Seahawks Instant Reaction: 710 ESPN Seattle on 23-17 win over Eagles

The Seahawks took care of business in Philadelphia on Monday night, winning 23-17 to improve to 8-3 on the year and maintain sole possession of first place in the NFC West.

Seahawks 23, Eagles 17: Recap | No reason to complain | DK dominates

As we do after every Seahawks game, we have collected the instant reactions of the hosts and producers from 710 ESPN Seattle’s shows to the win over the Eagles. Read what they have to say below, and remember this is just a taste of the coverage that we will have on the station all day Tuesday beginning with Danny and Gallant at 7 a.m. and The Pete Carroll Show at 9:30 a.m.

Stacy Rost – Jake and Stacy

If you’re a pessimist, you could argue the Seahawks’ defense didn’t prove much Monday night considering the competition. Philadelphia has the 28th-ranked passing offense and Carson Wentz is leading the league with 14 interceptions. His season has been so poor that when second-round pick Jalen Hurts entered the game, fans wondered whether Wentz has been benched (no such luck, Eagles fans).

But that’s not what the Seahawks needed. This is a defense whose talent hardly excuses a poor performance well through the first half of the year. They have an All-Pro linebacker in Bobby Wagner, are enjoying a solid season from K.J. Wright, they traded two first rounders and more for All-Pro safety Jamal Adams, and traded again for a veteran pass rusher in Carlos Dunlap. That’s why the question after last week’s performance wasn’t “Where did this come from?” but rather “Where has this been?”

So then, it’s hard not to think a big part of the issues surrounding this defense – in addition to injuries – are with communication, coaching, or execution. Realistically, no one factor can account for what was temporarily the worst passing defense in NFL history.

That’s why even with Wentz’s horrific season and the Eagles’ offensive struggles, the Seahawks should leave Philadelphia feeling satisfied with the effort they put together Monday night. This was a game they should have won, and they did. They racked up six sacks, 10 quarterback hits and an interception. The Seahawks’ defense doesn’t need to prove it can beat the best team, because right now it can’t. What the Seahawks need is a stretch of games to get right, and Monday’s win marked a successful first step.

Big moment: 52-yard completion to DK Metcalf to the PHI-1. Led to Seattle’s first score of the game (touchdown pass to David Moore) and finally opened up scoring for the Seahawks.

Favorite moment: Chris Carson bulldozing his way into the end zone for a touchdown, carrying a few Eagles defenders along the way.

Big miss: Non-call on intentional grounding penalty. Carson Wentz clearly throws the ball short of the line of scrimmage (it’s caught by someone on the Seahawks sideline next to the ref). Would have been loss of down and a spot of foul. Instead the Eagles keep driving and ultimately get a touchdown.

Bob Stelton – Wyman and Bob

It wasn’t always pretty but the Seahawks did what they needed to do to get the win.

That should be the attitude for the next three games against the worst division in the NFL, the NFC East. Style points mean nothing in these games – just win.

The first quarter was ugly for both offenses. The Hawks couldn’t get anything going at all, and the Eagles and Carson Wentz lived down to their reputation going three-and-out on their first five possessions.

Despite the Hail Mary TD at the end of the game for Philadelphia, this Hawks defense played pretty well once again. They sacked Wentz six times and picked him off once. Jamal Adams is a guy who just makes big plays. He records another sack along with nine tackles and just seemed to be disruptive for the majority of the game.

On offense it was the DK Metcalf show. He ends the night with 10 catches on 13 targets for 177 yards. He also goes over 1,000 receiving yards on the season. But more importantly, he continues to use his size and speed to his advantage. He was a nightmare for Darius Slay all night long, and he also seems to have become the new version of Breno Giacomini. By that I mean that he gets under the skin of the opposing defense and forces them into foolish decisions, costing them penalty yards. He did have a drop in the end zone that absolutely should have been caught for a TD. Aside from that, he continues to show why the entire league is buzzing about him.

Russell Wilson was efficient once again: 22 for 31 for 231 yards and a TD. But most importantly, no turnovers.

It’s easy to look at the next three games with little concern but we’ve learned over the years that the Seahawks don’t blow anybody out, regardless of their opponent’s record. They’re now all alone in first place in the NFC West. Again, not always pretty, but they’re winning.

Paul Gallant – Danny and Gallant

Can a football victory be annoying?

A football broadcast sure can. Especially when the late stages of an 8-3 team’s 23-17 ‘W’ turns into an excuse parade for a QB who’s been sacked 46 times and thrown 15 interceptions in just 11 games. Or a conversation about the battle for first place in the NFL’s worst division.

“Forget the broadcast, PAWL. THE GAME. THAT’S WHAT YOU’RE HERE FOR.”

