A quick look at the state of the Falcons and Seahawks headed into their Week 1 matchup

Tomorrow is the first day of the Falcons’ 2020 season. I know those 11 words are true, but they’re still hard to believe. It’s been a long, strange offseason, but here we are, standing on the precipice, staring out at a new season full of possibilities. Huzzah, Falcoholics! Huzzah!

Let’s take a quick, bird’s eye look at the state of the Falcons and the Seahawks headed into tomorrow’s much-anticipated matchup.

The Falcons secondary is pretty banged up, with Kendall Sheffield ruled out and A.J. Terrell trying to fight through a hamstring injury. The Falcons expect Terrell to be ready to play and will deploy Isaiah Oliver on the opposite side of the field. Edge Charles Harris has also been ruled out, though he was unlikely to get many snaps anyway.

Seattle comes into this matchup relatively healthy. They listed on 3 players on their Thursday injury report, all of which were still limited participants in practice. In short, they are at full strength.

In terms of expectations, they couldn’t be higher for the Falcons. If you’re reading this, then you are likely intimately familiar with this teams shenanigans over the past couple of years. Head coach Dan Quinn and general manager/resident bikes shorts guru Thomas Dimitroff are occupying seats that couldn’t be hotter.

On the other sideline, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is generating some healthy MVP chatter, notwithstanding concerns about a defense that barely resembles some of the powerhouse defenses Seattle has fielded over the past decade. Despite appearances in 6 of the last 8 divisional rounds, they haven’t been to a conference championship in half a decade. They are laser focused on getting over that hump. While the Falcons haven’t had a winning season since 2017, the Seahawks are coming off an eleven win season. On paper, the Seahawks are definitely in a better place, but this is the NFL, where parity is a part of life.

Your thoughts about the state of the these two teams headed into their Week 1 matchup?