We have another non divisional game where the two teams faced off last year, in the same venue. A lot of talk how the sharps will be on the Falcons and the public will be on Seattle. When the teams faced off last year, Seattle was a 7 1/2 point road favorite; now they are only laying 1. We know home field advantage is clearly lessened without fans, and that only gets magnified in domed stadiums where teams count on the crowd. Yes, Atlanta was a much better team later in the year last year, but that has been accounted for in the line.
A quick look at the score sees a Seattle 27-20 win despite Atlanta having big yardage and first down edges. But that is misleading; Seattle was up 24-0 at the half. Atlanta piled on a lot of yardage after the game was well in hand, and Seattle took their foot off the gas. The score was 27-11 with just over 3 minutes to play in the game; that score much better reflected reality than the final score did.
https://www.covers.com/sport/football/nfl/boxscore/182917
A quick look at the score sees a Seattle 27-20 win despite Atlanta having big yardage and first down edges. But that is misleading; Seattle was up 24-0 at the half. Atlanta piled on a lot of yardage after the game was well in hand, and Seattle took their foot off the gas. The score was 27-11 with just over 3 minutes to play in the game; that score much better reflected reality than the final score did.
https://www.covers.com/sport/football/nfl/boxscore/182917
