Falcons Not the Ones Going South

The Atlanta Falcons made sure Sunday that they and the Seattle Seahawks kept moving in different directions.

Rookie Byron Hanspard ran back a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown as the Falcons improved their winning streak to three with a 24-17 victory over the Seahawks.

The Falcons (5-8) handed the Seahawks (6-7) their third consecutive defeat and virtually eliminated them from the playoffs despite being held to no first downs and 29 yards in the second half.

“I don’t know how you win when you can’t make a first down in the second half,” Atlanta Coach Dan Reeves said. “But our defense hung in there.”

Four times in the second half, Atlanta went three downs and out.

Atlanta quarterback Chris Chandler passed for 204 yards and a touchdown, but threw for only 15 yards in the second half.

Seattle’s Warren Moon was 24 of 38 for 240 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

The Seahawks’ chances for victory ended when Lenny McGill intercepted a pass intended for Mike Pritchard at the Atlanta 29 with 1:27 left. McGill was actually covering James McKnight, who was five yards from Pritchard.

“There was a little miscommunication between Mike and I about where his break was going to be,” Moon said.

Said McGill: “As the receiver made his move, I glanced back at the quarterback, saw the ball coming and went after it.”

The Seahawks had gotten within 17-14 when Steve Broussard took Moon’s screen pass and ran down the right sideline for a 20-yard touchdown at 8:07 of the third quarter.

Seventeen seconds later, Hanspard returned the kickoff for his first NFL touchdown.

“I never really had a chance to return kicks in college [Texas Tech] or high school,” he said. “It’s fun.”