Seattle Seahawks Instant Reaction: 34-14 win Atlanta Falcons

The Seattle Seahawks bounced back in a big way on the road Sunday, snapping a three-game skid with an impressive 34-14 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Seahawks win | Observations | Rost on Hawks | DK hurt | Stats

The Seahawks improve to 4-3 with the win as they now ready for the Buffalo Bills next week.

As we do after every Seahawks game, we have collected the instant reactions of the voices of Seattle Sports to the victory. See what they have to say below, and listen to the station on Seattle Sports 710 AM, the Seattle Sports app or SeattleSports.com all day Monday for even more reaction and analysis beginning at 6 a.m. with Brock and Salk and the Mike Macdonald Show at 9:30 a.m. with the Seahawks head coach.

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

Any time you win on the road to end a losing streak and take down a team that had been playing good football, there is lots of credit to go around. Geno Smith was nearly perfect. DK Metcalf showed off his incredible combination of speed and strength. Special teams play was an advantage. And Boye Mafe (with some help from Derick Hall) stepped up to end this one early.

But with the Seahawks missing four key members of their secondary and down to their fifth tackle on the right side of the line, this one was all about the coaching. They got rookie right tackle Mike Jerrell ready to play, hold his own, and clearly outperform the man who had been starting ahead of him since Week 2. They put defensive backs Josh Jobe, Nehemiah Pritchett and Coby Bryant in position to make enough plays to get off the field when they had to.

Takeaways finally ‘come to life’ for Seahawks’ defense

The Falcons may have more talent, but they sure weren’t the better team on the field on this day. After a week in which the Seahawks beat themselves with self-inflicted mistakes, this time their opponents did that instead. Atlanta had nine penalties for 72 yards – a deadly combination of false starts (at home!) and unnecessarily violent plays that negated a pair of key stops for their defense when the result was still in doubt. If this game was any judge, the Seahawks sure got it right this offseason when both head coaches interviewed with both organizations.

This was the first time that the Seahawks had their backs against the wall and responded with one of their best efforts of the year. They played clean, disciplined, explosive football when they absolutely had to. There are still plenty of question marks (especially with their ability to stop the run), but they played to their strengths rather than allowing the Falcons to exploit their weaknesses.

Mike Lefko – Wyman and Bob (2-7 p.m.)

The Seahawks turned in a pretty impressive effort on all three sides of the ball (special teams shoutout!) and showed what they are capable of when they don’t make self-inflicted mistakes.

Getting out to an early lead was key, and the nine-play, 63-yard TD drive to extend the lead back out to 10 after the Falcons had cut it to three to start the third quarter was the game changer. Atlanta followed with two pass plays, went three and out, and then were forced into must-pass situations and proceeded to turn the ball over three times.

The Seahawks’ much-maligned run defense also shored up in the second half. The lead certainly helped, but the Seahawks allowed 117 yards rushing in the first half and then held the Falcons to only 38 yards in the second half. You’re starting to see why first-round defensive tackle Byron Murphy II is so important to the interior and what it can open up for a guy like Dre Jones, who made two big plays one a drive that helped force a three and out.

Mike Jerrell might be the unsung hero of the game, especially for the role he was thrust into this week. For a rookie fourth-string right tackle to hold up in pass blocking, help open up a hole on Kenneth Walker III’s TD run and be part of an offensive line that allowed just one sack on the day is an undeniable win.

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Give a lot of credit to Walker and DK Metcalf, as well. Despite playing through an illness (and looking completely drained at times on the sideline), Walker had the big TD run in the first half and then the terrific and monumentally important TD catch in the second half. Metcalf could not be covered in the first half (four receptions, 99 yards, TD), and that TD catch before the half gave the Seahawks the breathing room they needed to hold off the Falcons after the scoring drive to start the second half.

There is a lingering pall on the day though with DK having to leave on a cart. That looked like a hard fall on the pass he caught out of bounds late in the third quarter, and for a Seahawks team that is so banged up, the prospect of being without another starter is slightly unsettling moving forward.

Dave Wyman – Wyman and Bob/Seahawks Radio Network analyst

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