Monday Night Football in NFL Week 11 of the 2017 season will feature a big NFC matchup that could have serious playoff implications.
Fans will be treated to an exciting primetime matchup on Monday Night Football this week as the Atlanta Falcons travel to CenturyLink Field to take on the Seattle Seahawks. The Falcons had a statement win last week, defeating the Dallas Cowboys 17-7 and going over .500. The Seahawks have won five of their last six games, including a 22-16 win last Thursday night over the NFC West rival Arizona Cardinals. Still, not everything is bright for Seattle who lost star cornerback Richard Sherman to a torn ACL in Thursday’s game.
The Seattle defense is still one of the better units in the league but is nowhere near their best with both Richard Sherman and Cliff Avril now on injured reserve. Seattle signed corner Byron Maxwell to replace Sherman.
Maxwell played for the team from 2011 to 2014 before he left for the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles gave Maxwell a six-year contract worth $63 million prior to the 2015 season but traded him to the Dolphins just one season later. Maxwell has been a free agent since the end of October after the Dolphins chose to release him.
Atlanta was looking to get their season back on track last week and seemingly did just that. The Falcons had lost four of the last five games prior to last week’s matchup against the Cowboys. Every wins matters for Atlanta, who find themselves one game behind the Seahawks for the second NFC Wild Card spot.
The Falcons have a tough final stretch of the schedule. In their final seven games, the Falcons will play the 6-3 Seahawks, the 7-2 Minnesota Vikings, and five division games including two against the 7-2 New Orleans Saints.
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If Atlanta wants to make the playoffs for the second consecutive season they will need to find a way to overcome their early season struggles, which may be harder now that star running back Devonta Freeman is injured.