Seahawks, stuck in the middle, face a turning point against Falcons

It was the kind of week fitting for a 3-3 team.

The Seahawks received good news that first-round pick Byron Murphy II would be back for Sunday’s game at Atlanta and Roy Robertson-Harris had been acquired to beef up the interior of the defensive line. But they also learned safety Rayshawn Jenkins would be lost at least four games with a hand injury and cornerbacks Tre Brown and Riq Woolen would also be out against the Falcons.

Oh, and they’ll have to start rookie Michael Jerrell at right tackle, a player technically fourth on the depth chart at that spot.

And then suddenly on Saturday, news came that running back Kenneth Walker III had been downgraded to questionable with an illness.

Addition, meet subtraction.

But it’s been like that in a season that so far has seen the Seahawks mostly treading water.

The Seahawks won their first three games — all in which they were favored — before losing their next three, two in which they were underdogs.

The latest loss, a 36-24 defeat at the hands of the 49ers last Thursday, prompted much soul-searching, in part because it arrived before the team’s mini bye week, when coaches and players had a few days to step back and review what’s occurred so far.

“We’re doing some things very well across the league,’’ said safety Julian Love. “And there are some things we’re not doing well. That’s how we’re 3-3. That’s why we’re exactly in the middle.’’

In that regard, Sunday’s 10 a.m. PT kickoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta marks a clear turning point.

The Falcons were favored by three points as of Saturday, giving Seattle a chance to win its first game this season as an underdog and also get back on the plus side of the ledger.

But a loss would give the Seahawks their fourth loss in a row — tying the longest losing streak of the Pete Carroll era (which occurred last year, turning a 6-3 start into a 6-7 record) and will be left in an even more precarious position with Buffalo coming to town next Sunday.

Seattle will try to accentuate those good things Love said the Seahawks do well — namely, a passing offense that is first in the NFL at 277 yards per game — while improving on the bad, notably giving up too many big plays and generally playing without the strict adherence to detail on coach Mike Macdonald’s defensive scheme requires.

After allowing just 43 points combined in the first three games the Seahawks have allowed 107 in the last three.

The 49ers had a run play of 76 yards and a passing touchdown of 76 while the Giants had two pass plays of 30 yards or longer an two runs of 25 or longer the week before.

And the Lions, you may recall, completed all 19 passes they threw.

Still, Seattle stayed in all three games despite early deficits, in each having possession in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie or take the lead.

Macdonald pointed out the good and the bad during a team meeting on Monday that receiver DK Metcalf called “much-needed.’’

“Just being blunt, straight to it,’’ is the way quarterback Geno Smith put it. “This is what’s hurting us — turnovers (Seattle is minus-six), penalties (nine or more in three of the past four games), playing behind the chains. Those are the things that are hurting us. When we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot, we’re a really good offense, we’re a really good team. But, when we make it easy on the defense, (or) we make it easy on the opposing team by giving them turnovers, extra possessions, putting ourselves behind the sticks, allowing them to pass rush and kind of tee off on our O-line at times, it just puts us in a tough situation. We’ve been able to climb out of those situations, but you don’t want to be in that too often.” 

Macdonald said he felt the team then responded the way he hoped in practices Wednesday through Friday, the first full week of practices the team has had since before a loss at Detroit on Sept. 30, allowing the team to get in pads and do some contact drills.

“I think there is urgency,’’ he said Friday. “I think we’re confident. We want to be loose and focused. I felt that way this week, and that’s where we’re at. We’ve got a lot to prove, and we’re excited to go have our opportunity to take advantage of it.” 

But giving Jerrell his first start on the road will be a challenge, as will playing with a makeshift secondary, particularly going against Atlanta QB Kirk Cousins and a scheme designed to take advantage of an opponent’s weaknesses.

And if Walker is out, that only bumps up the degree of difficulty. 

The Seahawks will need not just another big game from Smith but also a mistake-free one — he’s thrown six interceptions this season. Most come with an asterisk of a pass being tipped, or last Thursday, Metcalf admittedly not running the route that Smith expected.

Still, Smith threw only nine in 15 games last season, and his interception rate of 2.4 compared to the 1.9 and 1.8 of the last two years is indicative of a team that doesn’t appear to be playing to its potential.

Smith acknowledged just as much while noting that meetings and hard conversations this week made everyone realize the time for that to change has arrived.

“We left a lot out there in the past three weeks,’’ Smith said. “But some of the positives are the accountability that we’ve all taken. Every single player is looking inward and saying ‘What can he do better? How can he help this team, this offense?’ And so when you have guys like that who are constantly seeking within themselves to be better, it makes for just an outstanding environment. And I think that’s what we have here.”