Seattle Seahawks: 3 takeaways from 38–25 win over Atlanta

Seattle Seahawks
DK Metcalf, Seattle Seahawks.
Seattle Seahawks

Seattle Seahawks defense.

2. Defense remains the question mark

The Seattle Seahawks defense played reasonably well on Sunday. For three quarters, they held the Falcons mostly in check. By the time Atlanta gained most of their yards in the fourth quarter, the Seahawks were in a prevent defense, giving up shorter plays to deter home run passes. There is still more to the story.

Even though they had a pair of sacks, (one came on a safety blitz by Jamal Adams) Seattle didn’t put enough pressure on the passer. Atlanta QB Matt Ryan had plenty of time in the pocket to find his receivers. Give credit to the Seattle Seahawks secondary that Atlanta only had 450 yards through the air. Without their seven passes defended, it could have been worse.

Additionally, if the offense hadn’t blown out Atlanta in the third quarter, the defense would have seen much more of running back Todd Gurley. It looked like the Falcons could take the ball up the middle and get to the second level of the defense. That has to change, especially when the Seahawks play teams that have more of a commitment to the run.

In short, the front four needs to play better. Defensive tackles Poona Ford and Jarran Reed have to get a better surge at the snap. Coming off a wasted season due to injury, defensive end L.J. Collier showed brief flashes of why the Seahawks selected him in the first round last year. For next week’s game against New England, those flashes should be more consistent.

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