Seahawks solidify NFC West lead with 23-17 win over Eagles
Nov 30, 2020, 6:06 PM | Updated: 9:54 pm
The city of Philadelphia has probably seen enough of Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf.
Seahawks win: No reason to complain | 710 reacts | DK dominates | Stats
Less than a year after Metcalf torched the Eagles to set an NFL record for receiving yards by a rookie in a playoff game, he dominated Philly once again in a 20-9 Seahawks win on Monday night.
Metcalf hauled in 10 receptions for a career-high 177 yards, and while he didn’t have a touchdown, he had a big play during each of the four Seattle drives that ended in points. He also clearly had the attention of the Philadelphia defense, getting into a scrap with cornerback Darius Slay early in the game and later making an amazing 31-yard catch in the fourth quarter even though he was practically smothered in coverage.
The win makes Seattle 8-3, putting them a full game ahead of the Los Angeles Rams (7-4) for the lead in the NFC West after the Rams lost Sunday to San Francisco.
That Metcalf would have a big game is no surprise. He eclipsed 100 yards in a game for the fifth time this season, which according to ESPN Stats and Info is one short of Steve Largent’s franchise record, and in fact he got past the century mark early in the second quarter. What was a surprise was the score, however, which probably should have been much more lopsided in Seattle’s favor.
The Seahawks started slow on offense, which didn’t turn out to be too much of a problem as the Eagles’ offense continued to play poorly with Carson Wentz at quarterback. Still, it was unexpected that Seattle didn’t break a scoreless tie until the second quarter when a huge 52-yard catch by Metcalf set up a short touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to David Moore.
.@DangeRussWilson: master of the 🚀🚀🚀 ball to @dkm14.
Watch #SEAvsPHI: https://t.co/hBwDTin5ta pic.twitter.com/LH5jyrjR1g
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 1, 2020
Seattle appeared to have an issue on the offensive line with right tackle Brandon Shell out with a high ankle sprain as Wilson was under a lot of pressure throughout the game. The good news is the Seahawks had Wentz under just as much if not more pressure, though the secondary did look beatable at times in the third quarter. Seattle sacked Wentz six times – one each by Jamal Adams, Poona Ford, K.J. Wright, Benson Mayowa and Rasheem Green, and one more split by Carlos Dunlap and Jarran Reed. Quandre Diggs added an interception in the fourth quarter.
Running back Chris Carson had a good showing in his first game back after missing the previous four with a foot sprain, rushing for 41 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, and making two receptions for 18 yards.
Wilson threw for 230 yards and a touchdown on 22-for-31 passing. Tyler Lockett had three catches for 23 yards, but the Seattle passing attack was all about Metcalf on this night.
Seattle kicker Jason Myers connected on all three of his field goals as he is now a perfect 15 for 15 on the year on 3-pointers.
The Monday night game started off a four-game stretch for the Seahawks against struggling opponents. Next up is a meeting with the New York Giants at home in Lumen Field on Sunday.
FINAL: The @Seahawks improve to 8-3! #Seahawks #SEAvsPHI
(by @Lexus) pic.twitter.com/YpYZz19UQU
— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2020
Here’s a quarter by quarter look at Seattle’s victory.
First quarter
Seahawks 0, Eagles 0
It appeared Monday night that the Seahawks entered the defensive slugfest portion of their season.
At least half of that equation was expected as Philadelphia’s offense is essentially lost with quarterback Wentz at the helm, and that sure looked to be case as he completed just 1 of 6 pass attempts for three yards in the first quarter. It wasn’t expected that the Seahawks would have just as much trouble not getting in their own way when they had the ball, though.
After Seattle held Philadelphia to a three-and-out to open the game, the offense marched right on down to the red zone. But that’s when the Seahawks started having some problems. Seattle had four shots at the end zone from inside the 5, but an incompletion and three unsuccessful runs – including a puzzling sweep play by David Moore on fourth-and-goal from the 2 – gave the Eagles the ball back.
The Eagles shut down the Seahawks on 4th & Goal 💪
(via @NFL) pic.twitter.com/zNxvhTBYP1
— ESPN (@espn) December 1, 2020
Philadelphia again had to punt after just three plays, and the next series went even worse for Seattle as Wilson was sacked on a second fourth down opportunity. The Seahawks also burned a timeout before snapping the ball on each of those two fourth down attempts. And yes, the Eagles punted once more in the quarter, but the Seahawks had to do the same after getting the ball back, and the two teams went into the second quarter without a score.
On the positive side for Seattle, defensive end Rasheem Green registered his first sack of the season.
