Eagles doomed by ‘Legion of Boom’
Seattle coach Carroll credits dominating defence as Seahawks claim team’s third straight win
PHILADELPHIA — A dominant defensive performance against Chip Kelly’s high-powered offence even had Earl Thomas showing off his dance moves.
Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes, ran for another score and the Seattle Seahawks stifled Philadelphia in a 24-14 victory over the Eagles Sunday.
Thomas, Richard Sherman and the rest of Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” defence held the Eagles to 139 total yards, the fewest under Kelly. Seattle held the ball for a franchise-record 41:56 and Philadelphia ran just 45 plays.
“I might be the most uptight guy on the defence, but even I was dancing today,” Thomas said. “We expect to dominate every time we step out.”
Wilson had 263 yards passing and ran for 48 to help the Seahawks (9-4) win their third straight game. The defending Super Bowl champions have victories over NFC West-leading Arizona (10-3), San Francisco (7-6) and Philadelphia (9-4) in the last three weeks.
The Eagles host Dallas (9-4) with first place in the NFC East at stake next week.
“If you don’t get as many opportunities, you have to make the ones you get count and we didn’t do that,” quarterback Mark Sanchez said. “We expected to do a lot of things better.”
Pete Carroll was the winner in his first NFL matchup against Kelly. In the coaches’ only other meeting, Kelly’s Oregon Ducks beat Carroll and USC 47-20 on Oct. 31, 2009.
“I have total respect for everything Chip does,” Carroll said. “Our defence, for the third straight week, did the job for us. “
Sanchez, who played for Carroll in college, threw for 96 yards, two TD passes and one interception. LeSean McCoy set the franchise career rushing record butal so had a costly fumble that led to Marshawn Lynch’s 15-yard TD catch in the third quarter.
Lynch had 86 yards rushing. McCoy had 50. McCoy’s four-yard run in the third quarter moved him past Wilbert Montgomery into first place on the Eagles’ career rushing list. McCoy has 6,540 yards.
The Seahawks were leading 10-7 when K.J. Wright forced McCoy to fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Earl Thomas recovered at the Eagles 19 and Wilson connected with Lynch two plays later.
“That’s real bad and that’s on me,” McCoy said. “I didn’t play well at all, probably one of my worst games since I’ve been here.”
Wilson tossed a 23-yard TD pass to Doug Baldwin to make it 24-14 later in the quarter after the Eagles got within a field goal on Sanchez’s 35-yard TD pass to Zach Ertz.
A 44-yard pass interference penalty on Bradley Fletcher against Baldwin moved the ball to Philadelphia’s 35 to set up the score.
One play after Lynch fumbled at the Eagles 30 in the fourth quarter, Sanchez threw an interception to Tharold Simon to end Philadelphia’s hopes of a comeback.
“It’s all about matchups, and we matched up pretty well with them,” Sherman said.
Seattle hosts the 49ers next week and has a first-place showdown at Arizona on Dec. 21.
“I think our identity is showing up and there’s a lot more to prove,” Wilson said. “We’re high on confidence because of what we do on a daily basis.”
The Seahawks dominated the Eagles statistically in the first half and took a 10-7 lead on Steven Hauschka’s 44-yard field goal. Wilson’s 20-yard completion to Paul Richardson on third-and-15 kept the drive going.
Seattle out-gained Philadelphia 242-67 and had the ball for 21:56 in the first half yet only led by a field goal.
The Eagles started their second drive at the Seahawks 14 after punter Jon Ryan dropped the snap and Ertz recovered for Philadelphia.
After McCoy ran for a first down on fourth-and-one from the 5-yard line, Sanchez tossed a one-yard TD pass to Jeremy Maclin to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
The Seahawks hadn’t allowed a touchdown since a 24-20 loss at Kansas City on Nov. 16. They beat division rivals Arizona and San Francisco by the same score, 19-3, in the previous two games.
Seattle tied it 7-7 on Wilson’s 26-yard TD run. Wilson faked an inside handoff to Lynch, saw linebacker Trent Cole commit and ran around the left side untouched for the score.