Seahawk victory
Metcalf, Seattle beat Philly
PHILADELPHIA — DK Metcalf got extra motivation he didn’t even need.
Metcalf caught 10 passes for 177 yards, Russell Wilson threw for 230 yards and a touchdown, and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Philadelphia Eagles 23-17 on Monday night.
Before the game, Metcalf said Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who coached Calvin Johnson in Detroit, compared him to the former Lions star.
“I’m getting a little respect, but you know I still got work to do. One of the defensive coaches came up to me and it kind of made me mad that he was like, ‘You know, I was in Detroit with Megatron but you’re not there yet,’ ” Metcalf said. “In my mind, I’m not trying to be Megatron. I’m trying to be me. So I had a little chip on my shoulder the whole game.”
The Seahawks (8-3) moved one game ahead of the Rams in the NFC West. The Eagles (3-7-1) fell a halfgame behind the Giants and Washington in the woeful NFC East.
Carson Wentz didn’t cede many snaps to backup Jalen Hurts but had another rough game. He was 25 of 45 for 215 yards, two touchdowns — one in garbage time — and one interception.
Seattle’s defense entered the game allowing the most yards in the NFL and most yards passing but held Philadelphia’s inept offense to 250 yards.
Metcalf was on the board when the Eagles drafted J.J. ArcegaWhiteside in the second round with the 57th pick in 2019. ArcegaWhiteside has 12 career catches and was a healthy inactive before landing on the COVID-19 list. Metcalf, who was the final pick of the second round, had the best game of his rookie year in Seattle’s playoff win at Philadelphia last season and again showed why he’s one of the best receivers in the NFL.
Metcalf’s 52-yard catch on thirdand-13 set up Wilson’s 1-yard TD pass to David Moore that gave the Seahawks a 7-0 lead Monday.
“It’s kind of like coming home, a place that had a chance to draft me but they didn’t so I’ve got to make them pay,” Metcalf said.
Cornerback Darius Slay, who followed Metcalf in coverage, called it the worst game of his career.
“I lost every 50-50 ball. I let the team down. I gotta play better,” Slay said.
Chris Carson made it 14-0 when he bullied his way through Philadelphia’s defense on a 16-yard run.
“You know me, I saw that end zone so my game is physical so I wanted to get it in,” Carson said.
The Eagles didn’t get a first down until Wentz ran for 20 yards with under five minutes left in the first half. Wentz scrambled for 13 yards on third-and-5 to keep the drive going and tossed a 3-yard TD pass to Dallas Goedert to cut it to 14-6 at halftime. Jake Elliott missed the extra point wide left.
Elliott’s 42-yard field goal cut it to 14-9 in the third quarter. Jason Myers hit one from 44 yards to extend the Seahawks’ lead to 17-9.
After a holding call on Cedric Ogbuehi negated a 17yard TD run by Carlos Hyde, Myers connected from 33 yards in the fourth quarter. He hit another one from 39.
Richard Rodgers caught a tipped ball on a desperation heave by Wentz for a 33-yard TD in the final minute.
Trailing by 11, Eagles coach Doug Pederson passed up a field goal and went for it on fourth-and-4 from the Seahawks 15. Wentz’s pass went straight to Seattle’s Quandre Diggs as Goedert turned the other way on the route.
“We just didn’t make plays,” Wentz said. “I don’t think it was scheme. I didn’t make enough plays. I didn’t make enough good throws.”
Following a week of speculation that Hurts would get more playing time, it didn’t happen. Hurts played two snaps and threw one pass, a completion.
“It’s not about one guy,” Pederson said. “We had breakdowns across the board. It doesn’t matter who was back there, the mistakes were gonna be made and it’s something we have to fix.”