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Falcons lose to Seahawks 33-10  in a rematch of last year's
playoff win, fall to 2-7

By Don Stone - Football Atlanta

  
  What a difference just ten months can make. The difference in the fortunes and misfortunes of the Seahawks and Falcons are drastic since that first round playoff game this past January 13 at the Georgia Dome. It was the first ever playoff win for Mike Smith and Matt Ryan since joining forces. In an almost mirror image of the game the following week with San Francisco, Atlanta jumped out early to a 20-0 halftime lead. But, the Seahawks furiously rallied back to take a 28-27 lead with just 31 seconds left in the game before the Falcons drove 41 yards in three plays to kick a game-winning field goal with eight seconds left.
   This year, Atlanta has had several shots at pulling out similar last minute victories only to see them all fall short. The result is a 2-6 record with a an base left scratching their heads. Seattle, on the other hand, has taken the devastating loss and built upon it to again become one of the best teams in the NFL at 8-1.
  The Falcons did something on their first drive that they have done a lot this year and didn't do much last year, go three and out. Seattle got the ball on their 30 yard line and got a first down on three rushes at the 42. They got two more firsts highlighted by a 19 yard catch by TE
Luke Wilson to the Falcons 24. Seattle could only get three on a 39 yard field goal to take the lead.
 
Roddy White, listed as questionable for the game, made his presence known early with a 20 yard reception at the 40. But, that's all they would get with another punt this time pinning the Seahawks back at their seven yard line.
  The Hawks quickly got out of the hole with a 31 yard pass to
Golden Tate at the 40. Add 15 for an unnecessary roughness and they were into Falcons territory at the 45. Nine more to WR Doug Baldwin and a four yard rush by Marshawn Lynch at Seattle had another first at the 32. A sack of Russell Wilson by OLB Joplo Bartu moved them back eight yards to a third and 16 at the 38. This was a big play because they were just out of field goal range. A stop would result in no points. Give them a few yards and they would have three. Give them the 16 and it would likely result in seven. The defense held and Atlanta got the ball back after the punt at their ten. Despite the benefit of an offsides penalty, Atlanta still couldn't get a first down and punted again.
  As the first quarter came to an end, the results so far were a Seattle team that moved the ball effectively between the 20s but not beyond and a Falcons team that barely moved. The Seahawks dominated in time of possession at 9:53 to 5:07 and in total yards 88-30. Still, only a three point difference with the home team lucky to be that close.
 
