With Eight Straight Losing Seasons, Falcons Hit New Low After Seahawks Rout

ATLANTA – For the second straight year, the Atlanta Falcons were blown off their own field by the Seattle Seahawks. And for the eighth straight season, Atlanta will finish with a losing record, a familiar ending brought on by familiar mistakes.

Special teams blunders, third-down inefficiency, red-zone woes, and a defense that eventually wore down in the second half once again defined the Falcons’ day. The flaws that have plagued this Falcons team showed up in perfect sequence, and the result was almost predictable.

As it has several times this season, it cost the Falcons any hope of a win.

Missed opportunities plagued the offense in the first half of this game. Jamal Agnew returned a punt 14 yards up to the Seahawks' 39-yard line, but the Falcons only managed a field goal on that possession. After an interception in the second quarter, they had a field goal blocked. Just before the half, Darnell Mooney stepped out of bounds on what would have been a touchdown reception.

The Falcons could have snatched this game by the throat in the first half. Instead, they managed just six points.

The defense also started out this game on a strong footing, allowing just three points on the first four drives of the game. The front-seven was harassing Sam Darnold and forcing him into some difficult spots – the best game-plan for a Falcon win. James Pearce Jr. recorded a sack in his fifth-straight game and Mike Hughes came up with an interception.

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Despite those missed opportunities on offense, the Falcons were feeling pretty good – but after a successful one-minute drill on the closing possession of the half, everything seemed to flip. The next moment, stemming from a festering issue on this team, would unleash the barrage.

Rasheed Shaheed collected the kickoff to start the half and went 100 yards untouched up the middle of the field for a touchdown. Those points would give Seattle its first lead of the day, and it was the last time the Falcons felt within striking distance.

Raheem Morris called this the “momentum turning play” of the game, and it proved to be an ominous foreshadowing of things to come. Starting with the end-of-half drive, and helped by three turnovers on offense, Seattle proceeded to outscore the Falcons 31-3 in the second half.

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“Gotta go figure it out,” Morris said. “It's not just one person point at. It's just not one thing to point at. You've got to go figure it out and look at it on tape and try to come up with some answers.”

It was a complete meltdown for the Falcons on Sunday. The offense, after weeks of bemoaning the woeful third-down offense, finished its day 1-for-13 and could not close out drives. Defensively, they succumbed to the barrage from the Seahawks’ offense and were beaten down in the second half. On special teams, back-breaking moments set this game ablaze.

By the end, it amounted to a total team loss.

Sunday marks the Falcons’ third loss this season by 24 or more points. The Falcons have four games left this season, but nothing left to gain. They are assured of their eighth-straight season below .500, tied for their longest such stretch in club history (1983-90).

“Our fanbase deserves a winner,” Morris said. “And the only thing we can do is try to find a way to go win this Thursday football game. You can't make any promise that you can't keep at this moment, the only thing you can do is try to give them the best efforts you can give them.”

With four games left, the Falcons can only play out the string. The playoff drought will continue, the losing streak will extend, and Sunday’s collapse served as the clearest reminder yet of how much work remains before Atlanta looks competitive again.