Atlanta Falcons Have Tough Home Opener
Two NFC teams trending in opposite directions meet in Week 1 as the Seattle Seahawks head southeast to face the Atlanta Falcons. The Sunday kickoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium is set for 1 pm ET and will be televised regionally on FOX.
The Seahawks went into Atlanta last season and won 27-20 in Week 9 to improve to 6-2 and send the Falcons to the bye week at 1-7. The Falcons beat the Seahawks two times in a row before last year’s meeting, but Seattle leads the all-time series 11-8 with a 6-4 record in Georgia.
Seattle Seahawks Outlook: New Offensive Weapons
Pete Carroll’s team went 11-5 last season, second in the NFC West, before winning in Philadelphia and losing at Green Bay in the playoffs. They had the NFL’s ninth-highest scoring offense at 25.3 ppg but allowed 24.9 ppg, 24th in the league.
The offense added RB Carlos Hyde, TE Greg Olsen and WR Phillip Dorsett in free agency.
Quarterback Russell Wilson had an MVP-caliber 2019 with 4,110 yards, 31 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He found a new target in rookie D.K. Metcalf, who had 900 yards and seven touchdowns to complement Tyler Lockett’s 1,057 yards and eight scores.
RB Chris Carson ran for 1,230 yards and seven scores and will be joined in the backfield by Hyde.
The defense lost DE Jadeveon Clowney and LB Mychal Kendricks but added Pro Bowl S Jamal Adams in a July trade with the Jets. LBs Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Bruce Irvin lead the defense, with DT Poona Ford and DE Rasheem Green on the line.
The first two draftees were defensive help as well with LB Jordyn Brooks and DE Darrell Taylor.
Atlanta Falcons Outlook: Needing A Good Start
The Falcons got off to a horrible 1-7 start in 2019 before bouncing back to finish the season at 7-9. Head coach Dan Quinn will be on a very hot seat if they experience a similar start in 2020 after adding RB Todd Gurley and DE Dante Fowler in free agency plus drafting CB A.J. Terrell and DT Marlon Davidson to fix the defense.
The offense was 13th in the NFL in scoring last year at 23.8 points per game and 30th in rushing yards at 85.1 yards per game. Matt Ryan threw for 4,466 yards and 26 touchdowns in 15 games but also had 14 interceptions, his most since 2015.
The Falcons added Gurley from the Rams after the 2017 Offensive Player of the Year ran for a career-low 857 yards and 12 touchdowns last year with just 31 receptions.
Julio Jones had another 1,000-yard season with 99 catches, 1,394 yards and six touchdowns, while Calvin Ridley had 63 catches for 866 yards and a team-high seven scores.
TE Austin Hooper is now in Cleveland after catching 75 passes for 787 yards. He has been replaced by Hayden Hurst, who had 30 catches and 349 yards in Baltimore last year.
An already shaky defense lost LB De’Vondre Campbell, who had a team-high 129 tackles, DE Vic Beasley, who led the team with eight sacks, and CB Desmond Trufant, who had a team-high four interceptions. MLB Deion Jones returns after a 110-tackle season, while Fowler comes off an 11.5-sack season with the Rams and joins Grady Jarrett (7.5 sacks) on the defensive line.
Seattle Seahawks at Atlanta Falcons Betting Lines
● Seahawks spread: -1.5 (-110) Seahawks moneyline: -125
● Falcons spread: +1.5 (-110) Falcons moneyline: +105
● Over/Under: 49 (O -110, U -110)
Teams from the West Coast tend to struggle when going East in early start times, but that has not applied to the Seahawks during the Carroll/Wilson era, in the regular season or the postseason. Overall last year, Seattle was 6-3-1 against the spread on the road, and it looks to take advantage of a shaky Falcons defense in Week 1.
Head to our favorite pay per head bookie site at RealBookies
Free NFL Pick By Gameadvisers.com: Seahawks -1.5 (-110)
