Drew Lock, Seahawks stun Eagles in MNF comeback

SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks ended a four-game slide with a late successful drive to knock off the visiting Philadelphia Eagles, 20-17, on “Monday Evening Soccer” because the Eagles’ quest for the No. 1 general seed within the NFC took an enormous blow.

Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was energetic and began after he was downgraded to questionable Sunday due to an sickness, and backup Drew Lock received the beginning for a second straight week for Seattle as Geno Smith offers with a groin damage.

Julian Love’s second interception of the evening with six seconds left helped the Seahawks and their playoff possibilities as they’re proper within the thick of issues for a wild-card spot, however the Eagles’ third straight loss put them one sport behind the San Francisco 49ers for one of the best document within the NFC and at the moment are tied within the NFC East with the Dallas Cowboys heading into Week 16.

Seattle Seahawks (7-7)

The Seahawks have been in a free fall for the final month, hurtling in direction of a misplaced season with 4 straight defeats — their most beneath coach Pete Carroll — getting into Monday.

However with their backs in opposition to the wall dealing with an NFC heavyweight, they lastly discovered the ripcord that may maintain their playoff hopes very a lot alive.

Behind a robust second half by their protection and a late landing cross from Lock to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks upset the Eagles to get again to .500. They’ve a viable path to 10 wins, or no less than 9-8, that might be sufficient to get into the playoffs. Their remaining three video games — vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, at Tennessee Titans, at Arizona Cardinals — all appear much more winnable after they confirmed the type of soccer they’re able to taking part in Monday evening.

It stays to be seen whether or not the Seahawks are adequate to keep away from one more early spherical exit from the playoffs — many of the indicators from the final month recommend they aren’t — however merely getting there would quiet the murmurs about Carroll’s job safety that have been getting louder through the four-game skid that adopted their 6-3 begin.

His staff took a serious step in direction of that aim Monday evening. In accordance ESPN’s Soccer Energy Index, their probabilities of making the playoffs improved to 55% with the win.

QB breakdown: Lock didn’t mild up the stat sheet in his second straight begin, however he performed how Carroll needs his quarterbacks to play. He accomplished 22 of 33 makes an attempt, with a number of of his incompletions hitting receivers’ arms. He solely threw for 208 yards, however he unfold the ball round (finishing passes to eight completely different receivers), took solely two sacks and didn’t flip the ball over. Most significantly, he got here by means of on the ultimate drive, finishing 5 of 10 makes an attempt for 92 yards and the winner to Smith-Njigba, who made an excellent fingertip catch. Carroll and normal supervisor John Schneider will keep in mind this efficiency after they need to decide on Smith’s future this offseason.

Pivotal play: With the Eagles forward 17-13 and driving halfway by means of the fourth quarter, Love gave the Seahawks life along with his first interception on a deep shot into the tip zone. Love began at sturdy security with Jamal Adams inactive — ostensibly due to his balky knee however maybe in actuality due to poor efficiency; he allowed a killer landing cross in every of the previous two video games. Both manner, Love ought to proceed to play. He pressured two takeaways final week and had two extra in a giant spot Monday evening.

Eye-popping stat: Kenneth Walker III’s 23-yard landing run was his sixteenth rush of 20 or extra yards because the begin of his rookie season final 12 months. In accordance with ESPN Stats & Data, that is tied for second most in that span. Solely Christian McCaffrey (17) has extra. Walker received 5 touches and accounted for 55 of Seattle’s 75 yards on that opening drive of the second half. He completed with 86 complete yards on 19 touches in his second sport again from an indirect pressure.

Troubling pattern: Riq Woolen’s sophomore droop value him his beginning job, no less than on this sport. It wasn’t a full-fledged benching as he labored in at proper cornerback, however it was a demotion as Michael Jackson began and performed nearly all of the snaps. It is a vital improvement provided that Woolen made the Professional Bowl as a rookie final season, however it wasn’t a shock. Carroll was clearly miffed over a landing Woolen allowed final week, uncharacteristically mentioning the cornerback by title whereas discussing how he bit laborious on a play-action faux regardless of Seattle getting ready for that precise scenario through the week. Jackson performed effectively, with a sort out for loss and a cross defensed. — Brady Henderson

Up subsequent: at Tennessee Titans (Sunday, 1 p.m. ET)

Philadelphia Eagles (10-4)

The Seahawks delivered a gut-punch to the Eagles. Philadelphia has to hope it wasn’t a knockout blow.

It had been a rocky couple weeks for the group following a pair of blowout losses to the Cowboys and 49ers. The protection had been faltering so badly that the Eagles felt compelled to raise Matt Patricia as defensive playcaller and demote Sean Desai. There was what a staff supply described as an excessive amount of finger-pointing internally, and little bit of uneasiness within the locker room.

The protection stabilized for many of the sport Monday, and Hurts gutted by means of his sickness and rushed for a pair of touchdowns on an evening the place the passing sport was hit and miss. It seemed like sufficient, till the late 29-yard landing with lower than 30 seconds remaining for the opponent.

With the best closing schedule within the NFL, per ESPN’s Soccer Energy Index — the Eagles shut with two video games in opposition to the New York Giants and a house tilt versus the Arizona Cardinals — a division title and extra stays inside their grasp. However this one stings.

QB breakdown: Hurts was sturdy on the bottom (82 yards, 2 touchdowns), however he was shaky by means of the air, going 17-of-31 with a pair of essential interceptions late, together with an providing down the sideline for A.J. Brown on first down with 13 seconds remaining that was picked by Like to ice the sport.

Promising pattern: The protection had yielded 30-plus factors in every of the Eagles’ previous three video games and entered ranked final within the league on third down and thirtieth in pink zone protection. There was marked enchancment Monday. Seattle was restricted to simply 90 yards and three factors earlier than halftime, permitting Philadelphia to steer going into the third quarter for the primary time in seven video games. A struggling secondary appeared to problem receivers greater than in current weeks, making throws harder for Lock.

Purchase a breakout efficiency: Rookie cornerback Kelee Ringo received the beginning for an injured Darius Slay and had a robust evening. Among the many highlights have been a second quarter cross break up meant for DK Metcalf within the pink zone that helped maintain the Seahawks out of the tip zone and a run stuff for no yards on a Kenneth Walker III run earlier within the drive.

Eye-popping stat: Hurts has now scored 17 dashing touchdowns on the “tush push” QB sneak over the previous two seasons, together with playoffs. No different quarterback has scored greater than three over that point. — Tim McManus

Up subsequent: vs. New York Giants (Monday, 4:30 p.m. ET)