ATLANTA – As the Seahawks headed back onto the field following halftime Sunday, coach Macdonald reminded his players that they were going to get the kickoff to start the third quarter.
Then he said to returner Rashid Shaheed: “Sheed, go take one back to the house.”
That’s how rookie safety Nick Emmanwori recalled it.
Call it a prediction, a peek into the future, or simply a hunch, Shaheed made it come true, returning the opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.
The score broke a 6-6 tie and kick-started a second-half Seahawks onslaught that resulted in a 37-9 win Sunday over the Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Shaheed said he felt something brewing as he took the field for the second half, as well.
“We just knew that we were going to have an opportunity at halftime based off the film that we watched,” Shaheed said. “We knew we were going to have an opportunity to score, and that’s what we did.”
It was the first big play as a Seahawk for Shaheed, who was acquired from the Saints on Nov. 4 largely for kind of big-play ability he put on display in the 12 seconds it took for him to turn the game Seattle’s way.
Asked if he really called it, Macdonald said somewhat sheepishly “maybe.”
Truth be told, making such suggestions/predictions/hunches is something he likes to do from time to time.
“He just has a weird thing where he just calls stuff out,” Emmanwori said.
Macdonald recalled that he did something similar in the same building a year ago.
“I called Coby’s (Bryant) pick last year, too,” he said of the Seahawks’ win here last October punctuated by a Bryant interception. “I’m going to get a fine for that, for bragging.”
He presumably meant from his players.
It felt like a fitting day for braggadocio for the Seahawks with the way it ended, even if it began with some angst.
The offense, for the second consecutive week, faced one of the most blitz-heavy defenses in the NFL. And for the second consecutive week, the offensive line seemed to need some time to adjust, and for quarterback Sam Darnold to get comfortable.
Darnold threw an interception on a deflected pass in the first half, was sacked twice and also twice overthrew Jaxon Smith-Njigba, once in the end zone, as the Seahawks were mired in a 6-6 tie at the break, outgained 150-111.
It would have been worse had the defense not stopped the Falcons when they began the drive following the interception at the Seattle 30. Emmanwori blocked a 50-yard field-goal attempt by Zane Gonzalez.
“We wanted to start the day fast,” Macdonald said. “It was tough getting going with a 10 a.m. start, but you could feel the guys were trying. Hard to get the momentum there. Atlanta was playing really good on defense initially.”
If Seahawks fans watching were worrying, Emmanwori said it was business as usual in the locker room at halftime.
“We weren’t stressing at all,” Emmanwori said. “We didn’t think nothing of it. It’s just who we are. Mike gave us a little speech, but the same thing – stay to the process, stay focused and go out there and kick ass.”
And Macdonald gave his little suggestion to Shaheed.
“He called that fo sho,” crowed cornerback Devon Witherspoon.
On the next series, they drove to Seattle’s 18 where they faced a third-and-1. Running back Bijan Robinson appeared as if he might have an opening to get the first down.
But Seahawks veteran defensive linemen Jarran Reed and DeMarcus Lawrence converged and the ball popped free, bouncing into the hands of Witherspoon at the 12. Lawrence got credit for the forced fumbled.
Darnold completed 5 of 5 passes as the Seahawks moved 88 yards, capping the march with a 28-yard TD pass to Smith-Njigba that made it 20-6. At that point, the game felt over.
“The kickoff return was a back breaker,” Atlanta coach Raheem Morris said. “The fumble was a back breaker. Those things happened back-to-back.”
But the Seahawks took no chances.
On the next drive Witherspoon broke up a pass intended for tight end Kyle Pitts that Emmanwori bobbled then controlled for his first career interception. That led to a Jason Myers field goal and a 23-6 lead.
The Falcons responded with a field goal, but Darnold led the Seahawks 60 yards in six plays capped by an 11-yard TD pass to Cooper Kupp to make it 30-9 and all suspense was gone.
Witherspoon added one more highlight. On Atlanta’s next series he backed out of a blitz as he sniffed out a receiver screen and raced over to break up a pass to David Sills V that he was able to come down with in traffic for his first interception of the season, capping a stat-stuffing day of two pass breakups, a pick and a fumble recovery.
“Just a little disguise,” Witherspoon said of it appearing initially as if he was blitzing. “Give them a little flavor.”
That led to another Darnold TD pass, this one of 4 yards to Smith-Njigba.
“I feel like our coaches did a good job kind of going back to the drawing board, going back to our second-half openers, getting a feel for how they were playing us, what we could do well,” Macdonald said.
At that point, Atlanta fans somberly filed out, creating what felt like a home game for the Seahawks the rest of the way.
“In the second half, as we started to stack some points, you could hear the Seahawks chant,” Macdonald said. “It was awesome.”
The only sour note of the day for the Seahawks was seeing the Rams rout Arizona in the afternoon, meaning that they officially remain in second place in the NFC West and with the fifth seed in the NFC.
But the Seahawks will have their chance to change that by beating the Rams on Dec. 18, though their focus now is a game next Sunday at Lumen Field against a Colts team likely without quarterback Daniel Jones, who suffered an Achilles injury Sunday.
The Seahawks look capable of anything at this point, especially with the defense allowing no touchdowns and just nine points while creating eight turnovers over the past two games.
Sunday’s effort was buoyed by the Seahawks playing at full strength on defense for the first time all season with the return of safety Julian Love and Reed from injury.
It’s also gotten back to form after some tough talks following a 30-24 win at Tennessee two weeks ago in which the Seahawks gave up two late TDs to allow the outcome to get more suspenseful than needed.
“We knew we didn’t play to our standards as a group, as a whole,” Witherspoon said. “We talked about it like when we’d get on the bus, on the plane and stuff, and we just said we had to get back to our roots and couldn’t let teams like that hang around because in this league they’ll beat you. Just had to regroup, re focus and do the things that we do best. And that’s the outcome.”