By Khalid Bennett, The Seattle Medium
This week’s Monday Night Football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Philadelphia Eagles was uncharted territory for head coach Pete Carroll. This was the first time in the 12+ years as the Seahawks’ head coach that he’s dealt with a 4-game losing streak. Losing a fifth straight would likely knock them out of playoff contention.
In the seven times Pete Carroll has coached against the Eagles, he’s been perfect, including going 3-0 against them in the playoffs. The Eagles are coming off a Super Bowl loss to Kansas City last season, and quarterback Jalen Hurts has been playing at an MVP level for the past two seasons. Geno Smith was a gametime scratch, which gave backup quarterback Drew Lock the start for the second straight week.
Philadelphia’s strength is up front on both sides of the ball. The Seattle offensive and defensive lines would be tested greatly in this game.
Early on, the Philadelphia offensive line was able to dictate the pace of the game. A 15-play, 75-yard drive that took 8:29 off the clock gave Philadelphia a 7-0 lead. The Eagles’ second scoring drive in the second quarter took another 8:26 off the clock, but the Seahawks’ defense was able to hold them to a field goal, making the score 10-0 Philadelphia.
Seattle’s first scoring drive didn’t come until late in the second quarter. A Jason Meyers field goal made the score 10-3 going into halftime.
The Seahawks came out in the third quarter and were able to find success in the running game. Kenneth Walker III busted loose with a few big plays that gave Seattle some confidence against a very stout Eagles’ defense.
“I love the way we ran the ball in the third quarter; it changed the game. It really kinda took the game under control for us and how we wanted to play these guys,” said coach Peter Carroll on finding the running game again.
Walker was able to tie the ballgame at 10 with a 23-yard touchdown run that even got quarterback Drew Lock involved in a block that helped Walker get in the end zone for the first touchdown of the day for the Seahawks. The Eagles matched that drive immediately with another 75-yard drive that ended with Jalen Hurts scoring from 1 yard out on the infamous “Tush Push” play to give Philadelphia a 17-10 lead.
The 4th quarter had Seattle still utilizing Walker in the run game. Seattle, down by a touchdown, needed to start pushing the ball down the field to get back into the game. The Seahawks brought the game to within 4 after another Jason Meyers field goal, and it was time for the defense to step up and get the ball back for the offense with a chance to take the lead.
After a Julian Love interception, Seattle was unable to capitalize on the momentum and punted the ball back to Philadelphia with 6:35 left in the game. Seattle was able to force a punt with 1:52 remaining. Drew Lock and DK Metcalf shined bright in the two-minute drill, connecting on an 18-yard reception as well as a huge 34-yard reception to put the Seahawks in Philadelphia territory.
That set up the one-on-one situation on the outside with Jackson Smith-Njigba.
“Yeah, we knew in that situation if I got the one-on-one, I was going to get the ball. We ran that play a couple of times, so I knew this time it was coming to me. I made catches like that many times before,” said Smith-Njigba following the game.
The rookie wide receiver made the biggest play of his young career by hauling in the go-ahead touchdown on a perfect 29-yard pass from Lock to put Seattle up 20-17 with just 28 seconds remaining. Julian Love sealed the game with his second interception on the night and his third in two games.
“The theme of the night was just to keep playing and we hung in there and just kept playing, and the plays started to come,” said Carroll on his team’s effort throughout the game.
Seattle keeps their playoff hopes alive with a 20-17 victory over last year’s NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles. Next week, the Seahawks will be on the road to face the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.