The Seattle Seahawks cemented their position atop the NFC West and improved to the No. 2 Seed in the conference with a 23-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on “Monday Night Football.”
The City of Brotherly Love has certainly shown the Seahawks plenty of love over the years. Seattle has now won seven-straight games in Philadelphia and hasn’t suffered a loss since 1989. Quarterback Russell Wilson has also improved to a blemish-free 6-0 record versus the Eagles in his career.
It wasn’t the flashiest performance from the high-flying Seahawks offense, but they did just enough to take advantage of easily the best performance all year from Seattle’s defense who suffocated the Birds all night long.
Monday night remains Seattle’s night, as the team with the best winning percentage on Monday night in NFL history notched another W under their belts. Here are 4 studs and only 2 duds from Seattle’s victory.
No. 1 Stud – DK Metcalf
(Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)
The only person who may enjoy playing the Eagles more than Russell Wilson is his superstar receiver, DK Metcalf. Last year in the wild-card win over Philadelphia, Metcalf hauled in seven receptions for 160 yards and a touchdown. Metcalf also caught a crucial pass on third down to ice the victory for Seattle. On Monday, Metcalf improved upon his last outing in remarkable fashion with 10 receptions on 13 targets for a career-high 177 yards. Although he didn’t find the end zone this time, it was clear Metcalf was the most dynamic force on the field as he bullied the drastically overmatched Eagles defensive back Darius Slay. Metcalf now leads the NFL with 1,039 receiving yards and is behind only Joey Galloway for most receiving yards in his first two seasons in Seahawks franchise history.
No. 1 Dud – First half offense
(Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)
Seattle’s offense has been one of the best in the entire league, but in the first half the Seahawks seemed to be stuck in neutral. The frustrating thing was it seemed to be mostly self-inflicted wounds. On the Seahawks’ first offensive series, they were stopped on 4th-and-goal. This wasn’t the sin, the play call was, which was an inexplicable sweep play with David Moore. Certainly a head-scratcher. The very next possession, the Seahawks failed to convert on 4th-and-2 once again as Russell Wilson took a sack on another questionable play call. Seattle did manage to score 14 points in the second quarter, but it was more of a struggle to get there than it probably should have been.
No. 2 Studs – The pass rush
(Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports)
For the first half of the season, Seattle’s pass rush was the blatantly obvious Achilles Heel. Now, it seems the Seahawks might have found suitable footwear to cover it up. The Seahawks defensive front has come alive thanks to the acquisition of Carlos Dunlap, who had another half-sack on the night. But he wasn’t alone, as K.J. Wright, Jamal Adams, Poona Ford, Benson Mayowa and Rasheem Green all brought Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz down with a sack. Seattle sacked Wentz six times and totaled 12 quarterback hits altogether. The Seahawks now have 31 team sacks on the year, easily surpassing last year’s measly total of 28 with still five games to play.
No. 2 Dud – Intentional grounding
(Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports)
I try not to be the “blame the refs for everything” guy, but on Monday night it’s hard to not give the normally precise Brad Allen and his officiating crew some grief. For the most part, the officials were decent, and both teams – specifically Philadelphia – gave them reasons to toss the flags. However, the officials make the Dud list this week for missing a blatant intentional grounding call on Wentz. The Eagles botched the snap at Seattle’s 35-yard line and sent the ball flying all the way back to Philadelphia’s 35-yard line. Wentz picked the ball up, and tossed it out of bounds. Although he was out of the tackle box, the ball clearly was short of the line of scrimmage by several yards. It should have been ruled intentional grounding, setting up an impossible 2nd-and-30, which would have likely led to an Eagles punt. Instead, Philadelphia scored a touchdown to make it a one-score game right before half only seven plays later. What adds insult to injury is the fact this officiating crew called intentional grounding on Russell Wilson the series prior.
No. 3 Stud – Chris Carson
(Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports)
Welcome back, Chris Carson. After missing several weeks due to injuries suffered in the Week 7 game versus Arizona, Carson came back and had a productive return to action. Carson only touched the ball eight times but made the most of it with 41 yards and a touchdown. Carson’s second quarter touchdown put the Seahawks up 14-0 and given how poorly the Eagles offense was playing, almost made the two-score lead feel insurmountable. As great as Wilson has been, this Seahawks offense is clearly far more lethal with an effective ground game to balance it out.
No. 4 Stud – Jamal Adams
(Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports)
When Jamal Adams plays like he did on “Monday Night Football” it is very easy to see why the Seahawks gave up a king’s ransom to acquire him from the Jets. Adams looked as good as he did in his electric debut for the Seahawks in Week 1, completely flying over the field to lead the defense with nine total tackles, a sack, two quarterback hits, and a tackle for loss. With an elite safety duo of Adams and Quandre Diggs, aided by a rejuvenated pass rush, the Seahawks defense might be improving just enough to give Seattle a needed boost down the final stretch of the season.
