Seahawks At Falcons: Point Spread, Storylines, Prediction And More

The Seattle Seahawks head into their Week 7 road date with the Atlanta Falcons having lost three consecutive games. That comes after Seattle opened the campaign with a 3-0 mark under first-year head coach Mike Macdonald.

Seattle can’t afford to have this snowball. That’s especially true after last week’s disheartening home loss to the division-rival San Francisco 49ers.

As for the Falcons, they are a surprising 4-2 on the season. New quarterback Kirk Cousins is playing at an MVP level. It has Atlanta looking like a legit conference title contender in the NFC.

Here, I preview the Seahawks at Falcons matchup with a look at the point spread, game information and some top storylines. I will also provide a final prediction at the end.

Seahawks-Falcons Preview: Point Spread, TV Information And More

• Date: Sunday, October 20
• Time: 1:00 PM ET
• TV: FOX
• Point Spread: Falcons (-3.0)

Top Storylines For Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons Matchup

Seattle simply can’t afford to drop a fourth consecutive game. Certainly, the team must avoid a loss to a squad in the Falcons who will also by vying for a playoff spot moving forward. It’s in this that the running game must step up.

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Speaking of Atlanta, they are 4-2 on the season and have won three consecutive games. That included a blowout 38-20 win over the lowly Carolina Panthers last week. Can Cousins and Co. keep it up at home? These are among the top storylines for this big Week 7 matchup.

Atlanta Falcons Look To Continue With Their Momentum

As noted above, Atlanta has won three consecutive after a 1-2 start to the campaign. This included wins against division rivals in that of the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers.

Atlanta now goes outside of its division, where the team is 1-2 on the season. One has to wonder if the team’s fast start to the season has more to do with competition than anything else. After all, the NFC South has been among the worst divisions in football over the years.

"We talk about outrunning the south," Falcons head coach Raheem Morris told reporters after last week’s win, via the team’s official website. "You get a chance to get three wins in the south in back-to-back fashion. That is always awesome, and that's what we want to be about."

Hence, a big home matchup with a Seahawks team that is in desperate need of a win. After this matchup, Atlanta must compete with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys over the next two weeks. If the Falcons are able to come out of this three-game stretch with a 6-3 record, it will tell us a lot about them. It starts Sunday against the Seahawks.

Seattle Seahawks Rushing Attack

A lot has been made of Seattle’s struggles on the ground during this current three-game losing streak. It has coincided with Geno Smith being forced to pass much more than the Seahawks would like.

Smith attempted 52 passes in last week’s loss to the 49ers. He’s averaging roughly that amount during the aforementioned losing streak. It is not sustainable. It’s also one of the reasons Smith threw two big interceptions against San Francisco.

“Well, we certainly tried (t0 run the ball). I think we ended up with like 20 something (rush attempts). It's really a team stat because if you're behind multiple scores, deep into the second half, you're not going to be able to run the ball,” Macdonald said after last week’s loss, via the Seahawks’ official website. “It's just the way it goes. So we're going to keep working on it. Finding our identity. I mean, that's one on the list of things that we're going to be attacking over the next week.”

Thus far this season, Smith has accounted for roughly 25 percent of the Seahawks’ rushing yards. Second-year back Zach Charbonnet is struggling to the tune of 3.8 yards per rush. Starter Kenneth Walker is getting into game shape after missing multiple games earlier this season due to injury. Both need to step up, starting Sunday in Atlanta.

Kirk Cousins Early-Season Brilliance For The Atlanta Falcons

Despite putting up some eye-opening numbers, Cousins was much maligned during his six-year run with the Minnesota Vikings. He failed to lead them to playoff success. For many, Cousins struggled when it counted the most.

This did not stop Atlanta from handing the four-time Pro Bowler a four-year, $180 million contract this past spring.

Boy, has it paid off through six games. Cousins heads into Sunday’s matchup having thrown for 1,598 yards with nine touchdowns compared to five interceptions. He has Atlanta averaging nearly 25 points per game after that figure came out at under 19 per game last season.

Young wide receiver Drake London has found sweet music with Cousins, too. The former first-round pick has caught 38 passes for 428 yards with four touchdowns in six games.

Taking on a Seahawks defense that has given up big play after big play, I am intrigued to see how Atlanta’s well-balanced offense performs in this one.

Seattle Seahawks Defense Needs To Step Up

Last week saw Seattle yield 228 rushing yards to the 49ers. The week prior? A total of 175 rushing yards in a loss to the New York Giants. Moreover, big plays in the passing game have also gone against Seattle. That included a 76-yard touchdown strike from Brock Purdy to Deebo Samuel last week.

This unit simply has not been good enough through six weeks.

"I think that's just kind of, just the overall gist of what we got going on on defense. You can't have 10 people communicating, and doing the same thing, that one off, it's been killing us,” safety Julian Love said this week. “I take that is on me. I got to communicate to the people who need to be in the right spots so they can just do their jobs. I have to take a bigger step in communication and leadership to try to get guys going in the right way.”

Game-changing plays like the Samuel touchdown have been all-too frequent against this Seahawks defense recently. That must change if Seattle is going to come out of Atlanta with a win while snapping its three-game losing streak.

Seahawks At Falcons Prediction

I like Atlanta maintining home-field advantage in this one. Its offense has proven to be balanced. With how much the Seahawks have struggled against the run, expect a big game from Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. That will also open things up for Cousins through the air.

• Falcons: 31
• Seahawks: 23