Moore: Seahawks will bounce back in what could be Dan Quinn’s last game

Not sure where you are with the Seahawks, but you can make a strong case for them being right in the thick of the NFC West race and on their way to a 12-4 record.

Clayton: The keys to Seahawks at Falcons in Week 8

You can also make a strong case for them not being as good as their 5-2 record suggests because of concerns about their safeties and defensive line, thinking a collapse is imminent.

Or you can make a strong case for them being somewhere in between, looking at a 10-6 or 9-7 season, either just missing the playoffs or getting in as a wild-card team.

I don’t think we’ll truly find out how good they are until Nov. 11 when they play San Francisco on Monday Night Football in Santa Clara. Then again, I could be wrong about that. If they lose to Atlanta on Sunday and/or Tampa Bay the following Sunday at CenturyLink Field, we’ll lean more toward the negative side – those are two teams the Seahawks should beat. The Falcons are 1-6 and the Bucs are 2-4.

This week the biggest part of my prediction revolves around Falcons head coach Dan Quinn. I don’t have the stats to back this up, but I’m guessing when you have a coach on the hottest seat in the NFL, your team has at least two bad things going on:

• 1) They’re not talented enough to even win on a semi-consistent basis.

• 2) They’re not playing hard for their coach.

I’m thinking this will be Quinn’s last game. John Clayton has talked about the Falcons having a bye next week, which would give the organization an extra week to break in an interim coach.

Again, in another guess, I’m thinking we’ll see one of two things from the Falcons on Sunday:

• 1) A spirited effort in a last-ditch attempt to save their coach’s job.

• 2) A really weak effort by players who are ready for a new coach, prompting boos from their fans and glimpses of a forlorn Quinn on the sideline in the FOX broadcast.

The worst part for Quinn – he’s a defensive guy who was a defensive-line coach in Seattle before being promoted to defensive coordinator of the Seahawks. Yet the Falcons are 31st in points allowed, giving up 32 a game and 27th in the league with 388 total yards allowed. And if you think the Seahawks’ pass rush is lacking, look at Atlanta’s – the Falcons have come up with five sacks in eight games.

Plus they’ll be missing their best cornerback. Desmond Trufant will sit out his third straight game with a toe injury.

Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan, who sprained his ankle last week in a 37-10 loss to the Rams, is listed as questionable. If he plays, the Seahawks would appear to be in position to end their sporadic stretch of sacks – only six in the last six games. I’d put the over-under at 3 for Seahawks’ sacks of Ryan or his backup Matt Schaub. The Falcons will be even more hard-pressed than usual to protect their quarterback with former Seahawk James Carpenter, the starting left guard in Atlanta, declared out of the game with a knee injury.

This is a perfect spot for a bounce-back by the Seahawks coming off a 30-16 loss to the Ravens. Russell Wilson should throw for more than 300 yards, and Chris Carson should run for more than 100 yards for the fourth time in five weeks.

I’m expecting the Seahawks to roll to an easy win that will unfortunately produce a Quinn dismissal on Monday.

Prediction: Seahawks 34, Falcons 17

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