Seattle Seahawks vs Atlanta Falcons in National Football League playoffs 2017

He spent the first eight seasons in Oakland, making four Pro Bowls and becoming an All-Pro in 2013.

The Seattle Seahawks nearly had a chance to win the first round bye that ended up going to the Atlanta Falcons.

It’s not like Seattle and its 25th-ranked run game forgot that blueprint in 2016; Pete Carroll took out Thomas Rawls insurance in the form of re-signing Christine Michael and spending three of his 10 draft picks on backs. “I like the Atlanta Falcons”. He’s always been a guy to be able to win football games and make plays and do a lot of good things.

In the regular season meeting between the two teams, the Falcons rallied from down 14, but the Seahawks claimed a 2-point lead with a couple minutes remaining.

Rawls said following his Seahawks playoff-record 161 yards rushing against Detroit he was feeling every one of his 27 carries.

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn spent two seasons as the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator before heading to Atlanta. The Seahawks proceeded to get destroyed 31-0 in the first half before coming back to finish the game 31-24. Last weekend’s total was Seattle’s second-highest in rushing this season. Lynch gained 157 yards in Seattle’s 28-22 overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers in the 2014 NFC Championship.

“I prefer to play a bad team because it makes the game a lot easier”, he said honestly, per Sheil Kapadia of ESPN“.

At times, rookie offensive linemen George Fant and Germain Ifedi have played well and other times, they haven’t been able to block anybody. That has it’s growing pains. Eleven different running backs carried the ball for Seattle this season. The Patriots had the ball at the Seahawks’ 10 yard line. He showed off power, patience and explosiveness, logging more than 100 yards before intermission and forcing Detroit to stack the line at the expense of creating voids for Russell Wilson to then attack. Seattle averaged 4.1 yards per attempt at home versus only 3.8 yards per rush on the road. He was the league’s top thrower in the regular season with 38 touchdowns, just seven interceptions and a 117.1 rating.

Yes, Seattle’s defense tends to make life on opposing offenses tough, but it’s important to note that Ryan had 335 passing yards and three scores against the Seahawks earlier in the year. The way Rawls looked Saturday, he should have a chance to continue his success against an average run defense. Keep in mind this was all about what Seattle hasn’t done or potentially can’t do on the road.

The Falcons’ offence is huge though, the best in the game, and without Thomas the Seahawks are deserved underdogs. Back in Week 4, Pittsburgh held him to five catches for 23 yards but he scored a touchdown and since then the Chiefs offense has become much more dynamic thanks to the development of Tyreek Hill.