Falcons beat Seahawks after Blair Walsh misses FGA

Blair Walsh's 52-yard field-goal attempt fell inches shy of the crossbar, allowing the Atlanta Falcons to cling to a 34-31 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in a nail-biting spectacle of big plays to close out Week 11. Here's what we learned in Monday night's action:

1. The rematch of last season's Divisional Round clash featured two NFC titans that share not only common coaching DNA, but also a desperate realization that this mid-November battle will go a long way toward determining their respective 2017 fates in a fiercely competitive playoff hunt. The result was a highly entertaining montage of bone-jarring hits and game-changing, highlight-reel plays adding a postseason-level of intensity to the most riveting Monday night showdown of the season. Atlanta needed only to convert on third-and-3 to seal the game coming out of the two-minute warning when Sheldon Richardson beat guard Wes Schweitzer for his first sack of the year and Seattle's first of the night. Afforded a premium opportunity to tie the game despite falling behind by 11 points at the five-minute mark in the fourth quarter, Russell Wilson came through with a nine-play drive to reach the edge of field-goal range only to see Walsh's boot come up short.

2. Coach Pete Carroll will fall under scrutiny for green-lighting a head-scratching fake field goal that backfired to close out the first half. With just seven seconds left on the clock, holder Jon Ryan shoveled a short pass to tight end Luke Willson who was immediately flattened by Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett. Even if Willson had manage to skirt Jarrett's tackle, he would have been tasked with scampering 20 yards through the entire Atlanta defense to find the end zone before the clock expired. Queried at halftime, Carroll explained to sideline reporter Lisa Salters that he was simply trying to score, to "take a shot." Even if the tomfoolery worked in practice, it simply made no sense to trot it out against his former defensive coordinator with precious little time on the clock and 20 yards between Willson and pay dirt. The risk/reward ratio was so far out of whack that it's hard to paint the decision as anything less than a glaring three-point mistake that came back to haunt Carroll in a tightly-fought contest.

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