How -- exactly -- did that happen?

I knew the score of Seattle’s game in Atlanta before I had any idea of how it occurred.

This was the first time I can recall that happening in the 20 seasons since I was moved to the Seahawks beat at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 2005. Those few games that I didn’t view live – from start to finish – I was keeping an eye on.

But I spent last Sunday in Salzburg, Austria, which is an absolutely lovely city. In fact, it might be the prettiest city that I’ve ever been in. The surrounding countryside – which my wife and I saw during a four-hour “Sound of Music” tour we took – was just as brilliant. Alpine lakes, green meadows and sharp craggy peaks. There was even a steam train we saw powering its way up a mountain.

It wasn’t until we got back to Munich that night that I saw Seattle had beaten the Falcons 34-14, and I immediately – without thinking – began to imagine the path that resulted in that score.

Hypothesis No. 1: Seattle’s offense absolutely went off. 

More specifically, Geno Smith must have carved up what I thought was a pretty good Falcons secondary.

And Smith was good, especially considering how much he was forced to move around in the pocket. But I’ve seen games where Geno single-handedly rains fire down on the opposing defense, and this wasn’t one of those. This was the efficient and devastatingly effective version of Smith. The one who made great decisions, didn’t force anything, but was ready to pull the trigger when he saw an opening in the defense like he did on that 31-yard touchdown strike to D.K. Metcalf in the third quarter.

Smith completed 18 of 28 passes, his second-lowest completion percentage in any game this season. He threw for 207 yards, also his second lowest.

Hypothesis No. 2: Kenneth Walker must have trampled the Falcons. 

If the Seahawks only gained 207 yards through the air, they must have run up a big ugly number on the ground en route to scoring those 34 points.

But much like Smith, what was most impressive about Walker’s game was not the total yards gained, but the timing.

His longest run was a 20-yard touchdown in which he ran through a hole opened by right tackle Mike Jerrell. Also, as Jacson Bevens of “Cigar Thoughts” pointed out, it’s worth noting the one-armed Vader death-grip block that D.K. Metcalf performed on Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell.

Walker’s most impressive play was the diving, over-the-shoulder catch he had for a 17-yard touchdown in the second half. Those were the only two plays from Walker that gained more than 10 yards, though. He rushed for 69 yards, averaging a very healthy 4.9 yards on his 14 carries, but he didn’t exactly run over the Falcons.

Hypothesis No. 3: Must have been turnovers. Maybe Atlanta imploded. 

Yes, the Falcons committed three turnovers, the Seahawks none, and the single most impactful play of the game was the fumble that Boye Mafe forced and Derick Hall returned for a touchdown. 

But that touchdown was more about sealing Seattle’s victory than deciding it. In fact, each of Atlanta’s three turnovers occurred in the fourth quarter AFTER the Seahawks had staked out a double-digit lead, which means that while the turnovers squelched any chance of a Falcons comeback, they were not the reason the Seahawks built that lead.

So how did Seattle win – convincingly – on the road against what appeared to be a very solid perhaps even good Atlanta team? I’ve got two answers for you, but first, I need to do a little more gloating.

🥳 Tide-ings of comfort and joy 🥳 

So Alabama lost. Again.

This time it was to a ranked (i.e. respectable) foe in Tennessee, and I’m sure that the fine and reasonable fans of the Crimson Tide will have an appropriate perspective especially since the game was played at Tennessee.

(Spoiler alert) This is not what is occurring down in Alabama.

Here’s the fourth paragraph of Joe Goodman’s column on AL.com regarding the loss at Tennessee:

Specifically, Goodman took issue with what he concluded was an attempt to fake an injury and buy time for Alabama’s defense, which resulted in a 5-yard penalty. Goodman called Alabama “the Rocky Floppers.”

Do I think that DeBoer is a bad coach? No, I absolutely do not. I think he’s a great coach, and I thoroughly enjoyed and am thankful for the two years he delivered to Washington.

I am also thoroughly enjoying him finding out just how unreasonable the expectations are at that particular football program. After all, he asked for it when he took the job.

As for the Huskies? Well, they’re headed to Bloomington, Ind., where College Gameday is going to be on the scene, and I don’t see Washington getting to a bowl game if it’s not able to win this game.

🔑 Keys to the Seahawks’ win 🔑 

1. They played clean football.

The five penalties they were flagged for were the fewest in any game this season. They committed no turnovers. Jason Myers made all his kicks.

2. Their run defense finally found its footing.

At least it did in the second half because at halftime Seattle seemed very much en route to being once again trampled. This time, however, it was going to be from a top-10 pick in Bijan Robinson.

After Seattle took a 10-0 lead, Atlanta got the ball back with just under 10 minutes left in the first half. Robinson carried the ball four consecutive times to start the drive. He gained 43 yards on those four carries, including a 26-yard rush that was Atlanta’s longest gain of the game. After a two-play breather, Robinson carried on the final three plays of the drive, culminating in a 5-yard touchdown run.

After the Falcons defense forced a Seattle punt, Atlanta got the ball back trailing by three points with 2:15 left in the first half, and Tyler Allgeier rushed for 24 yards on the first play of the drive.

At that point, the Falcons had rushed the ball 14 times for 110 yards, an average of 7.9 yards per carry. They’d had three runs gain 10 yards or more, and only one of those 14 rushes failed to gain at least 2 yards.

Of Atlanta’s first 10 runs in the second half, eight failed to gain at least 2 yards. Three resulted in a loss of yardage.

I know that Byron Murphy’s return provided a huge boost after he’d missed the last three games with a hamstring injury, but beyond that, I’m not smart enough to tell you what else changed about the way Seattle was defending the run. The results speak for themselves, though.

The Falcons averaged 7.3 yards on 16 carries in the first half and 2.4 yards on 16 carries in the second half. If the Seahawks were able to bottle up whatever happened in that second half and bring it back to Seattle, the Seahawks might really have something!

The Seahawks are underdogs at home against the Bills, but I actually think the Seahawks match up fairly well against Buffalo outside of the fact that Josh Allen is such a singular force of nature that he’s capable of wrecking a defense all by himself.

We’ll talk more about that game on Friday, though. See you then!