchdown of the season, an 18-yard connection to Ridley. Atlanta missed the 2-point try and trailed 31-18 with 9:35 to play.
The Falcons were able to force a three-and-out, with Seattle punting the ball back to them with fewer than eight minutes remaining on the game clock.
Atlanta was unable to make the most of the stop, however, failing to convert again in Seattle territory with another turnover on downs.
Seattle tacked on another score, making it 38-18 with 3:45 to play, sealing the win.
The Falcons added a few garbage-time yards and another touchdown late from Ryan to Ridley, but it was all but over despite a successful onside kick from Koo with 33 seconds to play. The Seahawks won by a final of 38-25.
Ryan finished 37 for 53 with 450 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Jones led Atlanta with 157 yards on nine receptions. Gurley finished his Atlanta debut with 14 carries for 56 yards and a rushing touchdown. Ridley had nine catches for 130 yards and two scores. Gage had nine catches for 114 yards.
Wilson was 31 for 35 with 322 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Carson finished with six catches for 45 yards and two touchdowns.
The Falcons will be in action next Sunday from Dallas for a matchup against the Cowboys.
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