Seahawks defense dominates depleted Eagles offense in ugly 17-9 win

Good call by the NFL to flex this one out of Sunday Night Football.

The Seattle Seahawks (9-2) didn’t have a particularly good day on offense, with drops, unusually inaccurate throws by Russell Wilson (13/25 for 200 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT), and poor offensive line play. However, they still got two touchdowns from unlikely sources — Malik Turner and the much-maligned Rashaad Penny (129 yards rushing) — and the defense smothered Carson Wentz and the decimated Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) offense to the tune of five turnovers and three sacks.

Seattle’s 17-9 victory could not have been much uglier, but a win is a win and they are on the cusp of clinching a playoff spot. If the San Francisco 49ers lose to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, then the Seahawks will be atop the NFC West.

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1st Half

The Eagles got the ball first and immediately went three-and-out, with a near-interception by Quandre Diggs on 3rd down. Seattle also had a three-and-out, with DK Metcalf failing to haul in a deep ball on a scramble play. Michael Dickson’s shanked punt into the wind gave the Eagles a short field, and they turned it into a field goal. It should’ve been a touchdown, but Carson Wentz airmailed an easy throw to Miles Sanders. 3-0 Eagles.

Seattle answered back with a four-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Malik Turner’s first NFL touchdown. Schotty got tricky with the flea flicker for 33 yards! 7-3 Seahawks.

Rasheem Green added to Philly’s woes with a strip-sack of Wentz, who was seemingly unaware that he was even near him, and Al Woods was there to recover. Seattle went three-and-out, so no points were scored, but Michael Dickson did pin them at the 1.

Another Wentz fumble was recovered by the Seahawks, but it was negated by a Shaquill Griffin hold. No worries, as Wentz was in a giving mood and fired off an interception to Bradley McDougald.

Wilson engineered an 11-play, 77-yard drive that included a big deep ball to David Moore, a 3rd down slant to Josh Gordon, and a 26-yard toss play by Rashaad Penny. Russ unfortunately airmailed a throw to Jacob Hollister that should’ve been an easy touchdown. Instead, Jason Myers made a chipshot field goal. 10-3 Seahawks.

Punts and sacks were exchanged over the next several minutes, and the Seahawks should’ve been up 17-3 on a deep ball to DK Metcalf. He dropped it. What a brutal way to go into halftime.

2nd Half

Another misfire to Metcalf killed a Seahawks drive, with DK unable to stretch out and haul in a long ball from Wilson.

...This happened. The turnover of the year. (Quinton Jefferson was down when he made the lateral, so the ending didn’t count)

Unfortunately, the Seahawks kept committing penalties, turning field goal range into 3rd and 25 and an eventual interception by Wilson on a pass intended for David Moore. Rodney McLeod made the pick. Thankfully, this led to no points, as the Eagles FINALLY got called for a penalty that killed their drive.

A 5th sack of Wilson nearly led to another Seahawks punt, but Jalen Mills holding Josh Gordon on 3rd and 12 extended the series. Philadelphia would pay dearly for this, as a 1st and 20 run turned into a 58-yard touchdown for Rashaad Penny, who had himself one hell of a day. 17-3 Seahawks.

Philadelphia fans were leaving after that touchdown. Presumably more of them left after Dallas Goedert fumbled and the Seahawks recovered for their fourth takeaway.

Chris Carson, as ever, felt the need to fumble it back to the Eagles. He got away with one on 1st down, then botched the handoff on 2nd down on a fumble that will surely be charged to Wilson. Unreal. The Seahawks defense kept up its dominance by turning the Eagles over on downs.

A 40-yard lob from Wilson to Tyler Lockett gave him his first (and only) catch of the afternoon, which helped kill some time before Wilson got sacked out of field goal range. Punt time once more. Turnover time once more! Tre Flowers with the pick of Wentz.

The Eagles got a TD in garbage time with only a handful of seconds remaining. Good for them. Zach Ertz had a nice day. They fumbled the two-point conversion and then ran a horrible onside kick. 17-9 Seahawks Final.

Seahawks Injury Report

DT Jarran Reed tweaked his ankle in the 2nd quarter. He did not return.

FB Nick Bellore hurt his quad in the 3rd quarter and did not return.

Next week’s opponent

The Seahawks return home on Monday, December 2nd for a huge Monday Night Football showdown with the Minnesota Vikings (8-3) at 5:15 PM PT on ESPN.