The Atlanta Falcons, who had spent the week in Seattle after playing in Los Angeles, felt right at home at Lumen Field — even after giving the Seahawks something of a housewarming gift in the late going that appeared as if it might give the hosts a most-unexpected victory.
But after Seattle reached the Atlanta 24 with just over two minutes left, a penalty and a sack forced a fourth down. Geno Smith threw an interception on a vain attempt to Tyler Lockett.
That sewed up a 27-23 win for the Falcons in a game in which the Seahawks proved as defenseless as they ever have in Pete Carroll’s 13-year tenure as head coach.
Seattle forced only one punt all day and allowed Atlanta 386 yards and 7.1 per play in scoring at will.
It was a devastating loss for Seattle as the Seahawks fall to 1-2 and now play three of their next four games on the road.
Seattle solved a lot of the offensive issues that crept up in the first two games with Smith completing 32 of 44 passes for 325 yards and two touchdowns.
But the Seahawks scored touchdowns on just two of five drives inside the 20, and that ultimately proved their undoing along with a most forgiving defense.
Seemingly on the way to a score that might have sewed up the game, Marcus Mariota fumbled after faking a handoff to Avery Williams at the Seahawks 37 with 5:12 left.
Uchenna Nwosu fell on the gift at the Seattle 37 with 5:12 to play.
The Seahawks converted a fourth-and-1 from their own 46 on a run by Rashaad Penny.
Smith then hit Lockett for 20.
Damien Lewis was called for a holding penalty to negate a pass to Penny inside the 10, moving the ball back to the 34, with 2:05 to play.
A pass to Metcalf made it third-and-8 at the 28 with two minutes remaining.
But Smith was sacked, then picked off on fourth down.
The game was stopped for about seven minutes with 6:42 left due to a drone hovering over the field, with referee Tra Blake announcing the stoppage was due to NFL security and telling players to clear the field.
The delay came with Atlanta facing a second-and-8 at the Seattle 46 a few plays before the fumble.
After the Falcons took a 27-23 lead, the Seahawks garnered two first downs to get to midfield. But a holding penalty on Lewis moved Seattle back, and on second down, Metcalf couldn’t corral a pass over the middle. On third-and-20, Smith dumped it off to Ken Walker III for 5 yards, and the Seahawks punted.
Atlanta took over at its own 10 and appeared to be salting the game away until Mariota’s fumble.
Seattle led 20-17 at the end of a back-and-forth first half.
Smith completed 18 of 25 passes for 218 yards and two touchdowns — both of 18 yards, to tight end Will Dissly in the first quarter and DK Metcalf in the second.
The plays were indicative of what happened throughout the half — Smith getting time from his offensive line to let receivers get open downfield and then hitting them with on-target passes.
Metcalf was the biggest beneficiary of that with four receptions for 58 yards in the first half after getting just 71 yards in the first two games.
But Atlanta matched the Seahawks completion for completion and yard for yard throughout the first half as Mariota was 8-for-14 for 183 yards. Mariota capped one drive with his own 1-yard TD run, which put Atlanta ahead 7-3 in the first quarter, while Cordarrelle Patterson capped the other with a 17-yard TD run.
That put the Falcons ahead 17-10 with 8:12 to play in the second quarter and the game briefly had the appearance of Atlanta taking control.
But Smith then expertly led Seattle on a nine-play 75-yard march that included a 7-yard completion to Lockett on a third-and-7 to get it started, and then a 23-yard pass to Marquise Goodwin to convert a fourth-and-2.
On the play following the fourth down conversion, Smith hit a leaping Metcalf in traffic in the end zone for the TD.
Seattle then forced Atlanta into a three-and-out — the Seahawks’ first three-and-out this year, though helped greatly by two off-target Mariota passes, one to a wide open receiver.
Smith led Seattle to the 13 where the drive stalled and Myers kicked a 31-yard field goal to put Seattle ahead 20-17 at halftime.
Seattle had 282 yards in the first half, more than it had in either of its first two games — 253 against Denver and just 216 against the 49ers.
Atlanta tied the game at 20 with a 54-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo on its first possession of the third quarter.
But it could have been worse as Atlanta had a first down at the Seattle 28 before the drive stalled, with Darrell Taylor forcing a Mariota fumble on third down that Atlanta’s Kaleb McGary, a former UW standout, recovered.
The Seahawks then retook the lead with a 25-yard field goal by Myers with 3:11 left in the third quarter. Seattle had a first down at the Atlanta 15. But an illegal motion penalty on tight end Colby Parkinson moved the Seahawks back. Smith threw incomplete in the end zone to Metcalf on third-and-2 at the 7 and after taking a timeout, the Seahawks decided to take the sure points of the field goal.
Atlanta got the lead right back with a 75-yard drive kick-started by a 40-yard run by Patterson
On third-and-7 at the 14, the Seahawks blitzed and Mariota hit Drake London at the five, where he spun past Jones and through Diggs into the end zone to put the Falcons back on top, 27-23, with 35 seconds to play in third quarter.
This story will be updated.