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Desperately needing a win to stay afloat in the playoff race, the Atlanta Falcons went up to Seattle to take on the Seahawks and emerged with a 34-31 victory.
Who’s up and who’s down in the win?
Up
Matt Ryan
Aside from one throw that was popped in the air and should’ve been intercepted by Jeremy Lane, Ryan was on fire. He ended up with just 195 yards — snapping his streak of 64 straight games with at least 200 — but his throws were on the money. He connected with Mohamed Sanu and Levine Toilolo for scores and didn’t turn the ball over. Ryan’s had just one forgettable game this season, and that was against the Buffalo Bills.
Grady Jarrett
Jarrett couldn’t be contained. He blew up a questionable fake field goal by Seattle, tackling Luke Willson immediately after he caught a shovel pass. He also sacked Wilson on a second-and-4 in the 3rd quarter that was key in forcing the Seahawks to settle for a field goal. Seattle had a hard time stopping both him and Dontari Poe.
Steve Sarkisian
Let’s give the much-maligned rookie offensive coordinator some credit, as he’s been much better over the past few weeks. Aside from a tad too many tosses for Tevin Coleman Monday night and runs up the middle back in Week 9 against the Carolina Panthers, Sarkisian seems to be getting a better grasp of how to use his personnel. It was nice to see the Falcons come out in their successful three-tight end set from last year and cash in on a 25-yard touchdown to Toilolo.
Down
Special teams
Where to start? Andre Roberts had a sure touchdown on the first return of the game. He had just one player to beat — Blair Walsh, the kicker — and instead of utilizing the open field, he elected to slow down to deliver a stiff arm. He also had a muff in the second quarter that Seattle recovered and cashed in on. All day, the Falcons had trouble bottling Tyler Lockett up, as he gave the Seahawks great starting position time after time. Not sure what’s going on with Keith Armstrong’s unit, but it’s not good.
Vic Beasley
The Falcons elected to use Beasley as Russell Wilson’s spy at times, and things did not go as planned. On one play, it looked as though Beasley had Wilson dead to rights, but the Seahawks quarterback delivered a nasty juke and left Atlanta’s defender in the dust. Granted, Wilson is probably the most elusive quarterback in the league, but you’ve got to get on this list if that happens to you.
C.J. Goodwin
Seattle’s first score very well should’ve been a field goal, but Goodwin had other plans. On third-and-14, the cornerback decided to channel his inner Street Fighter and go for a leg sweep, rather then tackling Lockett. The 10-yard gain would’ve resulted in a fourth down, but the 10-yard tripping penalty gave the Seahawks new life, and they found the end zone two plays later.