Two years ago, the Atlanta Falcons (4-8) and Seattle Seahawks (9-3) were in the market for a new head coach. The Seahawks tapped Athens, Ga. native Mike Macdonald, and the Falcons brought back Raheem Morris.
Both coaches were defensive coordinators in their previous stops, Macdonald with the Ravens and Morris with the Rams, but the teams are headed in opposite directions as they get set to meet at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.
The Atlanta Falcons offense has been a sore spot for the team most of the season. They’re No. 26 in the NFL in scoring, and the Seahawks are statistically the best defense they’ll face this year.
Seattle is No. 3 in scoring defense and No. 2 against the run at just 88.8 yards per game. Falcons head coach Raheem Morris understands the strength of the Seahawks’ defense starts up front.
“They are challenging almost on every single level,” Morris said on Wednesday. “They’ve got a really good front. Leonard Williams is one of the best players in our league. Obviously, they went out and got ‘D Law’ [DeMarcus Lawrence] from Dallas.”
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The Falcons will see a familiar face on the opposite sideline. Defensive coordinator Aden Durde spent three years with Morris in Atlanta from 2016 to 2018.
“We’ve got a lot of familiarity with how they coach the front with Aden being there,” Morris continued. “They have a little bit of attack style. They have a style that they can play, be able to play the run. They have a bunch of guys up there, Byron Murphy, that really play well. They’ve got Ernest Jones at the middle linebacker position, who we know really well just based off being with him out in LA, very good football player in all rights.
“Then, obviously they picked a bunch of guys in the draft. They got the young nickel playing who’s safety slash nickel, kind of got that Baltimore type feel that they’ve had. Coach has done a great job out there with that defense of getting those guys going. They’re playing with a lot of confidence up front. They’re playing a lot of confidence across the board, and they’ll be a really good challenge for us, for our football team.”
Jones is having an All-Pro type of season in the middle of the Seahawks’ defense. He’s tied for second in the league with five interceptions from his middle linebacker spot. He’s another Georgia native having gone to Ware County High School, and he spent three years with Morris and the Rams.
“He is very instinctual,” Morris said of his former defender. “He has a unique skill set to be able to drop in coverage and match routes and play different patterns. He has great hands. He is very good and skillful at blitzing when he has his opportunities. When he gets on backs, he’s virtually unblockable.
“You’ve got to be locked and loaded to play this man. He’s going to be everywhere. He’s a very instinctual player that is around the football at all times. He’s been like that since he was a rookie. It’s always great to see him have success, just not this Sunday.”
Falcons wide receiver Drake London is questionable against the Seahawks after missing the last two games with a PCL strain in his knee. The Falcons lean on their run game anyway, but especially when London is missing.
Being one dimensional is a tough way to go against any team, but running against the Seahawks when they know you are going to run, will be especially difficult.
The Seahawks are a 7-point favorite on Sunday with an over/under of 44.5. That translates to a Vegas prediction of 26-19 Seattle. The Falcons will definitely need to be “locked and loaded” to break 20 points against this defense.