Eagles cannot overcome Russell Wilson, mistakes in loss to Seahawks

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Eagles saw their nine game winning streak come to end on Sunday night after a stellar performance from Russell Wilson handed the Eagles their first lost since week two by a score of 24-10 at CenturyLink Field. 

The Seahawks opened the scoring with a mechanical drive that included two big third down conversions led by the arm of Wilson who was 4-of-6 for 33 yards and had nine yards rushing. Wilson nearly halted the Seahawks momentum when he threw an ill-advised pass that Malcolm Jenkins almost picked off of the turf for an interception. 

After Mychal Kendricks made a stop on 3rd and 10 Blair Walsh came on to kick a 46-yard field goal to give the Seahawks an early 3-0 lead. 

On the Seahawks third drive of the game Wilson would heat up again. As Wilson does so often he extended the play and found running back Mike Davis for a 23-yard gain. The Eagles then committed back-t0-back penalties to put the Seahawks in striking range. 

Wilson would throw a perfectly placed back shoulder throw to tight end Jimmy Graham at the pylon, scoring the first touchdown of the season on the Eagles defense in the first quarter this season. 

After a Walsh extra point the Seahawks would take a 10-0 lead into the second quarter. The Eagles did not do themselves any favors with four penalties for 44 yards in the first quarter. 

The Eagles would start to click on their first drive of the second quarter by leaning on the running game. LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi, and Corey Clement all made an impact on the drive, but the biggest impact came from an undisciplined Seattle defense. 

Seattle gave the Eagles multiple first downs on the drive but the Eagles could not get out of their own way to punch it into the end zone. After Alshon Jeffery negated a Blount rush to the one-yard line Jake Elliott would kick a 26-yard field goal to give the Eagles their first points of the game. 

The defensive duel persisted for the remainder of the second quarter, and the Seahawks took a 10-3 lead into halftime. 

The tide started to turn in the Eagles favor with their first drive of the second half after Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz each caught two passes after combining for one target in the first half. 

The Eagles marched down to the Seattle five-yard line when Carson Wentz rushed towards the goalline. Wentz was stripped at the one-yard line and the ball bounced out of the end zone for a Seattle touchback – killing the Eagles best drive of the night so far. 

The Seahawks would take the ball and go 80-yards on a 10 play drive. On the drive Wilson picked apart the Eagles twice when Jim Schwartz blitzed the MVP candidate. 

First Schwartz dialed up the zero blitz and Wilson launched the ball down the field for a 47-yard gain to Doug Baldwin. The play was originally called a touchdown but Rodney McLeod managed to force Baldwin out. 

The Eagles defense held on the one-yard line to force third and goal when Schwartz blitzed again. Wilson kept his poise once more and found Tyler Lockett all alone in the end zone to give Seattle a 17-3 lead. That would be the score going into the final quarter. 

The Eagles clawed back into the game after two great connections by Carson Wentz and Nelson Agholor. On a third and long deep in Eagles territory Wentz rolled out and found Agholor 51 yards down the field while being tackled for a huge conversion that took the Eagles out of their own territory. The play was truly phenomenal:

HOW DID @CJ_WENTZ MAKE THIS THROW?! 😱 pic.twitter.com/C2MFamu6p5

— NFL (@NFL) December 4, 2017

Later in the drive the Eagles were faced with another third and long, and this time Wentz escaped the pocket to the right and then threw back to the left side of the field to hit Agholor in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown to make it a one score game. 

Wilson would not be outdone. The Seahawks quarterback put on a master class of elusiveness by extending the play both behind the line and down the field. On a third and nine Wilson rushed up the middle, and alertly lateraled the ball to Davis who then converted the third down and picked up plenty of extra yards. Seattle hurried to the line before the Eagles could challenge what may have been an illegal forward pass, but it was a heads up play nonetheless from Wilson. 

Wilson would cap off the drive with a touchdown pass to a wide open J.D. McKissic, leaving the Eagles down 24-10 with just under eight minutes in the game. 

Wentz and the Eagles drove down the field, thanks in part to three catches from Trey Burton who was filling in for Zach Ertz after Ertz left the game following a concussion. Despite generating some offense the Eagles would turn it over on downs. 

After the defense got a stop the offense would have another chance to salvage the game. After a fourth down conversion by Corey Clement, Carson Wentz forced a ball to Nelson Agholor into double coverage in the end zone where former Eagles cornerback Byron Maxwell intercepted the pass – sealing the Seahawks victory. 

Russell Wilson completed 20-of-31 passes for 227 yards with three touchdowns, and added 31 yards on the ground. 

Wentz threw for 348 yards, completing 29-of-44 passes with a touchdown, and interception, and a fumble. It was Wentz's first game with 300 passing yards since week five against the Arizona Cardinals and Wentz's first game with two turnovers since week seven against the Washington Redskins. 

Nelson Agholor did have a great game, becoming the second Eagles receiver to have 100 receiving yards in the same game this season. Agholor finished with seven catches for 141 yards. 

The Eagles are now tied with the New England Patriots and the Minnesota Vikings for the best record in the NFL. 

The Eagles will face the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams (9-3) next Sunday.