Seahawks snap 3-game losing streak with road win vs. Falcons

ATLANTA – After a Monday through Saturday of hard work, harder talks and uncomfortable introspection, the Seahawks had fun Sunday.

After the Seahawks’ big-play-filled 34-14 win over the Falcons, classic rhythm and blues tunes from the likes of Stevie Wonder and the Jackson Five boomed loudly through the locker room as players whooped and hollered.

But it wasn’t so loud that Jake Bobo couldn’t overhear an interview teammate Jaxon Smith-Njigba was giving nearby.

Smith-Njigba was asked about his 35-yard pass to DK Metcalf on a trick play in the second quarter and replied that he’d worked on his throws all week.

“In practice it was dimes,” he said with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s incorrect,’’ Bobo shot back with a laugh.

“That’s incorrect?” Smith-Njigba protested.

Turning back to his interviewer, Smith-Njigba tried to set the record straight.

“I was throwing dimes in practice,” he insisted.

It was a celebration coach Mike Macdonald said was much deserved after a win that improved the Seahawks’ record to 4-3 and moved them back in first place in the NFC West as the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.

“Going through traveling east, 10 a.m. game on our time, having energy, focus, togetherness, all the stuff that we needed in order for us to win, we did (have it),’’ Macdonald said.

A three-game losing streak capped by a 36-24 home loss a week ago Thursday to the 49ers had led to the team needing to admit it wasn’t yet where it wanted to be.

Macdonald held a long team meeting Monday, pointing out where his players needed to improve – emphasizing how fixable he felt the issues were.

On Friday, he said he felt the players responded the way he’d hoped.

On Sunday, he got his proof as the Seahawks drove for a field goal the first time they had the ball and led from start to finish after leading for barely more than eight minutes combined the previous three weeks.

“I felt like we earned the win on our preparation Monday through Saturday,’’ Macdonald said. “It was probably our best week of prep. Guys were locked in.’’

That the Seahawks weren’t on a short week, as they had been before the losses to the Giants and 49ers, surely helped

“We had a great week of practice,’’ Smith-Njigba said. “By far our best week of practice.”

That showed as the Seahawks cut down mistakes that lead to big plays – the Falcons didn’t have a gain of longer than 26 – and committed a season-low penalties and forced three turnovers while not losing any.

The Seahawks began to take control when Kenneth Walker III – shaking off a flu bug that had him listed as questionable – scored on a 17-yard run through a hole created by rookie right tackle Michael Jerrell and right guard Christian Haynes to take a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.

They knew the Falcons wouldn’t quit.

And Atlanta twice cut the lead to three.

Each time, the Seahawks immediately responded.

Late in the first half, after Atlanta got the ball back, trailing 10-7, a Leonard Williams sack helped kill a Falcons drive and give the Seahawks possession at their own 32 with 1:07 left.

Fitting the tone of the week, the Seahawks got aggressive, Smith hitting four straight passes to get them close. With 10 seconds left and a third down from the 31 and with no time outs, the Seahawks stayed aggressive. Smith dropped back and hit Metcalf for a TD with just four seconds left that stunned the Falcons and the crowd.

“Miscommunication on my end,’’ said Atlanta safety Justin Simmons, who indicated he had assumed the Seahawks would likely try something to the boundaries instead of over the middle since they had no time outs left.

“They took the shot play,’’ Simmons said.

Still, the Falcons cut the lead to 17-14 on the opening drive of the second half.

Again, the Seahawks responded, Smith leading a nine-play, 63-yard drive that included a fourth-down conversion from the Atlanta 44 (a 7-yard Zach Charbonnet run) and a roughing-the-passer penalty on third down to keep the drive alive.

Smith hit Walker with a 17-yard TD pass on a play he audibled at the line of scrimmage, seeing that Walker was in man coverage against Atlanta linebacker Kaden Elliss, a former Idaho standout.

“They were doubling DK on the back side right there, so that means the back was going to be one-on-one with him,’’ Smith said. “He had a different route, but we figured why not take a shot there, and he did a great job setting it up. I thought the protection allowed me that half a second I needed to get it off, and he made a great catch, and that was good for us.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Atlanta had a third-and-9 at the Seattle 48, a big play away from getting back in the game.

Again, the Seahawks quickly extinguished hopes. Cousins couldn’t find anyone open and began to scramble and try to throw on the run. Boye Mafe hit him as he did, the ball squirting backward, picked up by fellow rush end Derick Hall, who sprinted down the sidelines 64 yards for a TD that put the game away on only the second turnover the Seahawks had forced since Week 1.

Hall joked later he just needed to make sure to not screw up the scoop.

“I knew there was so much green grass,’’ Hall said. “So that was the biggest thing – scooping the ball, getting up under it.”

Safeties Julian Love and Coby Bryant – the latter starting for the injured Rayshawn Jenkins – added interceptions later on as the Seahawks closed out the win in fitting fashion.

Also making their first starts of the year were rookie Nehemiah Pritchett and practice squad call-up Josh Jobe – starting at corner for the injured Riq Woolen and Tre Brown – and rookie right tackle Michael Jerrell, starting in place of injured Stone Forsythe.

Macdonald said he noticed the same trait from all the backups.

“No flinch,” he said. “Like I said (during the week), you’re excited to see those guys go perform.”

He saw the same from the rest of his team.

“We grew as a football team this week,’’ Macdonald said. “And now we have to keep it going. We’ve got to keep stacking these days, keep stacking our prep, take what we need to learn from this game and keep moving forward. It’s still early in the season, but it’s great to get back in the game for sure.”

Like his coach, Smith had voiced confidence during the week that the Seahawks would rebound from the tough stretch of three losses in 11 days.

Still, he had to admit it was good to actually see it happen.

“I thought we came out and we played very hungry today from the start to the finish,’’ Smith said. “You don’t want to put emphasis on the prior weeks, but it was tough. It was very easy for everyone to be negative after losing three games. But I thought, like I said, the energy was spectacular. I thought everyone had the right mindset. I thought everyone was positive, and I think that bled into the game, and it allowed us to start fast and then continue to have that confidence throughout.”