The Atlanta Falcons hosted the Seattle Seahawks in Week 14, but failed to handle the business. Seattle rolled to a 37-9 win, officially knocking Atlanta out of playoff contention and extending the franchise’s drought to eight straight seasons. And after the loss, Raheem Morris didn’t bother dressing it up.

“You can’t give up back-breaking plays that allow your team to self-destruct when you’re playing a really tight football game like that,” Morris said of his team’s second-half collapse. “That first half, that was what the team should look like if you can find a way to not have those penalties.”

Atlanta actually hung around in the first half. They went into halftime tied 6-6, keeping the game exactly where they wanted it. But the second half came out flat as the Falcons could add just three more points while the Seahawks added 31. Seattle’s defense flipped the switch, and the Falcons simply couldn’t match it.

To put the struggles in context, Atlanta reached Seattle’s side of the field six separate times and somehow walked away with only nine points. Every time the Falcons built a little momentum, Seattle immediately punched back. A blocked field goal here, a costly fumble there, and a perfectly timed pass breakup on fourth down in the end zone, those missed chances stacked up quickly.

On top of that, Kirk Cousins didn’t have much room to breathe either. Seattle held him to 50% passing (15-of-30), just 162 yards, and picked him off twice. Add a sack to that, and you get a pretty good picture of how suffocating the Seahawks were.

Defensively, the Falcons didn’t fare any better. Seattle racked up 365 yards (236 through the air and 129 on the ground), and Sam Darnold once again played efficient, controlled football. He went 20-of-30 for 249 yards and three touchdowns. Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the way with seven catches for 92 yards and two scores.

And the special teams delivered the final blow, as the unit has been struggling throughout the season.

Raheem Morris called it out directly: “The kickoff return was a back-breaker. The fumble was a back-breaker. It’s not just one person to point at. It’s not just one thing to point at. You’ve got to go figure it out and look at it on tape. Try and come up with some answers.”

And he wasn’t exaggerating. Rashid Shaheed opened the second half with a 100-yard kick return, immediately shifting the momentum. On top of that, Atlanta had a Zane Gonzalez field goal attempt blocked. The special teams unit has struggled this season, and Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks was no surprise. Add eight penalties for 56 yards to the chaos, and you get the idea why the Falcons are out of the playoffs. But for Morris…let’s just say the frustrations were far from over for the head coach.

Raheem Morris called out the receivers after the Week 14 loss

If Raheem Morris was searching for even one silver lining from Sunday’s loss to Seattle, he wouldn’t have found much. Offense, defense, special teams, every phase came up short. But what really got under HC’s skin was Atlanta’s collapse on third down, and he didn’t hesitate to call his players out for it.

“You got make a catch. When Kirk (Cousins, quarterback) puts it in position on third down, you got to make those catches. We had a couple missed opps. … You got to be able to move the chains that way,” the head coach said, per the Falcons’ beat writer, Terrin Waack.

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And you can tell why. The Falcons went 1-for-13 on third down (7.7%), while the Seahawks went 6-for-13. For context, Atlanta’s season-long third-down rate is about 37.3%, making this game clearly below their norm. And if you check Atlanta’s target split, it’ll tell you everything about why the offense kept stalling.

Kyle Pitts and the running backs were basically the only reliable options, hauling in 10 catches on 14 targets, about 71%, which is exactly what you want from your safety valves. But the wide receivers struggled badly, catching just five of 14 targets at a rough 35%. Darnell Mooney had one grab on four looks, Dylan Drummond chipped in a few, and David Sills didn’t catch anything despite four targets.

So when Morris talks about making a catch on third down, this is what he’s pointing at. The quarterback put the ball out there, but the receivers didn’t finish enough plays to keep drives alive. And the result was tangible: The Falcons could tally just 154 passing yards and eventually lost the game 37-9.