Second quarter
Seahawks 14, Eagles 6
The offense that was missing in the first quarter? The Seahawks found it. And the defense kept up what it was doing, too.
The biggest reason why Seattle found its footing while in possession of the ball would be Metcalf, who hauled in a 52-yard bomb from Wilson for the first real big play of the night.
It wasn’t long after that Metcalf eclipsed 100 yards in a game for the fifth time this season, which is one game short of the franchise record, according to ESPN Stats and Info. It’s no small feat to get over 100 yards receiving by halftime, but Metcalf has a history in Philadelphia. In January, he set an NFL playoff record for a rookie with 160 yards in a wild card round win over the Eagles.
Shortly after Metcalf’s big catch, Wilson connected with Moore to get Seattle on the board, breaking the scoreless tie.
We're on the board first! 🙌
Touchdown, @DMoeSwagg23!
Watch #SEAvsPHI: https://t.co/hBwDTin5ta pic.twitter.com/b0ZCI9Xmr5
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 1, 2020
The offense wasn’t yet done for the half. It was Chris Carson’s turn next to make some highlight reels as he had a show-stopping 16-yard run to push Seattle’s lead to 14-0.
There was no denying @ccarson_32 on this one. 😤
Q2: SEA 14, PHI 0
Watch #SEAvsPHI: https://t.co/hBwDTin5ta pic.twitter.com/e3db57phz5
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 1, 2020
As for the defense, it took until late in the second quarter for Philadelphia to finally figure out a way to gain some positive yardage, but it led to points. After the Eagles went three-and-out on their first five series, they picked up five first downs to set up a 3-yard touchdown pass from Wentz to tight end Dallas Goedert with 12 seconds on the clock. The point after try was missed, however, allowing Seattle to take an eight-point lead into the break.
SEA – David Moore 1 pass from Russell Wilson (Jason Myers kick), 10:56
SEA – Chris Carson 16 run (Myers kick), 5:27
PHI – Dallas Goedert 3 pass from Carson Wentz (kick failed), :12
Third quarter
Seahawks 17, Eagles 9
Fun story – both Seahawks-Eagles games from last season ended with Seattle winning 17-9. And after three quarters, that’s exactly where the score stood once again.
Philadelphia followed up on the touchdown it scored on the final series of the first half, as the Seattle defense struggled to stop the Eagles once again after the Seahawks punted away on their opening drive. Philadelphia reached the Seahawks’ 17 until Jamal Adams blitzed on third down to take down Wentz for a sack, and the Eagles had to settle for a 42-yard Jake Elliott field goal that made it 14-9. The sack gave Adams a team-leading 6.5 on the season.
TOO FAST. There's @Prez with the sack on Carson Wentz! 😤
Watch #SEAvsPHI: https://t.co/hBwDTin5ta pic.twitter.com/2FAB7pwMGE
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 1, 2020
The Seahawks responded with a 44-yard field goal from Jason Myers, which came after Metcalf hauled in receptions of 9 and 19 yards, and Carson had a pair of 9-yard runs.
PHI – Jake Elliott 42 FG, 7:37
SEA – Jason Myers 44 FG, 2:10
Fourth quarter
Seahawks 23, Eagles 17
With the Eagles in need of a score to stay in it early in the fourth, the defense came up big for Seattle.
Tre Flowers and Benson Mayowa combined on a tackle of Travis Fulgham to keep him to a 5-yard catch on third-and-7, and K.J. Wright batted down a pass attempt on the following fourth down to force a turnover on downs.
Metcalf made a 31-yard catch while absolutely smothered, setting up a 33-yard field goal by Jason Myers to push Seattle’s lead to 20-9.
DK is on another level 💪 #Seahawks @dkm14
📺: #SEAvsPHI on ESPN
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/zmAJGTFGBG pic.twitter.com/sVgkstyRfH— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2020
Quandre Diggs intercepted Wentz in the end zone to end Philly’s next drive on a pass that seemed almost intended for the Seahawks safety, and after another Eagles turnover on downs, Myers tacked on a 39-yard field goal with 1:14 to go.
The Eagles’ Richard Rogers hauled in a 33-yard deflected pass to add on a TD in garbage time. Though Miles Sanders ran in the two-point conversion, Seattle recovered the onside kick and escaped with the win.
SEA – Jason Myers 33 FG, 11:11
SEA – Jason Myers 39 FG, 1:14
PHI – Richard Rogers 33 pass from Wentz (Miles Sanders run), :12
Can the Hawks’ offense be physical and still ‘Let Russ Cook’?