Matt Bosher had to punt once again from near his end zone. He got off a 53 yarder giving Seattle good field position again at their 41. On a third and three, Wilson found WR Jermaine Kearse for 21 to move them to the AF 30. Again, they were having no problems moving in the middle of the field. How would they do as they approached the red zone. On a third and six, it appeared that Tate made an acrobatic catch at the two. But, replays showed his left foot landed out of bounds and Mike Smith tossed the red flag to question the call. After a check under the hood, the refs reversed the call. Again, the Seahawks had hit a barrier at the 20 with a Steven Hauschka 43 yard field goal stretching the close lead to six.
  Suddenly the Falcons started moving the ball.
Matt Ryan started the next drive with a nice 14 yard pass to RB Jason Snelling to the 34. Jacquizz Rodgers burst free for 17 yards to get the ball into Seattle territory for the first time. On a third and nine, Ryan scrambled for ten to give Atlanta a rare first down at the 34. But, that's all they would get. At least the Falcons had shown a sign of life on offense with a 53 yard Matt Bryant field goal getting them on the board.
  A quick look at other scores showed a few surprises as Jacksonville was leading Tennessee 13-0 with the Rams 28-0 over the Colts. I was wondering if fans in other stadiums were thinking the same thing when they saw this score.
  Seattle showed what an explosive offense they had when they scored on two plays going 80 yards in 57 seconds. A Lynch rush for 37 yards followed by a 43 yard Kearse touchdown catch.
  Suddenly the score was not as close with Seattle building a 10 point lead.
  Still close, but Atlanta needed to continue their newfound offense and add points on their end before the half. So far,
Tony Gonzalez and Harry Douglas were held catchless. That needed to change with Ryan's only completions, with the exception of the White catch going to running backs. 
  Douglas got his first catch for four yards bringing up a third and four at the 29. No offense, another punt.
  Seattle picked up where they left off with a short pass to Tate to the Atlanta that he took for 42 yards to the 29. Nothing on the next two plays bringing up a third and seven at the two minute warning. Another big play to keep Atlanta in the game as the defense held again forcing a third field goal. Three points were better than seven, but the field goals were starting to add up as the lead built to 13 points.
  The Falcons would get the ball back with 1:52 remaining with two goals....maybe get a few more points and also to keep the Seahawks from getting it back. They failed on both counts. Apart from a 10 yard pass to Rodgers, the offense was MIA as they had to punt and give Seattle another shot with a minute remaining. And Seattle took full advantage moving the length of the field to get seven more points to almost put the game out of reach 23-3. A score that would not seem insurmountable, but given the lethargic nature of Atlanta's offense, it seemed unlikely that they would suddenly flip a switch and find it again. Gonzalez, White, Douglas and
Steven Jackson had been almost complete nonfactors.. The only ground game had been Ryan. The only movement in the air had been to running backs, mostly Rodgers. You don't win many games with that formula.
  First half stats were telling the story. Seattle led total yards 316-99. Rogers had the one 17 yard carry. Other than that, Ryan kept it three times for 15 yards with Jackson getting seven carries for just 14. And, apart from the one 20 yard catch by White, Atlanta could only muster 33 yards passing, all but two to running backs.
  Yesterday in Athens, I noted that Appalachian State reminded me of a ten year old kid facing off against an older teenager who had his had extended to the kid's head as he swung wildly in frustration. Today, I'm getting that sense again, only the kid is the Falcons.
  And, like that game, it was close for awhile, then the better team found another gear. In that case, Georgia rattled off 31 unanswered second half points. In this, its like Seattle was reminded of the Atlanta comeback last year and cranked out 17 after the 6-3 start to make sure nothing like happened again.
  As the second half got under way, Seattle added three more on a 53 yard field goal to make it 26-3. The matrix board usually shows first half highlights at this point. All they could show was Ryan running for six yards and the Bryant field goal.
  The question wasn't whether the Falcons would mount an amazing comeback. It was whether Gonzalez' long streak of 203 consecutive games with a catch would end. He had none in the first half. The future hall of famer would finally get his catch to convert a third and eight at the Seattle 41. Rodgers would add 11 on the ground to the 30. Seattle would help with a roughing the passer penalty to move it to the 19. Atlanta would have to go for it on a fourth and three at the 12 bypassing a sure three points that would be meaningless. Instead, Ryan found WR
Darius Johnson for seven to bring them to within 16. How important was the extra seven points Seattle got in the final minute of the first half now?
  Still a long way to go and if Atlanta had a chance, the defense needed to make a stop as the fourth quarter began.
  But, any faint hopes of a Falcons comeback were severely dashed when the Seahawks resumed their penchant for picking up lots of yardage, first with a 27 yard Baldwin catch followed by 15 more on the ground by Lynch. All Atlanta could do is hope the Seahawks did what Oregon and LSU did over the weekend, fumble as they were entering the end zone. But, Seattle did not participate as Lynch easily carried it in for another touchdown to put the lead back at 23.
  If you just looked at the records coming in with an 8-1 team facing a 2-6 team, a 33-10 score is close to what you'd expect. With eight minutes remaining, I was surprised to see very few fans heading for the gates. But, that told me that this was about what they thought it would be and they were just here because they wanted to be here.
  The final play of Atlanta's next drive would be a microcosm of how the day and season had gone. The Falcons would finally get a big play as Douglas took a pass 31 yards downfield only to fumble it at the 12.
  Already the Falcons would have more losses at home (3) as they had in any of the previous seasons since Smith arrived.
  The only people in Atlanta happy with this result were those transplants from the northwest and the Falcons fans who figured the season was a loss and they might as well tank it the rest of the way and get the number one draft pick. For the latter group, they had a pretty good week. Minnesota 2-7 Vikings beat Washington on Thursday night. The 3-6 Rams beat the Colts. The 2-6 Giants beat the Raiders, the 4-5 Eagles beat the Packers, the 2-6 Steelers beat Buffalo, and the 0-8 Jaguars got their first win. So, the 2-7 Falcons would trail only Houston, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh for the worst record in the NFL. And the road ahead would not be any easier with games remaining against New Orleans, Green Bay, Washington, San Francisco and Carolina. Only the Bucs and Bills looked like they would be favored.

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