Week 7 Lightning Reactions Hawks lose their feathers in the battle of birds

The Atlanta Falcons' three-game winning streak has ended. The offense falters despite a Bijan Robinson clinic, and the defense is overwhelmed and outclassed.

Here's this week's quick response.

Bend and break through the defense

In this week's Question of the Week article, I mentioned how Atlanta's designation as Bend, don't break Defense was only half the story. Entering the game, the team allowed opposing offenses to produce the second-highest scoring rate (50%) while also averaging an average points per side (22.5). The defense staggered at the edge, and today they were unable to overcome their deficits and were responsible for 27 points. Despite the increasing pressure, the Falcons' soft coverage was able to be torn apart. The Seahawks did what teams have done all year: drive the ball down the field.

Jimmy Lake shows no signs of improvement. The Seattle touchdown before halftime was a coaching disaster. Atlanta won't have much time to breathe as they travel to Tampa Bay to face the Buccaneers' offense that scored 30 points against them a few weeks ago.

A classic performance from Kirk Cousins ​​interrupts Kirktober

Kirk Cousins ​​​​had the whole day off. His passes were flying high and his consciousness was low. Cousins ​​​​didn't protect the football today. One interception went through the hands of Drake London, but the other and his fumble came entirely at his expense.

Cousins ​​has gotten away with some late fade-away throws or throws under pressure all season; Today it caught up with him, resulting in six points for the defense. Cousins ​​is known to have a few games a season like this, so this isn't shocking and it has nothing to do with health either. This unfortunately coincided with a defensive disappointment from Lake and Company. It also doesn't help that the Falcons were without Matthew Bergeron this afternoon due to a neck injury.

The linebackers' play was disastrous

The linebacker play in Atlanta has been poor all year, and today felt like another low point. Nate Landman hasn't made an impact since his return. The linebacker doesn't react or move as well as he does when running, and his leg injury appears to be bothering him.

Kaden Elliss got worse from game to game, both in coverage and especially in running. The linebackers do not fill their gaps and do not meet runners in the gap. The intermediate zone is constantly under attack as neither offers resistance in cover. Things were bleak for the group.

The team should bring Troy Andersen back for Tampa Bay, but he needs to play like he did in his last live game and not like the ones before if there is any hope for this room.

Bijan Robinson looks better than ever

The running back gained 103 yards on the ground and another 40 yards as a receiver. Robinson did everything from throwing more elite blocks to rescuing his quarterback with tough catches. Robinson looked explosive and got upfield quickly. We saw in the injury reports that he had a hamstring injury for a few weeks, but today it didn't seem to be bothering him.

Bijan has rushed for 248 yards and three touchdowns in the last two games alone, and it doesn't look like he's slowing down.

This is an undisciplined football team

This football team has been its own worst enemy far too often. The Falcons average six penalties per game and had nearly ten in this game. A penalty or two is always questionable, but the Falcons beat themselves and earn a lot from their sloppy play, such as the roughing passer penalty on Geno Smith.

The team fails to do the basics; Defenders take terrible attacking angles and the offense has to take care of the football. Atlanta cannot beat its opponents or itself.

Penix debuts

Michael Penix debuts with a 100 percent completion rate, dropback success rate, first down rate and over 11 air yards per attempt. Not too shabby.

The Atlanta Falcons are still over .500 at 4-3 and have a chance to improve their division record to 4-0 next week. However, to have a chance, the team needs to get the defense together and Kirk needs to shake off this performance.