Written by Brady Henderson at ESPN.com
Russell Wilson was awful at the start. He was incredible after that. Ultimately, he wasn’t enough.
Wilson was picked off on his second pass attempt and lost a second-quarter fumble that was returned for an Atlanta Falcons touchdown, which contributed to a brutal start for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson rallied Seattle back with two passing touchdowns, a rushing score and some of his signature elusiveness — showing that the Seahawks are never out of any game as long as No. 3 is at quarterback — but they needed more than Wilson’s magic on Monday night.
They needed a much cleaner performance, they needed to get off the field on third down and they needed to put a whole lot more pressure on quarterback Matt Ryan than they ever got in their 34-31 loss. They also needed Blair Walshto come through at the end to push the game into overtime, but his 52-yard field goal attempt with seven seconds left came up short to seal Atlanta’s victory.
“Unfortunately, the turnovers really gave them a great opportunity, and they took advantage of it,” coach Pete Carroll said. “So we were playing from behind all night.”
The loss snaps the Seahawks’ 11-game win streak on Monday Night Football, and much more importantly, it further narrows their margin for error in the NFC playoff race.
What it means: The Seahawks wasted an opportunity to move into first place in the NFC West over the Los Angeles Rams, who dropped to 7-3 with a loss on Sunday (the Seahawks own a tiebreaker by virtue of their head-to-head win). Seattle’s playoff chances took a big hit. According to ESPN’s Football Power Index, a win against Atlanta would have given the Seahawks an 85 percent chance of reaching the postseason. A loss drops that down to 58 percent. The Seahawks’ chances of playing in January for a sixth straight season are looking iffy, especially with a banged-up defense and a tough remaining schedule. Among other things, they’ll need the Rams to keep coming back down to Earth like they did in their loss to Minnesota on Sunday.
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