SEATTLE -- Dan Quinn tk over as the Atlanta Falcons head coach in 2015 with the expectation that his respected defensive mind would overhaul one of the leagues most porous defenses.The former Seahawks defensive crdinator returns to Seattle on Sunday with a defense that hasnt made many noticeable strides over the past 19 months, but armed with a red-hot offense that ranks first in in the NFL in points (35.0), total yards (457.4) and passing yards (333.4) per game. The rushing attack? Thats the black sheep of the offensive family, ranking seventh at 124.0 yards per game.So the stage is set for Quinn to bring his NFC South-leading Falcons (4-1) to the Pacific Northwest for Sundays 4:25 p.m. ET tilt (FOX) against the Seahawks (3-1), who are coming off a much-needed bye week and lking to create some early breathing rm in the NFC West.Their offense is just out of this world right now, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said of the Falcons. Their quarterback is on fire. Theyre doing a great job. I know Dan is fired up about it and were excited to see him play well, and itll feel like a championship matchup, just like we like. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan leads the NFL with 1,740 passing yards and 10.4 yards per completion while throwing 12 touchdowns against just two interceptions through five games. He has 26 completions of 20-plus yards and 10 of 40-plus, which both lead the NFL. And he certainly is not doing it alone, as Ryan is buffeted by a supporting cast that includes Julio Jones along with upgraded complementary wideouts and a two-headed backfield featuring Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman -- each a versatile threat who contributes to the passing game.Jones had a 300-yard game two weeks ago when the Carolina Panthers gambled on man coverage and got repeatedly burned. Most other opponents have dedicated an extra man to Jones, opening opportunities for Mohamed Sanu, among others, to do the bulk of the damage.Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman has shadowed the Jets Brandon Marshall, among others, in recent seasons, but there is no guarantee how the Seahawks will game-plan to face the Falcons.Im not their coach to decide that, Jones said when asked if he expects to be shadowed by Sherman. Its whatever they do. Im not calling anyone out or anything, nor am I going to shy away from competition. Im definitely going to compete every play, it doesnt matter whos guarding me.Ironically, it will be a unit whose foundation was built by Carroll and current Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley and then continued by Carroll and Quinn that will now be charged with showing the rest of the NFL that Ryan & Co. can be tamed.Seattle has led the league in scoring defense for four consecutive seasons -- including twice under Quinn -- and currently ranks third in scoring defense (13.5 points per game), first in yards allowed (264.0), second in passing yards allowed (183. and seventh in rushing yards allowed (80.2).However, the Seahawks havent faced anything this season the likes of the Falcons, with Seattles first four games coming against the fledgling offensive units of the Miami Dolphins (29th in total offense), Los Angeles Rams (32nd), San Francisco 49ers (31st) and New York Jets (17th).For much of Quinns tenure in Seattle, he oversaw a defense that was the identity of a hard-nosed team along with the Marshawn Lynch-led ground game. What he will contend with Sunday is an offense now well-equipped to engage in a shtout, especially if quarterback Russell Wilson is close to full health following a bye week to rest his right ankle and left knee sprains.Seattle doesnt use a traditional fullback anymore, with crdinator Darrell Bevell increasingly playing Wilson off the line of scrimmage and setting him up to spread the ball to a deep receiving corps, with the ground game now a complement off the passing attack.Quinn came to Atlanta as a noted defensive mind, but he returns to Seattle with a unit that is ranked 27th in points allowed (28.0 per game), 26th in yards allowed (388. and 26th in passing yard allowed (290.2). The pass rush, so critical to a scheme that doesnt feature heavy blitzing, has produced just 10 sacks through five games despite consistently facing offenses in must-pass situations. Pass rusher Vic Beasley, a 2015 first-round draft pick, has 4.5 of the teams sacks.Pretty similar, a lot of things, Carroll said of the scheme Quinn brought to Atlanta. Theyve got their own coaches that coach things differently and stuff like that. Theres a lot of basics t that are similar.The Seahawks scored a total of 15 points while squeaking past Miami in Week 