Seattle Seahawks: 3 takeaways from 38–25 win over Atlanta
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks. (Photo by Football Schedule, via Flickr)
Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks went on the road and defeated Atlanta in the season opener. These are our three takeaways from the 38–25 win.
The Seattle Seahawks, behind four Russell Wilson touchdown passes, beat Atlanta 38–25 in the season opener. Seven different receivers had multiple catches. Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf each had over 90 receiving yards for the game. Running back Chris Carson had 66 combined yards, which included a pair of TD catches.
Seattle went into the locker room at halftime with a 14–12 lead. They came out smoking hot in the third quarter and put Atlanta into a hole the Falcons couldn’t climb out of. This game was effectively over when Jason Myers connected on a 42-yard field goal less than four minutes into the fourth quarter to put the visitors up 31–12.
Here are our three biggest takeaways from the Opening Day victory.
1. RW3 is an MVP
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was the 2019 NFL MVP earning all 50 first-place votes. Jackson deserved his award after he led Baltimore to the AFC North title and the best record in the AFC. He threw for over 3,000 yards and ran for another 1,200. When the smoke cleared writers, analysts and fans realized that Russell Wilson has never been the league’s offensive MVP.
If there was such a thing as a unanimous second-place finish, the voters found it. Make no mistake, Wilson checked off every box, no matter what someone’s definition of Most Valuable is RW3 answered. Not to take away from the reigning MVP’s accomplishments, but Wilson arguably did more with much less than Jackson had last season.
Now there is a big push for Wilson to get his overdue MVP Award. It won’t be handed to him, he still has to earn it on the field. RW3 gave his supporters plenty of ammunition with his near perfect, four-touchdown pass day.
For almost the entire offseason, any conversation that had to do with the Seattle Seahawks offense included: Will Pete Carroll let Russ cook? During the game, FOX analyst Mark Schlereth had it right when he said let Russ simmer, like a slow cooker. The meal is just as good, but more time and patience is required.
In the Seahawks case, that means stick to a balanced attack and let Wilson do what he does best, win games. Seattle doesn’t need to air it out every series to be effective.
.@DangeRussWilson wanted it all 💥
A perfect throw to @dkm14 for the touchdown on fourth down!
Q3: SEA 21, ATL 12 pic.twitter.com/gK6r0Nzgqk
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) September 13, 2020