Seahawks Save Season Beating the Eagles on Monday Night Football

Philadelphia’s close game luck may have expired. Drew Lock completes a game-winning drive in the final seconds, keeping Seahawk’s playoff hopes alive in a dramatic 20-17 win in Seattle.

The Eagles led both the score and time of possession for the entire game until Lock hit Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who beat James Bradberry, with an over the shoulder dime for a touchdown with 28 seconds on the clock. 

All hope seemed to be lost for Seattle’s season, starting their final drive with under two minutes to play on their own eight-yard-line. They only had one timeout, thanks to a baffling mental gaffe by Pete Carroll who called a timeout on a 4th and 2 play allowing Nick Siriani to successfully challenge a sack on Lock despite his best attempt to throw it away. This wasted a timeout and gave the Eagles enough time to look over the play to gather the necessary information to challenge the play. Luckily for Carroll, his team bailed him out from a potentially season ending mistake. 

On their 10 play 92-yard drive, Lock connected with D.K. Metcalf three times for a few nice plays, including a Julian Edelman like catch swiping a loose ball before it hit the ground and a clutch 3rd down conversion on a 34 yard catch on the right sideline. 

After Lock connected with Smith-Njigba for the go ahead score, Jalen Hurts scrambled for 20 yards giving them a chance to get a first down and a chance to tie the game with a field goal. Needing only about ten yards to get in star kicker Jake Elliott’s range, Hurts threw a questionable home run ball deep into Seattle territory that safety Julian Love intercepted on a miraculous catch on the sideline. The Eagles had two timeouts with 13 seconds left, plenty of time to get at least one throw off to put Elliott in range to hit another late tying field goal like his clutch 59-yard kick in Week 12 against the Bills. 

Hurts, who flew to Seattle separately from the rest of the team due to an illness, played poorly when they needed more from their star quarterback. He threw 143 yards on 17/31 passing, threw two interceptions and no touchdowns. Philadelphia is reeling right now. Before this game, they demoted defensive coordinator Sean Desai by bringing in Matt Patricia to takeover play calling duties hoping it would fix the defensive unit that was embarrassed by the 49ers and Cowboys the last two weeks.  

While Seattle ended their four game losing streak and kept their playoff hopes alive, the Eagles have now lost three games in a row and look like a shell of their formerly dominant selves. The Eagles seemed unbeatable until this stretch, but their porous secondary and inconsistent offense haven’t given Philadelphia enough to win the last three weeks. 

With this loss, the 49ers just need to win two out of their three remaining games to clinch the NFC’s number one seed and a bye in the playoffs. Philadelphia slides to the fifth seed as the lowest seeded 10-4 team, behind (2) NFC East leader Dallas Cowboys and the (3) Detroit Lions.

The 49ers upcoming schedule includes the Baltimore Ravens, visiting the Washington Commanders, and hosting the Rams. With San Francisco’s stranglehold on the top seed, it seems more likely for the Eagles to play for their division crown over the Cowboys who they now trail. The Cowboys have some tough matchups to end their season. They travel to Miami to play the Dolphins, host the Lions, and visit the Commanders. The Eagles finish the season hosting the Cardinals sandwiched by games against the New York Giants. 

Seattle currently sits as the odd man out in the NFC, trailing the Rams who swept the Seahawks this season and the Minnesota Vikings who are all 7-7. The final three weeks should provide some chaos in both conferences. Buckle up, there will be turbulence.