Seattle Steps On Eagles In 26-15 Setback
SEATTLE, WA (CBS) — It did seem comical the way the piles of white jerseys would be moved back, or going in one direction when everyone in navy blue was heading in another, or when they were left scampering on trick plays looking back over their shoulders to find out where the quarterback was.
The Eagles received a good dose of difference between where they are, and where they want to be on Sunday in Seattle, when they visited the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field.
Seattle is heading towards the playoffs and probably a deep playoff run. The Eagles were trying to compensate for the gap in talent, coaching, scheme, and surely a dozen other things in a deceiving closer-than-it-looked 26-15 loss to the Seahawks.
Seattle, behind the sterling play of quarterback Russell Wilson, moved to 7-2-1, while the Eagles maintain the bottom of the NFC East with a 5-5 record.
Though the score said 16-7 at halftime, the game was essentially over. Seattle had more than doubled the Eagles in offense, with 300 total yards to 146 yards. And in a game when there was no room for mistakes, the Eagles once again made plenty of them, starting with second-year receiver Nelson Agholor, whose blunder in lining up cost the Birds a 57-yard touchdown reception, and who dropped a catchable ball wide open down the middle of the field when the game was still competitive.
It wasn't as much that the Eagles lost, but how they lost. They were manhandled all over the field.
The Eagles initial first down of the second half didn't come until there was 3:16 left in the quarter, after a Wendell Smallwood 18-yard run. Before that, Philadelphia was able to run off just eight plays. The Eagles finished the third quarter with just 13 plays, one first down, and two turnovers and were outgained 98-19.
At the 6:03 mark of the third quarterback, Wilson had as many receiving yards as the Eagles wide receiving corps—15. But Wilson did have one big edge on them, he also had a TD reception on a nifty trick play that resulted in a 23-7 Seattle lead with 7:31 to play in the third quarter.
After three quarters, Carson Wentz was 11 of 24 for 86 yards, with two interceptions. His cool veneer showed gaping fissures against the Seattle pass rush. He forced throws he shouldn't have thrown away, and the Seattle defense appeared as if it got in the rookie quarterback's head. Wentz finished completing 23 of 45 for 218 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
As for the defense, trouble surfaced early.
On Seattle's second possession at its 28, C.J. Prosise took a handoff for a 72-yard touchdown run with 11:02 left in the fourth quarter. Prosise found a huge hole on the right side and Jalen Mills could only stick out his left arm to prevent him from going all the way. No one touched Prosise. Compounding that long score further was the bad angle that safety Rodney McLeod took.
The Eagles did answer early in the second quarter, when took their time and traveled 68 yards over 13 plays, and more importantly wiped away 7:35 of the clock, when Wentz hit Zach Ertz for a 4-yard score with 14:13 left in the half.
Seattle took the lead for good when Wilson hit Jimmy Graham for a 35-yard TD with 8:20 left in the half. A couple of things here: The touchdown came on a third-and-11 at the Eagles' 35, and it came after Brandon Graham jumped offsides when Seattle was facing a third-and-16 at the Philadelphia 40.
Seattle's 439 yards of total offense was a season high for the Seahawks, who toyed with the Eagles all afternoon.
