Kenneth Walker III, Seattle Seahawks.
The team from the “dirty south” came to the Pacific Northwest in search of their first victory of the season. The thought was that the Seattle Seahawks would not be the first team to lose to Atlanta. Well, that thought went over as well as Russell Wilson thinking he’d win in Seattle too.
As mentioned in the opponent preview, this game could display some high-scoring “offenses” due to each team’s defenses being so bad. Or this game would be a punt fest. The former is what came to pass this Sunday in Seattle. Let’s overreact to this disappointing game.
Coming into the game, it was smart to expect Atlanta to run the ball frequently. This would limit the number of opportunities for quarterback Marcus Mariota to turn the ball over. Unfortunately, he still turned it over twice.
Subsequently, running the ball would feature the better part of their offense. And apparently, the Seattle Seahawks either didn’t do their homework, or their players just lacked the will to stop their opponent.
After rushing for a total of 179-yards against Seattle, Atlanta now ranks fourth in the NFL with 470-yards. On the other end, Seattle’s defense now ranks 31st in the NFL at stopping the run. They’ve given up 471 rushing yards for an average of 157 yards per game.
After last week’s game, Pete Carroll said that Geno Smith doesn’t need to be held back any longer in Seattle’s passing offense. The quarterback has a good handle on it, and the team can open up the offense. Some joked this might have been a shot at the team’s former QB, who now starts in Denver.
Well, maybe they’re right. Smith attempted a season-high 44 passes! Some might think that the increase in passes is that the Seattle Seahawks were trailing and needed to throw. In fact, this was a rather close, back-and-forth game.
Maybe just maybe, Carroll is trolling his former player. Or maybe, dare I say it, Carroll is finally stepping into modern-day offenses. Now that is an overreaction worth noting.
Smith only missed on 12 of his pass attempts for 325-yard, two touchdowns, and one interception. He was sacked twice and hit five times. This offense can be good if this is how they’re going to play for the rest of the year.
Even so, Smith is still who everyone thought he was. He is a quarterback who is just good enough to come up short when his team needs him.
Much was made when the Seattle Seahawks selected Kenneth Walker III in the second round. Well, he finally showed off why in this game. In the third quarter, on first and ten, the Seahawks lined Walker up out wide. They brought him in motion and handed it off to him.
Walker ran around a great block by tight end Colby Parkinson on what initially appeared to be a solid seven-yard gain. After slipping out of a would-be tackler’s grasp, he reversed course and turned up field to finish with a gain of 21-yards!
While this run isn’t on the level of the Beast Quake, it is still a very impressive play. It also shows exactly why the Seattle Seahawks chose to select Walker.
There is a legacy of great Seattle Seahawks running backs. It started with Sherman Smith and included stars like Curt Warner, John Williams, Chris Warren, Ricky Watters, Shaun Alexander, Marshawn Lynch, and Chris Carson.
For now, Rashaad Penny is still the starter and will be until his contract is up. However, when Penny is no longer the lead back in Seattle, Walker will take over.
Up next, the Seattle Seahawks travel East to take on Detroit. Here Seattle will look to bounce back from this week’s loss. Maybe one day, this team will win another football game.
What were your overreactions to the Seattle Seahawks’ loss to Atlanta? Let us know in the comments section below.