Stephen A. Smith airs his doubts about the Seahawks' secondary, which has lost some key pieces. (0:58)

ATLANTA -- Defensive coordinator Kris Richard was asked this week how the Seattle Seahawks plan on slowing down MVP candidate Matt Ryan.

"You put him on the ground," Richard said, offering no further details.

It's a simple answer, but one that has truth behind it. In the first matchup between the teams in Week 6, the Seahawks sacked Ryan four times and hit him on 13 other dropbacks. They played that game without defensive end Frank Clark (10 sacks), and Michael Bennett left with a knee injury in the second half.

The Seahawks were without starting strong safety Kam Chancellor and strong-side linebacker Mike Morgan as well.

The key for the Seahawks in terms of stopping the Falcons is putting pressure on Matt Ryan. Seattle sacked Ryan four times in their Week 6 meeting. Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

But they did have Earl Thomas, and the All-Pro free safety had a monster game. The biggest challenge for Seattle this time around is trying to slow Ryan down without Thomas (broken leg) on the field.

In the regular season, the Seahawks limited opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating of 77.8 when Thomas played. That number jumped to 99.5 without him.

The truth is that Seattle is going to lose its share of matchups in the secondary Saturday. Where the Seahawks have an advantage is up front with their pass rush.

In the last four weeks, the Seahawks have pressured opposing quarterbacks 36 percent of the time. That's the best mark in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Bennett, Clark and Cliff Avril (11.5 sacks) have played at a high level and will have to get to Ryan often.

As for scheme, no opposing coach is more familiar with how the Seahawks play defense than the Falcons' Dan Quinn, who served as Pete Carroll's defensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014. But Carroll said there is a danger in changing things up just because of the knowledge Quinn possesses.

"You can overcoach it, overthink it, yes you can," Carroll said.

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"Coaching always is a call to the balance of how much is too much and how much is just right. We have millions of ideas, and we have to really figure out what the players can handle and execute, and if they’re going to fit. We can certainly overcoach this, yeah."

Added Richard, "The worst thing you want to do in football is overthink. They know this, they know that, but we know them too. It’s sort of the idea where we just have to go out there, align and execute."

Richard Sherman was matched up with Falcons receiver Julio Jones quite a bit (30 of 46 coverage snaps) in the first game, and the Seahawks may have him travel with Jones even more Saturday.

The Seahawks blitzed 37 percent of the time in the first matchup, an unusually high number for them. But they were successful, limiting Ryan to 7-for-16 for 67 yards and a sack on those plays.

Richard will take calculated gambles, but the Seahawks have a lot of respect for Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and know that blown coverages likely will result in their season being over.

"There’s a real style to his offense, and you can see it," Carroll said of Shanahan. "I always thought he does a really good job of staying on the cutting edge of things and very creative, and all the while stays with the running game and stays aggressive. He has a really good balance to his attack, and explosive results seem to show up all the time. I just have a lot of respect for the work that he’s done."