The Seattle Seahawks pulled off a classic Pete Carroll victory in Week 15. Poorly used timeouts, trailing for most of the game, seemingly lost and the season along with it, and somehow Seattle won. After the Seahawks 20-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, the team is now 7-7 with a decent chance of going 10-7 and making the postseason.
DK Metcalf had been shut down most of the game, but was huge on Seattle's final drive. He has done that several times this season. After having just one catch for most of the game, Metcalf finished with 5 catches for 78 yards. And then, on a dime by Drew Lock, Jaxon Smith-Njigba was able to pull in a 29 yard touchdown catch with 22 seconds left.
The game seemed loss. So did the season. But Drew Lock, with a lot of help from running back Kenneth Walker, shockingly came through. Here are some quick takeaways.
Takeaway No. 1 - Leonard Williams is a must re-sign for the Seahawks
Williams is going to be an expensive free agent to re-sign, but Seattle has to find the money to do so. He has been fantastic since he came to the Seahawks in a trade earlier in the year. Against the Eagles, Williams had 5 tackles including 2 tackles for loss. He was simply unblockable at times. Whatever it takes to bring him back, Seattle needs to find the way.
Takeaway No. 2 - Seattle should have a QB1 battle
The question isn't even really about whether the Seahawks are better now with Geno Smith than with Drew Lock, but what happens in 2024. Smith has a $31 million cap hit next year, Lock is a free agent. If Seattle re-signs him, he isn't going to cost the team the $17 million that Seattle would save in cap room by releasing Smith.
Lock to JSN for the lead!
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There is also no guarantee Smith would have won the game in Week 15, but Lock was just accurate enough without having any turnovers and then made several huge throws on Seattle's final drive and he led the team to a victory. I will say that again: Drew Lock was the reason the Seahawks won the game because of what he did on the final drive of the game.
Takeaway No. 3 - The defense is better without Jamal Adams
Maybe the Eagles are just off somehow, as they have now lost three straight games. But while the defense gave up two 15-plus play drives in the first half, they never completely broke. Plus, safety Julian Love got to play a more natural safety spot without Jamal Adams cluttering up the field.
Love had 2 second half interceptions, including one that basically ended the game. The Seahawks defense held Philadelphia to 321 total yards, but just 4.7 yards per play. Not playing Jamal Adams the rest of the season would be wise.