Key Matchups to Watch as Seahawks Face Falcons in Week 7

With both teams having plenty of firepower on offense and injuries on defense, matchups certainly look to favor the likes of Tyler Lockett, Drake London, and others.

Sep 13, 2020; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell (24) covers Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett (16) during the second half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

In a battle between two squads heading in different directions, the Seattle Seahawks will look to right the ship and snap a three-game losing streak when they hit the road to square off with the red-hot NFC South-leading Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

After opening with three consecutive wins to open the Mike Macdonald era, the Seahawks have unraveled on defense during their current skid, allowing more than 30 points per game in defeats to the Lions, Giants, and 49ers. Meanwhile, the Falcons have used a strong aerial attack and opportunistic defense to win each of their past three games, putting up 38 and 36 points in victories over the Buccaneers and Panthers in the previous two contests.

Which matchups will have the greatest influence on which NFC playoff hopeful captures a win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday? Here are six positional battles to watch as Seattle tries to bounce back in Week 7:

--Seahawks cornerbacks Devon Witherspoon, Nehemiah Pritchett, and Faion Hicks versus Falcons receivers Drake London and Darnell Mooney: At full strength, the Seahawks have one of the NFL's most talented young cornerback groups. But the injury bug has wrought havoc in the secondary in recent weeks, sending Artie Burns to injured reserve while Riq Woolen and Tre Brown won't be available in Atlanta with ankle sprains, creating major depth concerns going up against a sixth-ranked Falcons passing attack. In the absence of the three veterans, Pritchett will receive his first career start after playing 39 defensive snaps in the first six games of his rookie season, while Macdonald will have likely have to turn to Hicks off the practice squad to handle slot duties when Witherspoon isn't lined up inside.

This could be problematic for Seattle for several reasons, as Hicks has never played an NFL regular season snap and both London and Mooney rank in the top 25 among receivers in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns from the slot. Moving Witherspoon inside would help the situation, and obviously his ability to blitz adds more schematic flexibility, but it would force another practice squad promotion in Josh Jobe into action on the boundary. Seattle's pass rush will need to come to life to take pressure off a short-handed group or Kirk Cousins will feast from the pocket.

--Seahawks running backs Ken Walker III, Zach Charbonnet, and Kenny McIntosh versus Falcons linebackers Kaden Ellis and JD Bertrand: The late addition of Walker to Seattle's injury report due to an illness clouds the picture a bit more heading into Sunday's game, as his absence would be a major loss in any game, let alone against an Atlanta defense that has been quite generous defending the run. Allowing over 142 rushing yards per game, missed tackles have been problematic for the Falcons, including Ellis whiffing on seven tackles so far and Betrand, a rookie out of Notre Dame, posting a 25 percent missed tackle rate in limited action.

Assuming Walker manages to suit up, this could be the best opportunity for the dynamic runner to explode on the ground with the Falcons missing two key contributors at linebacker in Troy Anderson and Lorenzo Carter. In the event he sits out, Charbonnet's bruising style matches up well against a defense that has left a lot of tackles on the field, however, and McIntosh will relish the opportunity to potentially make an impact in a homecoming to Georgia. All three backs could also pose issues for Elliss and Bertrand in coverage too, as both defenders have yielded at least an 87 percent completion rate against with no pass breakups.

--Seahawks linebackers Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker versus Falcons running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Algeier: While Seattle should be game-planning for a steady dose of Walker and/or Charbonnet to counter Atlanta's woes defending the run, things haven't been any better for Macdonald's defense over the past three weeks. Part of the issue has been inconsistent play at the second level from Baker and Dodson, who have had issues with run fits and working off of blocks along with missing tackles. Dodson ranks 43rd out of 50 linebackers in run defense grade per PFF (50.6), while Baker has been evaluated more favorably with a 73.0 score despite having nearly twice as many missed tackles.

