The Eagles are currently trailing the Seattle Seahawks 16-7 after one half of football. Here's what we saw in the first half:
What Worked
-Eagles special teams continue to dominate. Bennie Logan had his second blocked kick of the year, (get that man a new contract.) And after the Eagles first touchdown, Jaylen Watkins and the rest of the kick coverage squad dropped the returner inside the 10-yard line.
–Marcus Smith continued his string of solid games, stringing out an outside run and forcing a four-yard loss.
-Great job by Doug Pederson to use the running backs and tight ends as the focal points of today's offensive gameplan. The usage of Zach Ertz and Brent Celek on the Birds' first scoring drive was key in the team getting the touchdown and the lead. That drive took almost eight minutes of the clock and shut the crowd right up, at least, temporarily.
What Didn't
-As expected, the Eagles really struggled with down-field passing. On their first drive, Wentz was only able to complete a pass on a short slant. The Eagles lined up Trey Burton and Ertz on the outside in an effort to get better matchups with the Seahawks' secondary, but the true wide receivers really struggled to get separation.
Even on the deep incompletion to Bryce Treggs, Wentz threw a beautiful ball, but the speedster could not out-run Earl Thomas and let the ball fall right through his hands.
–Jalen Mills took a terrible angle on CJ Prosise's 72-yard touchdown run and the Eagles paid for it. Although, the rookie redeemed himself with good coverage on the Seahawks next drive, defending a third down pass to end the drive.
-Other than that play by Smith, the Eagles run defense has been incredibly porous, allowing that run by Prosise and a few big runs to Thomas Rawls. With ball control being such a big part of the Eagles gameplan, they need to get off the field and not let the Seahawks run all over them.
-Watkins on Jimmy Graham? Not a good matchup and the Seahawks took advantage of it for seven points.
–Nelson Agholor has proven to be completely useless. What a killer that illegal formation penalty was, calling back a 50-yard touchdown it had nothing to do with. Instead of a 14-13 lead, the Eagles ended up having to punt after Wentz had to throw a ball away. And then he dropped a 25-yard pass that hit him in the chest. It's obvious he can't produce in the NFL.
Halftime Adjustment
The Eagles secondary needs to tighten some things up. They have been picked apart by Wilson all day, allowing over 10 yards per attempt. The pass rush is getting a decent push, but with Wilson's elusiveness, the secondary needs to be able to stay with receivers longer in order to shut down this passing game.
Second Half X-Factor: Wendell Smallwood
With Ryan Mathews's and Darren Sproles's health in question, the Eagles need the rookie running back to shoulder the load. The Birds' defense seems to be struggling to keep up with Russell Wilson and need to be kept off the field if the Eagles want to come back and win this game. If Smallwood can keep them ahead of the chains and moving down the field, the pressure will be taken off of Wentz and the rest of the team.
