Seahawks-Eagles score, instant reaction

As I Sea It, Week 15-Seahawks Eagles 12/18/2023: Seaside Joe 1751

Surprisingly, the Seahawks did not enter Monday night’s game in the Eagles in a technical “must-win” situation because of the calamity that is the NFC wild card race, which was a stocking stuffed by 7-7 teams after Sunday. So, Seattle could lose to Philly on Monday and luckily be about one game back of making the playoffs with three games to go, all against teams that have their own version of disarray.

What the Seahawks needed more than anything else was inspiration and belief.

Seasiders…That’s what we got.

The Seahawks kept the game close after starting with a 10-0 deficit and Drew Lock, DK Metcalf, and Julian Love kept chipping away at the Eagles until finally Seattle took a 20-17 lead with :28 seconds left in the game. Love then intercepted Jalen Hurts for the second time in the quarter and the Seahawks snapped a four-game losing streak to climb back into the thick of the wild card hunt.

At 7-7 with a 6-5 conference record, the Seahawks still trail the Vikings (7-7, 6-3) and Rams (7-7, 5-4, 2-0 head to head record with Seattle) but they could get into the picture again by beating the Titans on Sunday. The playoff odds now sit at 55% and that number could jump to roughly 75% with a win in Tennessee.

But best of all, the Seahawks completed their best post-September win in any game over the last four years.

The Eagles are not as good as they were last season; Hurts is not as good, the defense is a lot worse, and regression is taking its money back from helping Philadelphia beat a not-real 49ers team without a real quarterback in last year’s NFC Championship. And yet, the Eagles are 10-4 and once again have a roster loaded with Pro Bowl players…

Pro Bowl players who Seattle did a good job of containing on Monday.

A.J. Brown had 56 yards on 10 targets, DeVonta Smith had 50 on 5, and Hurts was held to 143 passing yards with two interceptions, but did rush for 82 yards and two touchdowns. After giving up a painfully long touchdown drive to start the game with 4 converted third downs, the Seahawks held the Eagles to only 10 more points, five punts, and Love forced those two key turnovers.

It was almost exactly like a Seahawks game, except for the ending.

Drew Lock was completely fine for most of the game. He had some good passes that were dropped, along with some bad passes that he may have got away with, but ultimately he had what fans have needed for years: A strong finish.

Needing to finally force feed their best receiver, Lock found DK Metcalf for 18 yards on the final drive, then six yards, then 34 yards to move Seattle from the 8 to the PHI 29. After not connecting with Lockett twice, Lock got back to Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a go-ahead touchdown.

He finished the game 22-of-33 for 208 yards and a touchdown, but it almost all came in the last two minutes.

The heroes for the rest of the game were Ken Walker on offense (86 rushing yards, 1 TD, 26 receiving yards and Seattle is 4-0 when he gets over 100 total yards), the offensive line mostly keeping Lock clean all night, Leonard Williams on defense, and Love’s two timely picks to give the Seahawks a chance at the end. There was also Michael Dickson, who averaged 56 yards per punt, and Jason Myers going 2-of-2 on field goals and 2-of-2 on extra points.

And thankfully we don’t have to talk about Pete’s timeout usage.

But you can talk about whatever you want, that’s what these post-game articles are for:

As I Sea It, the Seahawks are 7-7. And though a loss may not have technically eliminated them from the playoffs, it would have sapped the last ounce of what this team needs even more than a win.

Belief.