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Falcons Seahawks Spread

The Atlanta Falcons travel across country to take on the Seattle Seahawks Sunday at 4:05 EST. This is a match-up between two 1-2 teams as both squads will be looking to get back to .500 on the season. Atlanta beat Seattle last year 34-18 as a 5.5-point road favorite in December, a win that catapulted them to the NFC South title. The Falcons have taken the last two meetings since ‘07, while the Seahawks took all four showdowns between ‘00 and ‘05.

According to the latest odds, Atlanta is a 4.5-point road favorite with a total set of 38.5 points.

Atlanta

After finishing with the best record in the NFC last year, the Falcons had high expectations coming into 2011. They drafted Julio Jones early in the first round, giving them another weapon on an already explosive offense. Atlanta is dangerously close to being 0-3 to start their 2011 campaign, needing to rally from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Philadelphia Eagles 35-31 in Week 2. They opened their season with a 30-12 loss at Chicago, and were beaten 16-13 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week.

Looking for their first road win of the season, the Falcons are hoping to keep Matt Ryan upright against the Seahawks. Ryan has been sacked 13 times through three games after going down just 23 times all of last season. He was sacked four times last week, but still managed to throw for a career-high 330 yardsd against Tampa Bay. The problem was a lack of a running game, as Michael Turner was held to only 20 yards on 11 carries versus the Bucs. As a team, they ran for 30 yards after rushing for a combined 248 yards in their first two games.

Ryan is completing 60.7 percent of his passes for 844 yards and five touchdowns to four interceptions. Turner has rushed for 234 yards and a score, averaging 5.6/carry despite last week’s debacle. Roddy White remains Ryan’s favorite target, catching 20 balls for 224 yards and a touchdown. Julio Jones has chipped in 13 receptions for 215 yards, and Tony Gonzalez 14 grabs for 173 yards and three scores. Atlanta ranks 19th in total offense (343.0 yards/game) and 22nd in total defense (373.0 yards/game) to this point.

Seattle

After dropping to 0-2 with road losses to San Francisco (33-17) and Pittsburgh (24-0), the Seahawks really needed a win to get back on track last week. They headed home for their first game in front of the famous 12th man to face the Arizona Cardinals, and came ready to play. Seattle topped Arizona 13-10 behind a gutsy defensive effort, forcing two key interceptions from Kevin Kolb.

Tarvaris Jackson played his best game of the season last week despite constant boos from the crowd early. He finished 18 of 31 passing for 171 yards with a rushing touchdown, and his only turnover came on a desperation hail mary at the end of the first half. Former Minnesota teammate Sidney Rice made his Seahawks debut last week, catching eight balls for 109 yards after sitting the first two games with an injured shoulder. Marshawn Lynch also had his most productive game of the season, rushing 19 times for 73 yards.

Like Ryan, Jackson is having a hard time staying upright. He has been sacked 14 times, which is tied for the most in the league. For the season, Jackson is completing 60.8 percent of his passes for 527 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He is mostly responsible for an offense that is 31st in total offense (214.6 yards/game). The Seattle defense has been much better in 2011, sitting 10th in total defense (318.0 yards/game) through three weeks.

Betting Trends

The Falcons have a lot of trends working in their favor heading into this one. Atlanta is 11-0 ATS in their last 11 games after scoring less than 15 points in their previous game, 17-4 ATS in their last 21 games following a S.U. loss and 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games as a favorite of 3.5-10.0.

Seattle also has some solid trends going with them Sunday. The Seahawks are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 home games vs. a team with a losing road record, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games, and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games as a home underdog. However, Seattle is just 5-18 ATS in their last 23 games following a S.U. win.