Yeah, it can. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy about Monday night’s result. At 8-3, the Seahawks are alone in first place in the NFC West. They’ve got a great shot at grabbing the NFC’s 1 seed. I just… wanted a blowout. And the Seahawks could have had it! With a couple of fourth down conversions – heck, just one – and referees that understand how intentional grounding works, Seattle could have had a 24-0 halftime lead. Instead they led just 14-6 at the break, taking their sweet time to put away an enemy that appeared to be begging for a merciful death.

The Seahawks defense, including an especially terrifying Jamal Adams, deserves credit for its play over the last two and a half games. But I found myself more distracted by what Carson Wentz has become – a quarterback who needs to be benched – than impressed by Seattle stringing together consecutive plus performances on defense. Why did Philadelphia leave him in there? I mean, the overthrows, the underthrows, the sacks, and that punt of an interception to Quandre Diggs. The list goes on and on. He’s… bad. And he ruined my Monday night.

Still, Seattle wasn’t able to take advantage. Yes, DK Metcalf is an Eagle eviscerator. He ran over, jumped over, and bullied Philadelpha defenders to the point that Darius Slay tried to fight him in the first quarter. And Chris Carson still looks like Chris Carson. But the rest of the Hawks’ offense was stuck in neutral. They struggled to slow down the Eagles pass rush, were slow to the line of scrimmage, made some strange play calls, and quite frankly underachieved in a game where the defense (and  Wentz) set them up for spike after spike after spike.

A win is a win. And this win was an annoying win.

The Groz – 710 ESPN Seattle host emeritus

It was going to be tough for the Seahawks to score many style points during the four-week stretch they’re in right now against some of the NFL’s lesser lights, and they didn’t score many in a dreary 23-17 win over the Eagles in a game that wasn’t that close.

The Eagles are woeful on offense and the Seahawks’ defense played a solid game in keeping Wentz and the Eagles out of the end zone when it counted. Seattle forced two turnovers and sacked Wentz six times. It was a solid defensive effort with very few mistakes.

Offensively, for the third straight time the Seahawks had trouble with the Eagles’ defensive line. If not for Wilson to Metcalf, there wasn’t a whole lot that happened on offense. It wasn’t pretty but you were going to win this game if you didn’t turn it over and limited mistakes and the Seahawks did. Expect more ugliness against the Giants, Washington and the Jets, and remember it doesn’t matter as long as you win. The Rams didn’t and neither did the Cards so Seattle is in the driver’s seat in the NFC West.

Curtis Rogers – Jake and Stacy producer

You ever get the middle seat on a flight? It’s awkward for the duration but really you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. That’s what Monday’s win over the Eagles was like. There wasn’t much to dislike about the outcome, but it never felt like anyone besides DK Metcalf got into a groove.

Let’s start with DK. There is no wide receiver more dangerous in the entire NFL than him. He’s leading the league in receiving yards and surpassed 1,000 yards in a season for the first of many times in his career. He’s only a couple hundred yards short of Steve Largent’s team record of 1,287 receiving yards in a season. Did I mention the Seahawks have five games remaining for Metcalf to blow past that mark much in the same way he did to Darius Slay all Monday night?

On the defensive side of things, the big question was whether or not the Seahawks could replicate their performance from a week ago against the Cardinals. Not only did they match it, but they were able to build off of it by taking advantage of the Eagles’ putrid offense. Six sacks, 12 QB hits, and an interception. That’s what good defenses are supposed to do. So what if the Seahawks were playing an inferior opponent? They made Philadelphia look like it for 60 minutes.

Is this defense finally good enough to put Seattle among the Super Bowl contenders? It’s getting there, and the great thing for the Seahawks is the NFC is so up for grabs that they won’t have to worry about most championship-caliber teams until the actual Super Bowl itself.

D.J. Wilder – Danny and Gallant producer

What a really weird and ugly win for the Seahawks that felt very 2012-y. The defense did what a good defense is supposed to against a bad offense, only giving up 250 total yards (most of them coming on that garbage time drive) and causing constant pressure on Carson Wentz, resulting in six sacks.

The defense looks much improved in their last three games, only giving up 20.3 points per game, down from 30 in their first eight games, and they could keep improving by feasting on a banged-up Giants team this Sunday.

I’m not going to freak out about the offense only putting up 23 points. The Eagles have a good defense and their front seven was as good as advertised. But once again, DK Metcalf keeps proving why he should’ve been the first wide receiver taken in the 2019 draft. He had 10 receptions for 177 yards and just worked Darius Slay Jr. Pour one out for the Pro Bowl defensive back.

Now the Seahawks are 8-3 with a real chance to get to 11-3 before facing off against the Rams in Week 16. But first, a date with the NFC East-leading New York Giants.

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