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Week 17 Game Recap: Seattle Seahawks 41, Atlanta Falcons 44
What you need to know
| Seattle Seahawks |
Even though the score was tied at the half, the Seahawks chose to rest most of their starters to begin the second half. It was an entertaining game to be sure, but take Atlanta's offensive success with a grain of salt.
Both Seahawks quarterbacks played well but also hurt their teams with costly turnovers. Matt Hasselbeck had his usual, efficient game, spreading the ball around to six different receivers; backup Seneca Wallace locked on to Nate Burleson, with favorable results.
Yes, there was a Shaun Alexander sighting. His rushing touchdown put him over 100 for his career. Even in the first half, however, he split carries with Maurice Morris.
The receiving corps did just fine without Deion Branch in the lineup. Burleson had the biggest game, with a pair of touchdowns, but Bobby Engram's 4-65-1 is not too shabby for one half of playing time. D.J. Hackett returned to action and got a lot of looks, but not a lot of production.
| Atlanta Falcons |
Quarterback Chris Redman led his team to a much needed victory, passing for four touchdowns and no interceptions. Turnovers helped his cause as the Falcons were able to pull away with three quick scores in the second half.
Warrick Dunn and Jerious Norwood split the rushing duties evenly, and were targeted roughly the same amount, too.
Roddy White led the receiving corps with nine targets, but Joe Horn and Alge Crumpler made their presence known as well, with half of their combined receptions were for touchdowns.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 15 - 25 - 147 - 1 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 9 - 0 |
Hasselbeck was efficient but also gave up a costly fumble. He was under pressure often and was lucky to get the ball off at all when he hit a streaking Bobby Engram at the goal line for his only TD of the day. He spread the ball around pretty evenly, but TE Marcus Pollard was his go to guy on third downs. Hasselbeck sat out the second half.
| QB Seneca Wallace, Pass: 17 - 22 - 206 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 2 - 0 |
Wallace replaced Hasselbeck to start the second half. He also gave up two costly turnovers -- a fumble and an interception -- while adding two touchdowns of his own, both to Nate Burleson.
| RB Maurice Morris, Rush: 13 - 91 - 1, Rec: 4 - 18 - 0 (4 targets) |
Morris played the entire game -- in the first half he split carries with Alexander, and in the second, with Weaver. His four targets were all courtesy of Matt Hasselbeck. In the second half, he was particularly effective on the ground.
| RB Leonard Weaver, Rush: 8 - 34 - 0, Rec: 6 - 39 - 0 (6 targets) |
Weaver's workload increased as the game went on. In the second half, he split carries with Morris, and though he did not break any long ones, he did consistently gain 4-6 yards each time.
| RB Shaun Alexander, Rush: 8 - 31 - 1 (1 targets) |
Alexander showed that he's not finished yet, but didn't get enough carries to really prove his case. He had a couple of decent gains on cut-back plays, that earlier in the season simply weren't happening for him. He also scored his one hundredth career rushing TD, a milestone that puts him in elite company.
| WR Nate Burleson, Rec: 7 - 119 - 2 (12 targets) |
Burleson became the focal point of the offense late in the second half, scoring two touchdowns. He caught nearly everything Wallace threw to him (6 for 7), but was less successful with Hasselbeck (2 for 6).
| WR Bobby Engram, Rec: 4 - 65 - 1 (6 targets) |
Engram remained a favorite target of Matt Hasselbeck and hauled in a nice over the shoulder pass for a touchdown in the first half. Engram sat out the second half.
| WR D.J. Hackett, Rec: 4 - 41 - 0 (9 targets) |
Hackett was targeted often, but with little success. He was coming back from injury, which may explain the low production.
| WR Courtney Taylor, Rec: 2 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Taylor played sparingly, and in the second half only. He caught both passes thrown to him, each for a short gain.
| WR Ben Obomanu, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Obomanu played sparingly, and in the second half only.
| WR Deion Branch |
Branch was inactive. He was being rested for a minor injury.
| TE Marcus Pollard, Rec: 3 - 39 - 0 (3 targets) |
Pollard's modest numbers reflect the fact that he only played in the first half. All three receptions (all from Hasselbeck) were for first downs.
| TE Will Heller, Rec: 1 - 9 - 0 (3 targets) |
Heller replaced Pollard in the second half, and caught one pass.
| PK Josh Brown 2 - 2 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 11 points |
Brown nailed two long field goals, of 54 and 51 yards.
| SEA Rush Defense |
Not bad, considering the score. They kept the damage to a minimum.
| SEA Pass Defense |
The best assessment of the situation is this: What we learned today is that the Falcons offensive starters are indeed better than the Seahawks backup defenders.
| QB Chris Redman, Pass: 17 - 27 - 251 - 4 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 5 - 10 - 0 |
Redman had an excellent day. Statistically, he was stellar, with four TDs and no interceptions. He also showed some good leadership and rallied the team on a few occasions, scrambling for first downs and in general, fighting for that extra yard or two.
| RB Warrick Dunn, Rush: 12 - 70 - 1, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (4 targets) |
Dunn doesn't appear to have lost a step. Between him and Norwood, the carries were even, but Dunn had a couple that got him loose for big yardage. Not to mention a nifty end around touchdown that he somehow managed to keep in bounds from the five yard line in.
| RB Jerious Norwood, Rush: 11 - 46 - 0, Rec: 2 - 41 - 0 (3 targets) |
Norwood had one long catch on the day, but all of his rushing yards were small gains. He split the carries almost dead even with Warrick Dunn.
| WR Roddy White, Rec: 5 - 62 - 1 (9 targets) |
White remains a low percentage (five receptions for nine targets) go to receiver, but when he does catch the ball he makes things happen.
| WR Joe Horn, Rec: 3 - 32 - 1 (3 targets) |
Horn was only targeted three times, but he made them count: two were for first downs, and the other, a TD.
| WR Laurent Robinson, Rec: 1 - 11 - 0 (3 targets) |
Robinson caught one pass, for an 11 yard first down.
| WR Adam Jennings, Rec: 1 - 28 - 0 (2 targets) |
With Michael Jenkins inactive, Jennings (the regular kickoff returner) drew a little bit of playing time on offense.
| WR Michael Jenkins |
Jenkins was inactive due to injury (quad).
| TE Alge Crumpler, Rec: 3 - 67 - 2 (3 targets) |
Crumpler was strangely ignored entirely in the first half. When Redman did call his number, he was rewarded with back to back touchdowns. His 55 yard catch and run TD also was the beginning of three quick scores that gave the Falcons the lead for good.
| TE Dwayne Blakley (1 targets) |
Blakley was targeted once, but was primarily used as a blocker.
| PK Morten Andersen 3 - 3 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 14 points |
Andersen was reliable, making good on kicks of 30, 37, and 32 yards.
| ATL Rush Defense |
They consistently gave up yardage to a team that has not only been struggling on the ground, but was also without their top lineman, LT Walter Jones.
| ATL Pass Defense |
There's no nice way to say this: despite the eventual win, they were humbled by a team of second stringers.