1 before a 9-3 loss in Los Angeles in Week 2. But as has been customary under offensive line coach Tom Cable, the front five has steadily improved and Bevell has made adjustments while Wilson battled through limited mobility that all but eliminated the rollouts and read-options that were so critical to the offenses success the past three seasons. Wilson is getting the ball out quickly, and the return of tight end Jimmy Graham has added yet another weapon to a quietly deep arsenal.For all of Atlantas offensive prowess, the defense remains vulnerable. The pass rush has struggled to generate consistent pressure, and the secondary comes under constant attack everyone other than Pro Bowl cornerback Desmond Trufant -- a former star at the University of Washington who grew up in Tacoma, Wash., and is the younger brother of former Seahawks star Marcus Trufant.Trufant is intimately familiar with Husky Stadium, where the Falcons have been practicing this week after Quinn opted to have the team travel to the Pacific Northwest following a Sunday win at Denver rather than travel home and back. Quinn saw it as an opportunity to engage in some team-building, which sounds Carroll-esque.We thought it would be a unique time for our team to have that week together, and as well as the players not to battle back and forth through some time zones and some long flights, said Quinn, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It just so happened this is how the schedule worked out. Were fortunate we have an opportunity to practice out here.There is a lot on the line Sunday, perhaps as much as home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs. But there are also a lot of respected ties between the two teams, including Quinn bringing his upstart Falcons to Seattle to battle his former mentor for an early pecking order in the conference.I dont know about pride, but its exciting to see (Quinn), Carroll said. Hes having fun. Hes working hard. He has a team with an attitude and a personality. They had a great start last year, and they battled back and finished well at the end and theyre off flying again.They seem to be really be utilizing their talent well and the people they picked up. Theyre doing a lot of really gd things. Its really exciting to see, but Im not going to get to caught up in the pride thing right now. We need to go play them.Custom Milwaukee Bucks Jerseys Cheap . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints lked like a team playing out the string. Custom San Antonio Spurs Jerseys Cheap . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a ft injury and ready to be put on St. http://www.basketballcustomjerseys.com/custom-miami-heat-jerseys-cheap-518q .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Custom Utah Jazz Jerseys Cheap . "No difference at all," chirped U.S. rmmate and linemate James van Riemsdyk. "Its still the same cranky Phil. Wholesale Custom Jerseys . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers.If you had taken your seat at Chepauk on Friday morning having never seen Moeen Ali bat, you would have been forgiven for wondering how on earth he found himself batting in the top four.But had you only taken your seat in the afternn session, you would have been forgiven for wondering how he had ever found himself batting down at No. 8 or 9.For this innings was a microcosm of Moeens Test career with the bat. Like Beauty and the Beast rolled into one, it was, in turns, awful and ugly and brilliant and beautiful. It rarely hinted at permanence, but contained several strokes of rare quality. As he persuaded some balls to the boundary and flirted ftlessly at others, he provided a demonstration of all his strengths and all his weaknesses. It was just a little bit Goweresque.He was beaten like a snare drum in the early stages. He was dropped before he had scored - the second match in succession an England centurion had benefited in such fashion - after trying to flick one over midwicket, and then survived a couple of early wafts against Ravi Ashwin that suggested a lack of confidence in his own defensive technique. He also saw an attempted flick into the leg side dart towards point off a leading edge. That he made it to lunch unbeaten (on 7 from 44 balls) was little short of a miracle.At that stage, it seemed safe to conclude that this was Moeens last foray into the top order. This was, after all, his 11th innings in the top four (one at No. 3, four at No. 4 and six as an opener) and they had brought seven scores under 20 and a best of 50. Some of the dismissals - not least hking a bouncer to the men placed for the shot in the first innings in Mohali, or scping to mid-on in the second - were just t