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The Philadelphia Eagles did pretty much everything right on defense for the first 58 minutes of Monday night’s game. But they can’t totally hide a secondary that has surprisingly cratered this season.
The Eagles gave up a 92-yard game-winning drive to a Seattle Seahawks team with quarterback Drew Lock at the helm. DK Metcalf, held down for most of the game, made some huge plays in the final two minutes. Lock hit rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a go-ahead 29-yard touchdown pass on third-and-10. The Seahawks held on for the 20-17 win, which pushes them to 7-7 and keeps them alive in the NFC playoff race.
The Eagles changed their defensive play-caller before Monday’s game, demoting Sean Desai and promoting Matt Patricia, the failed former Detroit Lions head coach. It seemed like a strangely desperate move for a team that was 10-3. For most of the game it seemed to work.
Then, in the final two minutes, all the season-long problems resurfaced. Credit Lock, the backup who was replacing injured Geno Smith and made the throws when the Seahawks needed them. But also continue to wonder if this poor Eagles defense is going to keep Philly from making another deep playoff run.
Sport Eagles have some long drives
The Eagles held the ball for nearly the whole first half, which helped the defense. It might have worn out Jalen Hurts a bit though. Hurts almost didn’t play due to an unspecified illness. His status wasn’t clear until a few hours before kickoff.
Philadelphia had an 8-minute, 29-second drive that ended in a touchdown and an 8:26 drive that resulted in a field goal in the first half. The field goal drive might have finished with a touchdown too, but on third-and-1, Eagles center Jason Kelce was called for a questionable false start penalty. That led to the drive stalling.
The Seahawks were down 10-0 but they battled back. They got a field goal before the half. Then, in the third quarter, Kenneth Walker III had a nice cutback block, and with Lock hustling downfield to be a lead blocker, Walker got in the end zone for a 23-yard score to tie the game.
The Eagles took back the lead and the method was no surprise. A D’Andre Swift run was tackled at the 1-yard line, so the Eagles ran the “Brotherly Shove” and surged forward for a Hurts score to make it 17-10. ESPN said it was the 15th assisted quarterback sneak touchdown for Hurts and the Eagles since the start of last season.
Seattle trailed by seven, and given how their offense was struggling to move the ball against the Eagles, it seemed like a big hole for the Seahawks.
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Sport Eagles hold a lead into the 4th quarter
Seattle got into Eagles territory and had to settle for a field goal to cut the lead to 17-13 after a series of misadventures. They planned to go for it on fourth-and-2, but the play clock was running down and they had to call a timeout. That was the second time that happened on a fourth down on the same drive. That gave the Eagles extra time to decide to challenge the previous play, and it was ruled that Lock was down for a sack. That cost the Seahawks 7 yards, they opted for a field goal instead and they didn’t get their timeout back either.
An interception by safety Julian Love was huge for Seattle, but the offense went run, run, pass, punt to give the ball right back. The Seahawks had only one timeout left and the Eagles’ offense is hard to hold down for too long. The Eagles finally punted, but it was at the two-minute warning. That wasn’t much time for Lock, and the Seahawks had just one touchdown at that point. And the drive started on Seattle’s own 8-yard line.
The Seahawks got some first downs and a nice 34-yard pass down the sideline to Metcalf. But two incompletions set up a third-and-10. It was no problem, as Smith-Njigba ran past cornerback James Bradberry and Lock hit him for the score. The Eagles’ defense played very well for most of the game, then couldn’t cover anyone when it mattered most. After the go-ahead score, Love somehow got both feet down on a leaping interception on a deep pass from Hurts and the game was over.
The Eagles are 10-4 and it wouldn’t seem like a last-minute loss at Seattle would be the end of the world. They’re still tied for first place in the NFC East and not in bad shape when it comes to tiebreakers against the Dallas Cowboys. But the defense is a problem that isn’t going away.