Seahawks far from perfect but beat Eagles and move on

The Seahawks were not perfect on Sunday against the Eagles but the important part is they won the game and move on in the playoffs.

The Seahawks defeated the Eagles on Sunday 17-9 in an ugly game where Seattle was far from its offensive potential. Seattle’s defense also got a break when the Eagles lost Carson Wentz in the first quarter with an injury. But at the end of the game, Seattle was the better team and now travels to Green Bay next week to play the Packers.

The statistics belie what was really going on in the game. Seattle outgained Philadelphia 382 to 282 in total yards but trailed in time of possession 33:15 to 26:45. The Eagles also got more first downs than Seattle 20-16. And the Seahawks could not run the ball with just 64 yards on the ground, though 45 of those were on Russell Wilson scrambles.

Marshawn Lynch, brought on to replace Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny, gained just 7 yards on 6 carries. His lack of productivity was not his fault as he had nowhere to run. However, he did have a Beast Mode-type touchdown run in the first half to make it 10-3 just before halftime. Lynch’s run gave Seattle’s offense a temporary spark. He also had a nice 20-yard reception for a first down.

Let me be clear that should Seattle not be able to run the ball better than they did on Sunday, the Seahawks will lose their next game. Russell Wilson and company are not currently good enough to win in the postseason for very long on throwing the ball solely. But goodness, they sure look like someday that might be the case.

The reason for this is that D.K. Metcalf looked like a complete beast in this game. Metcalf finished with 160 yards receiving on 7 catches on 9 targets. Plus, he had a 53-yard touchdown catch when he so thoroughly outran the Eagles defender that he was able to catch the ball, fall down and get back and run the ball in for a touchdown. Metcalf basically ended the game by catching a seam pass on third and long for 37 yards to the Seattle 46. Seattle simply ran the clock out from that point.

Seattle’s defense also had 7 sacks, a season-high, though that amounted to just 15 yards lost for the Eagles. Quinton Jefferson had 2 of them and Jadeveon Clowney had 1 plus 2 tackles for loss among his 5 tackles. So, the Seahawks were able to get pressure but Philadelphia was still able to gain yards behind a backup quarterback for most of the game, especially with Tre Flowers picking up bad pass interference calls.

Seattle will next travel to Green Bay and played the 13-3 Packers. Green Bay has a great quarterback, of course, so Seattle will need to be better than they were on Sunday. But Seattle also might get left tackle Duane Brown back and didn’t lose anyone else invaluable against the Eagles. Anything can happen in the playoffs.