Seattle Seahawks

Seahawks vs Falcons: 5 takeaways from a close win

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Seahawks vs Falcons: The Seattle Seahawks were able to hang on and defeat the Atlanta Falcons, but the game exposed some issues that Seattle must correct.

The Seattle Seahawks hung on to beat the Atlanta Falcons 26-24 at home today. It wasn’t pretty, especially in the second half, but the team made enough plays over the course of the game to pull out the win.

Reading through my takeaways below, they come off as rather negative, especially after knocking off one of the best teams in the NFL. That certainly wasn’t intentional, and it isn’t all that representative of how i’m feeling right now.

There are plenty of reasons to be happy with today’s performance by Seattle. Oddly though, it wasn’t the positives that stood out enough to make it into my 5 takeaways.

1. The special teams weren’t special today

Nolan Frese had yet another terrible snap, and it led to a missed FG. Steven Hauschka missed a PAT. That’s 4 points that the Seahawks could have used. They resulted in the game being much closer than it should have been.

Tyler Lockett definitely doesn’t look healthy in the return game either. He lacks his typical speed and explosiveness.

This isn’t typically an issue for the Seahawks. Other than Frese, it shouldn’t be something that we have to worry about in the weeks ahead. For today though, this wasn’t a good performance.

Oct 16, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman (25) reacts in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons during a NFL football game at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks defeated the Falcons 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

2. That Richard Sherman meltdown was weird

In the third quarter, a miscommunication in the defensive secondary led to a long touchdown for Atlanta. Richard Sherman came off the field angry.

Instead of seeking out backup safety Kelcie McCray, who seemed to be at fault on the play, Sherman was screaming at defensive coordinator Kris Richard. At one point, the other members of the secondary had to restrain Sherman.

Richard Sherman fired up on the Seahawks sideline following Julio Jones’ TD. #ATLvsSEA https://t.co/Ccp4GHbREs

— NFL (@NFL) October 16, 2016

Sherman appeared to be mad that he wasn’t being allowed to follow Julio Jones. The Falcons were manipulating Seattle’s coverages, and getting Sherman matched up against TEs and RBs.

Sherman had a valid point, but his display on the sideline was weird.

Oct 16, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham (88) defended by Atlanta Falcons safety Dashon Goldson (38) during a NFL football game at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks defeated the Falcons 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

3. Seattle’s offense lacked explosiveness

The Seahawks were able to move the ball effectively at times throughout the game, but it was done with far too much dink-and-dunk. Seattle’s offense lack its typical explosiveness.

When you’re only getting 3-4 yards on ever play, all it takes is one mistake to kill a drive. We saw that in the first half when 2 drops (one by Spiller and one by Graham) each killed a drive for the Seahawks.

Where were the long passes to Lockett or Richardson? The Seahawks have the speed on offense to stretch teams vertically, but they didn’t take advantage of it this week.

The offense scored 26 point. It turned out to be just enough; but it certainly felt like they left a lot of points on the field today against a fairly unremarkable Atlanta defense.

Oct 16, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) catch a pass against the Seattle Seahawks during a NFL football game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

4. Kris Richard needs to adapt faster

The Seahawks came out with a brilliant game plan. They rarely blitz, but they brought pressure early and often in this game. Atlanta wasn’t prepared for it, and the Seahawks completely shut down the Falcons’ offense in the first half.

Then the Falcons adjusted. The brought in more TEs to help with pass protection. The used more play-action. Most importantly, they took advantage of Seattle’s tendencies to manipulate assignments so Sherman wasn’t covering Julio Jones.

Kris Richard was slow to adapt. The third quarter saw the Falcons able to move the ball at will, and they erased Seattle’s 17-3 lead in under 9 minutes.

This has been a frustrating trend for Richard as a defensive coordinator. He simply doesn’t adapt fast enough to adjustments made by opponents.

At some point in almost every game, the Seahawks defense struggles in the second half. Usually it happens in the 4th quarter. This is a trend that cannot continue.

Seattle’s defense finally made a couple of adjustments in the fourth quarter, but by that point the 17-3 lead had become a 17-24 deficit. Richard simply took too long to make the necessary adjustments.

Richard is still new to coaching overall. He moved up through the ranks to his current job with almost-unprecedented speed. He is clearly very smart, and there is hope that he will figure this out at some point.

For now though, this is frustrating to watch.

Oct 16, 2016; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back Christine Michael (32) shakes hands with mascot Blitz after scoring on a 1 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons during a NFL football game at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks defeated the Falcons 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

5. Seahawks lead NFC West by 2 games

Seattle’s win over Atlanta moved them to 4-1 on the season. The Rams, which are the only team to beat Seattle this season, lost again this week to drop to 3-3. Even if Arizona wins on Monday Night Football, they’ll only be 3-3 on the season as well.

The means the Seahawks will be 2 games ahead in the division no matter what happens tomorrow. The Seahawks are winning the games they need to win, and they’re making it very tough on the rest of the division to try and catch them.

Today’s win also gives the Seahawks the tiebreaker over Atlanta when it comes to playoff seeding. Right now, it looks like Minnesota, Seattle and Atlanta will be the three team vying for those first-round bye weeks in the playoffs.

There are still 11 games left in the season. It is probably a little too early to be looking into playoff scenarios.

No matter what though, it is always better to be the team with the early lead than to be trying to dig young self out of an early hole. That is something the last two years have definitely taught us.