December 18, 2023
The Eagles, as they have as a franchise for more than a decade, lost to the Seattle Seahawks Monday night, 20-17.
And the Eagles, as they are this season, just dropped their third straight, and maybe in the most devastating fashion yet.
Up four, and with under two minutes left, Drew Lock – starting in place of an injured Geno Smith – used his top receivers to hammer away at a weakened Eagles' defense and got the Seahawks downfield and into the endzone to put them up with only seconds left.
And an Eagles' offense that had been spotty all night didn't have the time or the ability to respond.
They're 10-4. The No. 1 seed in the NFC is looking like a major reach now, and the race for the division with Dallas is far from over.
The vibes are in absolute shambles. Here's why...
The Eagles' defense finally got a stop on third down again. A three-and-out marked the start of the Matt Patricia era. Then they came back out and got another – albeit with the help of some timely flags and offensive miscues on Seattle's part.
But hey, they were stops...
Until the Seahawks figured something out, or at least enough out.
A 20-yard defensive pass interference foul on Josh Jobe while trying to cover DK Metcalf kickstarted Seattle toward a chip-away 67-yard drive late in the first half that got them on the board with a field goal.
Then, receiving the ball coming back for the second, Kenneth Walker powered the Seahawks downfield, hitting his holes quickly and making cuts around the edge that left Eagles tacklers whiffing – mainly Sidney Brown, who had just a brutal series as Walker went on to tie it up at 10 for the Seahawks.
KENNETH WALKER III IS ELECTRIC 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fPjG89iE9a
— PFF Fantasy Football (@PFF_Fantasy) December 19, 2023
The Eagles' stacked defensive line didn't register a sack until late in the third quarter, continuing to just not be able to get home like they used to, while the secondary remains vulnerable and increasingly banged up, which Seattle was eventually able to take advantage of and especially on that last game-winning drive (more on that below).
Handing off playcalling duties to Matt Patricia was never going to fix all of that, and on Monday night, it wasn't enough to at least mask it for a game either.
For every big offensive play from the Eagles Monday night, it felt like there was always one or two to match to keep them stagnated.
Jalen Hurts and co., even with his illness, were still able to throw together a couple of long and methodical touchdown drives but couldn't avoid stalling out otherwise.
Credit to Seattle. They covered passing plays well.
The Eagles, however, had their opportunities to really dig a hole but just couldn't.
A debatable false start charged to Jason Kelce on a third down from within the red zone killed the Eagles' momentum on the spot and left them to settle for a Jake Elliott field goal after a run from D'Andre Swift went nowhere.
The Eagles still went up 10-0 late in the first half, but that was arguably an extra four points left on the table, and with the way this team has fared of late, important ones too.
Checkdowns from Hurts under pressure that had nowhere else to go but backwards and an underthrow of A.J. Brown streaking along the sideline on a 3rd and 8 from their own 23 late in the third also came back to bite them.
And look, Hurts' illness was always going to be a narrative in this one. At times, he looked like he was powering straight through it, either taking off himself or keeping the "tush push" undefeated. Other times, be it batted passes or drops off directly into traffic, yeah, he looked like he wasn't sharp.
Then he went for this:
Julian Love intercepts the deep ball!
— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2023
📺: #PHIvsSEA on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/bbJNB6yPkz pic.twitter.com/bANR4cvL4l
It was a killer late.
And yeah, there's a PI debate to be had there, but it won't matter now.
That final, game-winning drive from Seattle highlighted everything wrong with the Eagles' defense all within a minute and 24 seconds.
With the seconds ticking down, the pass coverage got picked apart.
Needing to pile on pressure, Drew Lock had all the time he needed.
And facing two third-down situations, the Eagles' secondary surrendered two big passing plays. The former going to DK Metcalf to bring Seattle deep into Eagles' territory, and the latter going for the game – a 29-yard floater to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the end zone, with James Bradberry getting torched along the sideline.
Lock to JSN for the lead!
— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2023
📺: #PHIvsSEA on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/bbJNB6yPkz pic.twitter.com/t7q0x5073q
Brutal way to end a crucial game.
And a sobering wakeup call – another one, even – for a team that was just barely getting by for so long, but suddenly can't anymore.
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