There were several times the Eagles were on the verge of getting things turned in the right direction. And every time they were, they turned things back into Seattle's favor.
The Seahawks controlled the play and held the Eagles silent. At the final whistle, the Eagles finished with just two touchdowns.
Defensively, all was not lost, as the Eagles contained the Seahawks well for the most part. But in the end, Seattle dealt the Eagles a taste of their own medicine in a 24-14 defeat at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles opened the scoring on the end of a turnover. A botched snap on a punt was recovered by Zach Ertz to put the Eagles in excellent field position. The Eagles capped a six-play, 14-yard drive with a one-yard pass from Mark Sanchez to Jeremy Maclin.
Seattle responded with a 10-play, 82-yard drive that featured a third-down holding penalty on Brandon Boykin and ended with a 26-yard run by Russell Wilson for a touchdown.
For most of the second quarter, neither team could find a rhythm offensively. The Eagles defense stood tall against Seattle while the Eagles offense floundered. In the closing moments of the first half, the Seahawks put together a drive that was capped by a 44-yard field goal for Steven Hauschka.
The Eagles opened the second half with the ball. That's when the turnovers started.
LeSean McCoy fumbled the ball on the first play of the half with Earl Thomas recovering. Two plays later, Wilson hit Marshawn Lynch for a 15-yard touchdown.
Trailing by 10, the Eagles delivered the perfect response. Led by a good kick return from Josh Huff, the Eagles needed four plays to complete a 54-yard drive, capped by a 35-yard touchdown from Sanchez to Ertz.
But Seattle answered the touchdown with one of their own, using five plays to move 91 yards. The big play of the drive was a 44-yard pass interference play on Bradley Fletcher. The drive ended with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Doug Baldwin.
The Eagles were clinging to life when Lynch fumbled on a third-down play and the Eagles recovered. On the next play, Sanchez was intercepted by Tharold Simon.
The Eagles final possession lasted six plays and went for 12 yards. When they punted the ball away, they handed Seattle the game with 4:07 to play.
Seattle dominated the Eagles in total yards, 440-139. The Eagles had just 57 rushing yards and 82 passing yards for the game. The Eagles lost 69 yards on four penalties. The time of possession for Seattle was 41:56, compared to 18:04 for Philadelphia. Both teams had two turnovers and Seattle ran nearly twice as many plays as the Eagles, 85-45.
Sanchez was 10-for-20 for 96 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. McCoy rushed for 50 yards on 17 carries, passing Wilbert Montgomery for the Eagles all-time rushing record. Ertz led all receivers with 39 yards and a touchdown. Maclin and Riley Cooper each had three catches to tie for the team lead.
Fletcher Cox and Mychal Kendricks tied for the team lead with 11 tackles. Connor Barwin and Vinny Curry each had sacks. The Eagles had seven tackles for loss – Curry had two to lead the team.
Wilson was 22-for-37 for 263 yards and two touchdowns. Wilson also rushed for 48 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Lynch rushed for 86 yards on 23 carries. Baldwin led the Seahawks with 97 yards on five catches with one touchdown.
Bobby Wagner led the Seahawks with seven tackles. Jordan Hill and Michael Bennett each had two tackles for loss, totalling four of Seattle's five. Bennent and Hill each had one sack, as did Marcus Burley.
The Eagles return next Sunday for a primetime meeting with the Dallas Cowboys. Kick-off is set for 8:30 p.m.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