Atlanta hasn't been prolific running the ball in terms of overall yardage, but their duo of Robinson and Algeier shouldn't be taken lightly. Robinson, a former top-10 pick, has averaged a healthy 4.6 yards per carry while posting a 19.6 percent missed tackle rate. An angry runner who eclipsed 100 yards last week against the Panthers, Allgeier ranks fifth among qualified backs in yards after contact per carry (3.9) and has forced as many missed tackles (16) as Robinson on 26 fewer touches. Dodson and Baker will have to be sound with their gaps and bring the physicality as tacklers or the Falcons talented pair of runners could light it up for the home crowd to open things up for Cousins and the play action passing game.

--Seahawks receivers DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba versus Falcons cornerbacks AJ Terrell, Mike Hughes, and Dee Alford: If there's an area where Atlanta has excelled most so far on defense for coach Raheem Morris, it's been the inability to negate explosive plays, as they currently rank first in the NFL allowing just eight plays of 20-plus yards through six weeks and rank fifth giving up just 6.3 yards per pass attempt. As a trade off for preventing opponents from creating fireworks with the vertical passing game, however, they have allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete a league-worst 73.2 percent of their passes and the Seahawks may have the best receiving corps they have dealt with all season by a wide margin.

Oct 27, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett (16) is unable to make a one-handed catch against Atlanta Falcons strong safety Damontae Kazee (27) in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-Imagn Images / Jason Getz-Imagn Images

On the outside, Metcalf previously has had his way with Terrell, torching him for 50 yards on two catches in the 2020 season opener and catching five passes for 64 yards and a touchdown against him in 2022. Lockett also fared well against him in the 2020 game, catching both targets versus Terrell for 36 yards and two first downs. Adding Smith-Njigba to the mix could be the real X-factor on Sunday, as Alford has given up a team-high 238 receiving yards primarily playing from the slot and missed five tackles in coverage, creating a potential mismatch to exploit with Metcalf and Lockett drawing plenty of attention outside.

--Seahawks safeties Julian Love, K'Von Wallace, and Coby Bryant versus Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts: Infuriating fantasy owners over the years, Pitts has never quite lived up to the hype as a game-changing weapon in the passing game in the way Atlanta envisioned he would be when the team invested a top-10 pick in him. But despite having just 18 catches so far through six games, he has been able to use his elite speed to stretch defenses horizontally, turning those receptions into 264 yards and 14.7 yards per catch, which ranks in the top six among tight ends in both categories.

Maintaining a trend that has carried over from the Pete Carroll era, Seattle has been susceptible against tight ends so far this year. Per Pro Football Reference, the team has given up the eighth-most receptions (33), the fourth-most yardage (344), and the sixth-most touchdowns (two) to the position thus far, with Love and now-injured safety Rayshawn Jenkins each allowing a score to 49ers star George Kittle last week. Pitts isn't the same physical, high-volume target as Kittle, but his elite athleticism as a field stretcher could be a major issue, especially off play action, against a secondary that will be rotating Wallace and Bryant into Jenkins' spot.

--Seahawks guards Anthony Bradford and Laken Tomlinson versus Falcons defensive tackles Grady Jarrett, Eddie Goldman, and David Onyemata: As a team, the Falcons have been abysmal rushing the passer so far, ranking dead last in sacks, 31st in pressure rate, and 31st in hurry percentage. In the interior, Jarrett has been solid, yet unspectacular, this season with 11 pressures and 1.5 sacks. Historically, he has played his best football against the Seahawks, producing 4.5 sacks and 10 quarterback hits in five games against them. Goldman and Onyemata haven't made much of an impact, combining for 14 pressures and one sack for a group that hasn't had much success collapsing the pocket on opposing quarterbacks.

if there's a game where Jarrett, Goldman, and Onyemata could come to life, however, it would be against Bradford and Tomlinson, who have each struggled mightily in pass protection for the Seahawks. Even with rookie Christian Haynes subbing in for him on a handful of possessions this year, Bradford has given up a league-high four sacks on Smith so far and ranks 56th out of 59 qualified guards in pass blocking efficiency rate. Tomlinson hasn't been much better, yielding 16 pressures and two sacks while ranking 46th in pass blocking efficiency rate. A true case of something has to give, it will be interesting to see which maligned unit will rise up in Atlanta to make an impact on the final outcome.

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