Reactions and takeaways from Atlanta’s road triumph against the Seahawks

Cory Woodroof

The Falcons came a muffed punt return and an inch from the end zone away from sticking it to the Seahawks in a major way. They also came within a hair of Seattle tying the game up and possibly taking it in overtime. This Atlanta season continues to come down to little moments that add up in a big way, with mixed results as to how it all ends. After watching the offense deliver a second-straight encouraging performance, and the defense do just enough to stunt a magic performance from Russell Wilson, it feels like this team might just be coming into its own at the right time. But, the mental errors, both in coaching and execution, are going to have to fall to the wayside if this team wants anything more than a playoff berth, which will be hard enough to get. 2017 continues to be an unexpected one for the Falcons -- let’s hope there are more surprises ahead, with a brutal slate on the horizon the team now looks much more able to handle.

DW

Winning on the road against Seattle is very difficult. Forget the injuries and focus on the fact that Seattle is now fielding a potent offense led by a freakishly athletic QB. Anyone who expected a blowout didn’t know much about the Seahawks. Yet, the Falcons took it to them - both on offense and on defense. It was far from a perfect game, but it showed that when both sides of the ball are performing, this Falcons team can beat anyone, anywhere. If they can just put together four complete quarters of football, maybe our hearts would be spared (I know, I know).

Eric Robinson

It’s very rare that wins come in the NFL in a perfect manner. The 34-31 win over Seattle was not perfect by any means but I will be misleading if I overlooked the fact that the Falcons went on the road on Monday night against the rugged Seattle Seahawks in one of the hardest places to win in the entire NFL. To me, this win equated to the home win over Green Bay last season. A win over a team with notable injuries but still equipped with one of the best quarterbacks in the game today and a few key faces in certain spots. The Falcons fought for this one even when many expected a collapse. Guess what? It didn’t happen. 6-4.

Kevin Knight

I don't care how ugly it was. Seattle has been nearly unbeatable at home on Monday Night Football, so expecting an easy win for Atlanta was ridiculous. Yes, there were a plethora of dumb mistakes by the Falcons. Special teams was just abysmal and nearly cost the team the game. But, the Falcons held on and made the plays they needed to make to win. This game was extremely important, and Atlanta capitalized on an injured and equally mistake-prone Seahawks team to move to 6-4 with tiebreakers over the top-4 Wild Card contenders. After a putrid stretch, the Falcons appear to have rallied. This week's game against the Bucs provides the team with a chance to get to 7-4 and 1-1 in the division before a very difficult game against the Vikings. The tiebreakers give the Falcons a slight amount of breathing room in what is shaping up to be an extremely competitive NFC.