Falcon Season Is Down and Dirty

The Seattle Seahawks aren’t giving up on this season, even though the playoffs are out of reach.

But the Atlanta Falcons appear to have thrown in the towel--or draped it over their heads, as Jamal Anderson did in the final minutes of another embarrassing loss.

“I know things are going bad,” Anderson said after the Falcons were blown out by the Seahawks, 30-10, Sunday, “but this is ridiculous.”

Jon Kitna threw for 252 yards and a touchdown, and George Koonce returned an interception 27 yards for his second career touchdown as Seattle built a 17-0 lead in the first quarter.

The Seahawks (5-8) won for the third time in four games, but it won’t matter. They were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs last week, ending Coach Mike Holmgren’s streak of taking teams to the postseason at seven.

“Right now, all we can do is play hard and play for pride each week,” defensive back Shawn Springs said. “We know we aren’t going to the playoffs. But every man is a professional here. We’ve got a job to do, so it’s time to come and do it.”

The Falcons (3-11) seem to be showing up merely to collect their paychecks. They have lost five in a row for the second time this season, getting outscored 71-24 the last two weeks.

The game was played a day after more than 73,000 fans packed the Georgia Dome for the Southeastern Conference championship game between Auburn and Florida. The announced attendance Sunday was 44,680, but it appeared that no more than 30,000 fans showed up.

Doug Johnson, an undrafted player from Florida, became the first rookie quarterback to start in the NFL this season. He took over for Chris Chandler, who was demoted to third string.

But the move didn’t have much effect on Atlanta’s dismal offense, which ranked next-to-last in the NFL and continued to struggle against the league’s worst defense.

The Falcons were penalized for a false start on their first play from scrimmage. Johnson followed with an incompletion, then attempted a short pass over the middle to Terance Mathis. But Koonce, standing right in front of the intended receiver, intercepted the pass and easily rambled to the end zone, giving Seattle a 14-0 lead just over four minutes into the game.

Johnson had two passes intercepted and fumbled twice. He also was sacked four times.