For the third consecutive season, the Falcons have dropped their season opener.
In 2018 and 2019 after season opening losses on the road to Eagles and the Vikings, the Falcons went on to finish 7-9 and not make the playoffs.
In both of those games, the Falcons suffered devastating injuries.
In 2018, safety Keanu Neal and linebacker Deion Jones went down. Neal suffered a season-ending knee injury and Jones suffered a broken foot that led to him missing 10 games.
The only announced injuries were to wide receiver Russell Gage and cornerback Darqueze Dennard, both returned to the game.
The Falcons allowed the most points in a home season opener since 1982, when the Raiders beat them 38-12.
After the 38-25 loss, which wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate, the Falcons were left to pick up the pieces on opening day again.
“The biggest jump normally happens from Week 1 to Week 2,” Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan said. “I think that only way that happens though is the serious attention to detail that it takes and the hard work that it’s going to take for us getting back focused.”
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
The Falcons are set to face the Dallas Cowboys at 1 p.m. Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
“Clean up some of the things that just come with being the first time out there,” Ryan said. “Just clean up those things and become a little bit better. There are positives to take away from today.”
The Falcons dropped their season-opener 31-24 to Tampa Bay in 2016. They righted their ship and road it all the way to the Super Bowl.
“It’s a long season,” Ryan said. "There are positives to take away from today. It’s a long season. There is no question about that. I’ve been playing for a long time.
“The teams that I’ve been on that have been good are the ones that improve as the year goes on. It’s going to be important for us to improve for Week One to Week Two.”
The Falcons were a bit disjointed on offense. The first drive ended with a field goal. The second stalled on fourth down as Seattle built a 14-3 lead.
Running back Todd Gurley closed the third drive with a yard touchdown run. Kicker Younghoe Koo added a field goal to make 14-12 at the half.
But the defense collapsed in the third quarter with Isaiah Oliver giving up a 38-yard touchdown catch to Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf on a fourth down-and-5.
On the Falcons' next possession, up-back Sharrod Neasman fumbled on a fake punt. Seattle scored on a touchdown pass to take a 28-12 lead.
The Metcalf play was a kick in the Falcons’ stomach.
“We are not as good as we are going to be right now,” Ryan said “It’s going to be our challenge to see what we can become as we go forward. I thought we did some good things and we did some poor things. We’ve got to do more of the good things as we move forward. I think we are capable of doing that.”
The Falcons had the run-game working. Gurley had 10 carries for 51 yards and Brian Hill had three carries for 12 yards at halftime. After the Oliver play and Neasman’s fumble, the Falcons had to abandon the run.
“We have to be able to convert,” Gurley said. “Turn a lot of those fields goals into touchdowns. We have to be able to convert on third down, fourth down or whatever it is. We’ve got to get better.”
Gurley finished with 56 yards on 14 carries.
“When you get yourself behind so much, you have to put the ball in the air,” Gurley said. “We did a good job of trying to do no-huddle, (Calvin Ridley) got a couple of touchdowns. Julio (Jones) got some catches and so did Hayden (Hurst) and Russ (Gage). We can feed off of that into next week. We have to do better and make more touchdowns.”
The Falcons believe their fixes are simple.
“We’ve just gotta put points on the board,” Gurley said. “There is really not much to say. ….Touchdowns. Touchdowns is what we need. 80 percent touchdowns. 100 percent in the red zone. Take care of the ball and we can definitely start getting some wins.”
The Falcons started last season 1-7. They opened 1-4 in 2018. Another slow start appears possible as they go to Dallas, then host Chicago, which beat Detroit 27-23, and then play at Green Bay, who beat the Vikings 43-34.
“Look at the good things,” Gurley said. "Also, we have to look at the bad things as well. Take a little bit from that first half. Take some from that fourth quarter, how we were able to put drives together and just put it together in practice.
“We’ll get it situated. DQ had a great message. Just keep chucking away, but we also have to do it now. We don’t want to fall behind in this league.”
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