Seahawks Instant Reaction: Seattle Sports on 27-23 loss to Falcons

The Seahawks dropped to 1-2 on the season after coming up a play short against the Falcons, who escaped Seattle with a 27-23 win on Sunday afternoon thanks to an interception of Geno Smith on fourth down late in the final quarter.

Hawks’ late comeback falls short, Falcons win 27-23

As we do after each Hawks game, we have collected the instant reactions of the voices of Seattle Sports for you to read here. Remember, this is just a sampling of what they’ll have to say Monday on the air beginning with Brock and Salk at 6 a.m. and The Pete Carroll Show with the Seahawks head coach at 9:30.

Here’s what they have to say.

Mike Salk – Brock and Salk (6-10 a.m.)

Hard to win if you can’t play defense, especially if that is your stated philosophy.

There are certain wins that coaches can handle because the other team picks at your weaknesses. But to have an 0-2 football team run right over you for four quarters? That isn’t Pete Carroll football and that is something that will need to be addressed. Immediately.

But this was also a classic backup quarterback game. Geno Smith was good for 55 minutes, but when you get the ball back on your own 37 with 4:46 left to play, it becomes the quarterback’s game to win or lose. Did the holding penalty hurt? Sure, it wiped away a big play. But it left them with second-and-14 with plenty of opportunities left to keep the sticks moving. Would it have been easier if they hadn’t wasted a timeout in the third quarter? Maybe. Or if they had gone for the fourth-and-2 rather than taking a short field goal? Again, yes, that would have helped. It would have meant they only needed a field goal on that final drive. But those are the moments that separate the elite quarterbacks from the field. The starters from the backups. And without a legit starter, the Seahawks couldn’t make it happen.

Stacy Rost – Bump and Stacy (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

The good news is the Seahawks’ offense looked solid against a bad Atlanta defense. There were mistakes here and there, the costliest of which was an interception thrown by Geno Smith with 1:17 remaining in the game (particularly with a trio of open pass catchers in the end zone). But they had 420 yards of total offense, converted 53% of third down attempts, and found the end zone multiple times after being kept out for six consecutive quarters preceding this game. The offensive line surrendered sacks in the second half but pass protection otherwise improved overall (they’re still looking for consistency there).

Still, Smith looked efficient and the offense at times was rolling in a markedly improved outing from Week 2.

That’s the good news. The bad news is the Seahawks’ defense looked just as bad as Atlanta’s. Seattle had a trio of sacks but it never felt like the pass rush got going. Take out a pair of Marcus Mariota overthrows to a wide-open Kyle Pitts and you might have two more touchdowns for the Falcons.

Yes, the Seahawks have young guys on that side of the ball. A first-time starter at one cornerback spot and a rookie at the other, with a second rookie at nickel. There’s the injury to Jamal Adams, of course, which leaves Josh Jones as the starter there. But with all of that said, consider what they’ve invested: multiple first-round picks and day-two selections, a pair of hefty safety contracts, and their most expensive free agent signing. Even with a healthy Adams, this defense has struggled; they’ve finished 31st against the pass for two consecutive seasons, and this year they’re also struggling to stop rushers.

There’s still promise and potential there, but the Seahawks’ defense is running out of excuses to struggle as much as they do.

Bob Stelton – Wyman and Bob (2-7 p.m.)

We saw some very promising things with the Seahawks’ offense today – until the final two plays, a costly sack and a Geno Smith interception.

Prior to that, Geno was having a rock solid day (32 of 44, 325 yards and two TDs). Then came the final two plays.

Unfortunately, much like the past few years, this Hawks defense isn’t very good (right now), so the offense has little to no slack in the way of making mistakes. The running backs combined for 21 carries, 113 yards. As much as it seems like Pete would like to see more of that, it was a definite improvement over the first two games.

It’s only been three games, but the defense is most definitely the biggest concern for this team. The Falcons ran the ball for 179 yards, were 4 of 7 on third down and basically gashed this defense on multiple plays of 20-plus yards.

This is pretty much what we expected. Some solid moments and some rocky moments with a team this young and inexperienced. Lets hope these tough moments lead to the sped-up maturation of this young core.

Dave Wyman – Wyman and Bob, Seahawks color commentator

Seahawks’ offense gets plays it needs, but new D not cutting it