soft to sustain the experiment.But after the interval he was a different man. Apparently determined to be more aggressive, he slog-swept both left-arm and offspin, he skipped down the track and, even though Ravi Ashwin beat him in the flight and he didnt quite make it to the pitch of the ball, he carried through with the stroke and cleared the field. He played with the uncompromised conviction that is the mantra of Trevor Bayliss and provided a pretty decent advert for the virtues of the approach.He had some fortune. Having a man with the class of Joe Rt at the other end for the first portion of his innings ensured there was little scoreboard pressure; Moeen contributed just 13 of the first 50 runs they added together. And, while the only bouncer that Umesh Yadav bowled at him resulted in an attempted pull that spned just over midwicket, it was a line of attack that India failed to exploit. Ishant Sharma bowled him three more, but it seemed an odd oversight. There were a couple of decent lbw shouts after that but Moeen, learning the lessons from earlier in the series, ensured he had his pad outside the line of the stumps and, once he had reached 40, was hardly troubled. Amit Mishra, whose relative lack of pace allowed Moeen time to skip down the pitch to him, came in for particular punishment, but he also coped with Ashwin admirably after that torturous first hour. He had given England a decent chance of the sort of imposing first-innings total that could end this demanding tour with a consolation victory. Two more sessions of batting may be rrequired, though.ddddddddddddIt was Moeens second century of the series - the first was made while batting at No. 5 in Rajkot - and the fourth of a calendar year that has seen him become one of just five men to record 1,000 Test runs in 2016. While the inclusion of four England players in that list underlines the huge amount of Test cricket they have played, that still represents a fine achievement. His average for the year (48.00) is almost six higher than Alastair Cks (42.10) and less than two fewer than Joe Rts (50.20).Where does it leave him in the future? Back at No. 7 or 8, probably. With Jonny Bairstow pencilled in to stay at No. 5 (he is clearly gd enough to bat at No. 4 but the England management are keen to provide him with a break between batting and keeping) and Ben Stokes lking settled at No. 6, those are the obvious vacancies. Rt could well return to No. 4 - especially if Keaton Jennings makes a strong case for his retention at the start of the next English season - leaving Moeen squeezed out of the top order. Besides, for all the charm and fluency of his batting, we have probably seen enough now to appreciate that consistency is unlikely to be one of his strengths. There are t many flaws, t many foibles. And top-four players need to at least offer the potential of consistency.Ideally, he would bat no lower than No. 7 and be given the chance to establish himself there without further confusion. Batting at No. 8 will be an obvious temptation - it allows rm for Jos Buttler at No. 7 and still allows rm for four seamers (including Stokes) - but Moeens record there is pr. Often forced to accelerate before he is ready, he averages only 28.06 in 19 innings there. At No. 7, high enough to placate his batsmans pride and low enough to alleviate the worst of the pressure of expectation, he averages 87.85 in 10 innings.The other issue he faces is the possibility that he has been replaced as Englands first-choice spinner. Adil Rashid has claimed far more wickets than him this series (22 to nine) and has been referred to as Englands best spinner by the coach, Trevor Bayliss. There wont be t many surfaces in England when they require two spinners, though they may conclude that, such is their allround strength, they have rm for both Rashid and Moeen.Recognising this problem some weeks ago, the England management have given Moeen a chance to establish himself as a specialist batsman (and support spin bowler) in recent weeks. As Bayliss said after the Mumbai Test: We came here to give Moeen a chance to cement a spot in the top six and play more as a bat and, as we saw in the first three games, the third spinner.This century may convince them that he has taken the chance. But Moeen, who batted everywhere from one to nine in his first 35 Tests, has emerged as Englands ultimate utility player and is likely to remain in a floating role in the immediate future. If Englands priority is getting the best out of Moeen, they will probably bat him at No. 7 or higher, but if the priority is what is best for the side, it is understandable that, despite all the runs this year, he plays his next Test as a No. 8. ' ' '