This is a guest article by Curtis Allen…
The Seahawks today have the last of three games that round out the softest part of their 2025 schedule, matching up with the hapless 4-8 Atlanta Falcons.
After starting the season 3-2, the Falcons have stumbled into a 1-6 stretch that has sunk their season. They hobble into the game without their starting Quarterback and two of their best players (WR Drake London and DT Brandon Dorlus). In addition, two of their better trench players (DT David Onyemata and OG Christ Lindstrom) are both Questionable to play with foot injuries.
The frame of this game is similar to the last two weeks, when the Seahawks played the Titans and Vikings — also teams playing for 2026 and unable to match the Seahawks for talent and productivity. While neither of those games were classic blowouts, the Seahawks handled their business well and finished with comfortable wins and little to no injuries suffered.
That said, the Falcons do have some skilled players on both sides of the ball and they have some fight in them. They lost to the Patriots by a point and they took the Colts and Panthers to Overtime. They are no patsy.
Logging a win is more critical than ever, particularly with the Rams giving them an opening by losing to Carolina last week. Winning the division is entirely in the Seahawks’ hands and the top seed and a bye week is not out of reach. It is fair to assume that Mike Macdonald will have the Seahawks focused on the Falcons.
What needs to happen for the Seahawks reach the 10-win plateau?
Win the Battle of Running Back Tandems
It is Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeie vs Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet.
Both tandems have 27 broken tackles on the season. Bijan is one of the NFL’s best with 20. Walker has 15 and Charbonnet has 12.
Have a look at what Bijan can do.
Ironically, those are former Seahawks Trevis Gipson and Mike Jackson who have Bijan dead to rights and cannot bring him down.
Hitting him and expecting him to go down will not do. The defense needs to have a tackling plan for him. Typically, that means the first guy on him does not let go, and teammates need to swarm to the ball and get him to the ground.
Last week Bijan had 193 yards on 28 touches and ten first downs. He did not lose them the game and very nearly won it for them.
There are two other elements of his game that need to be mentioned: Keeping the edges set and defending him in the passing game.
The Falcons love to attack the outer edges of the defense with him. If he gets around the corner, he has the speed and power to turn a simple run into something explosive.
Demarcus Lawrence, Uchenna Nwosu and players like Nick Emmanwori and Ernest Jones will need to have all their speed and strength at the ready when it is called for.
In the passing game, Robinson is a nice safety valve for Kirk Cousins, much like Dalvin Cook was in his Viking days. Cousins can dump it off to him in the flat when he is under heavy pressure and Robinson can turn it into a big gain that can turn a third-and-6 into a 20+ yard play and flip the field.
With the defense’s ability to get pressure without excessively building, they can stand to commit a resource to keeping an eye on Robinson on passing downs. Holding him to even just a simple gain would be a win in this area.
The Seahawks need to win with their Running Backs. Walker is no Bijan but he has been slowly warming up and could have another impressive game like his two-touchdown performance against the Falcons last season.
With the Falcons being the #2 blitzing defense in the NFL (just a step down from the Vikings) the Seahawks will no doubt have some plans worked up for Sam Darnold to get rid of the ball quickly. They also will likely have Walker in the flat ready to receive a pass and work through the defense.
The Falcons defense is one of the more sure-tackling units in the NFL but at times when presented with rough and rugged ballcarriers, have been forced into mistakes. Tommy Tremble took a pass and rumbled through the tired defense in Overtime. No doubt, it was due to fatigue from the game that Rico Dowdle gave them, making them work for every single tackle.
Walker and Charbonnet (and A.J. Barner) can provide that same level of grit. Pushing the defense around a bit will open up passing pockets and opportunities for Sam Darnold to attack the secondary.
Sam Darnold Needs to Play a Smart, Pragmatic Game
Tyrod Taylor beat the Falcons last week with this stat line: 19 of 33 for 172 yards, one passing touchdown, two sacks and eight runs for 44 yards and a touchdown. And zero turnovers.
Two weeks prior, Bryce Young dropped back 50 times and threw for 448 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked five times but had zero turnovers as well.
That is not to say that Darnold should or will duplicate those performances. I just wanted to highlight that it did not take some superhuman effort to will their teams to victory. They played smart, within themselves, avoided mistakes and trusted their teammates to do their jobs well.
Mixing some smart runs with some quick passing (the Falcons seem vulnerable to quick slants – Young threw them again and again) should be a prescription for opening up some chances to take deep shots and let players like Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Rashid Shaheed run under them.
Defenders Mike Hughes (5 TDs conceded, 103.5 QB rating when targeted), Kaden Ellis (4 TDs, 107.3) and Xavier Watts (4 TDs, 95.8) are all vulnerable to being targeted in the passing game. The frequent blitzing puts them on an island. The Seahawks should be able to take advantage.
Look for the Seahawks to get Cooper Kupp and A.J. Barner going in the quick target game and craft some sets and plays for Shaheed to get into space.
The most important thing for Darnold to pick up on is the post-snap retreats from fake blitzers that occupy his passing lanes. A quick check on who is dropping before he lets the ball go will be imperative — particularly on play action passes.
A clean game for Darnold without any turnovers could really get some momentum going for the home stretch. This point is as important to beating the Falcons as it is the rest of the way.
Other Game Notes
— I noted this statistical anomaly earlier in the week, with a small sample size alert. Cousins actually is better against the blitz this year than his history. Keep in mind “blitzed” and “pressured” are not the same thing. We all know the key to beating Cousins is to put pressure on him.
— Tight Ends are still an issue for the Seahawks defense. Gunnar Helm and T.J. Hockenson were the Titans and Vikings’ best receivers the last two weeks. Kyle Pitts will be an intriguing challenge. He is on pace for a career-best in catches this year but he only has one touchdown and his yards per catch are way down. Let’s keep it that way.
— Special Teams should be a decided advantage for the Seahawks and not just because they are a good unit. The Falcons are poor in this area, perhaps one of the worst in the NFL. They missed a PAT that would have tied the game against New England, and Jamal Agnew muffed a punt at his own two-yard line that handed the Jets a touchdown in a three-point win.