We are hours away from the Seattle Seahawks starting their December schedule against the Atlanta Falcons. Ever since the Falcons opened up their new stadium in 2017, they’ve yet to beat the Seahawks on four tries. A failure to win on Sunday would eliminate them from the postseason, although their elimination is all but inevitable whether today or within the next couple of weeks. For the Seahawks, there’s a lot on the line in terms of playoff positioning and the NFC West race, and they have to actually secure their postseason berth first.
This is game day morning, so you know what that means! It’s time for some game predictions! Before we get into this Falcons matchup, let’s revisit how accurate last week’s Minnesota Vikings predictions were!
Bold prediction: A Seahawks big fella interception
A lot of interceptions, none of them from a defensive lineman. Awwww.
Seahawks offense prediction: Kenneth Walker III rushes for over 100 yards
Still hasn’t happened since Week 2.
Seahawks defense prediction: Winning the turnover battle
I’d say +3 is winning the turnover battle emphatically.
Vikings prediction: Someone with a ‘J’ first name will score a touchdown
Didn’t even score a touchdown. Someone with the surname Jones did score, but he plays for the Seahawks.
Game prediction: Seahawks win by a healthy margin
I’d say 26-0 is as healthy as a balanced diet.
Bold prediction: Seahawks get a special teams touchdown
Seattle’s special teams ranks 2nd in FTN’s DVOA, while the Falcons are a woeful 30th. Atlanta has gone through three kickers, muffed a punt last week against the New York Jets, and allowed numerous huge kick and punt returns.
Special teams touchdowns are nevertheless not common, although we did see Tory Horton take one to the house versus the New Orleans Saints. Chazz Surratt could’ve had a blocked punt TD in the same game if he didn’t whiff on the scoop before the score. Jay Harbaugh’s group has made major improvement on everything but kicking and punting, in which case Jason Myers and Michael Dickson have been their usual selves, and I think if there was ever a time for Rashid Shaheed to announce his arrival as a Seahawk, it’s against his former division foe.
Seahawks offense prediction: Someone other than JSN gets a receiving touchdown
Anyone know who’s the last Seahawks player not named Jaxon Smith-Njigba to get a receiving touchdown? That would be Cody White against the Washington Commanders. We’re looking at 18 consecutive quarters without a TD to someone other than JSN in the passing game. While I fully expect JSN to bounce back and get fed the ball a lot and clear 100 receiving yards again, I’d love for someone else to step up and be a truly formidable second option for Sam Darnold to throw to. Will it be Rashid Shaheed this week? I don’t know.
The Falcons pass defense is better than their run defense, particularly when it comes to their fantastic pass rush—Seattle has one fewer sack than Atlanta, who knew?—but the middle of the field has been an issue for Atlanta in terms of defending the pass. Time for Cooper Kupp to give us one more classic Kupp game? Or even have AJ Barner and/or Elijah Arroyo feast on seam routes? The opportunities will be there.
Seahawks defense prediction: Kirk Cousins held under 200 net passing yards
There’s no Drake London, leaving the Falcons with Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts as the only real offensive threats to key in on. London is a very good receiver when healthy, and the Falcons’ WR group is severely lacking in depth. Kirk Cousins is playing a much better version of Seattle’s defense than the one he struggled against last year, and with fewer major targets at his disposal.
No doubt Robinson at the very least will be used heavily in the passing game, but I like my chances of the Seahawks grounding Atlanta’s aerial attack with few yards allowed and many sack yards posted. Cousins didn’t clear 200 yards (before sack yardage loss) in two of his three starts this ear, and I’d be surprised if he feasted against Seattle’s defense at full strength.
Falcons prediction: Bijan Robinson breaks one explosive play
The dynamic running back from the University of Texas is on the cusp of a 1,000-yard rushing season. He has speed, route running, elusiveness in the open field, just about everything you want in a lead back. Seattle’s run defense is numero uno and is elite at preventing explosive runs. Robinson did have a stretch against the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots in which he wasn’t a factor as a runner, so he is most definitely stoppable. It’s also true that even a great run defense like Seattle has shown some explosive play cracks against the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals in more recent weeks.
I believe that Robinson will mostly be held in check, but it only takes on with him to get an explosive play north of 20 yards either in the run game or as a receiver, having already notched a career high 594 receiving yards.
Final score prediction: Seahawks take the Falcons seriously, pull off another road win
I said 27-16 Seahawks earlier in the week in my preview with Bryce Coutts on The Hawks Eye. I’m bumping that up a touchdown to 34-16 Seattle, in which the 2nd half turns an uncomfortably close game into a rout. Sam Darnold throws for two touchdowns, Kenneth Walker III gets an explosive rushing TD, and the offense takes care of the ball while the defense forces the Falcons into 3rd down, where Atlanta is one of the league’s worst at converting.
It’ll be punts aplenty more than turnovers, which means more opportunities for Seattle’s offense to shake off some of the recent struggles and put the Falcons out of their misery. Atlanta’s pass rush is something I’ll be watching closely in case the Seahawks offense does get thrown out of sorts.
Those are my predictions! Now share yours in the comments!
