Philadelphia Eagles - 15
Seattle Seahawks – 26
On a day where the Seahawks picked up their 7th win of the season, and Pete Carroll earned his 100th victory as a head coach, Russell Wilson continued his argument that not only is he the League MVP but maybe even the best player this year period. Before a record setting crowd at CenturyLink and against the 8th ranked defense, Wilson was unflappable yet again. Behind him, the offense made mincemeat of the birds. Statistically speaking it was a somewhat modest day at the office for number three. Wilson was 18/31, 272 yards, a lone passing touchdown but no turnovers, but everyone who has watched Wilson knows that statistics do not always tell the story. What Wilson brings to the Seahawks is immeasurable by a simple box score. The elusiveness in the pocket, the ability to slip out of certain disaster and create pure magic. Whenever Wilson steps on the field there is always the sense that something incredible might happen because of him. Something that proves to the rest of the league why he is so DangeRuss. Trailing 7-6 midway through the second quarter, Seattle was marching to take the lead. Facing a 3rd and 11 on Philadelphia’s 39 yard line, Wilson dropped back to pass. As the pocket collapsed Wilson took off sprinting to the left sideline. However, as he has done countless times, Wilson was not looking to run but to throw. With his entire body going full speed to the left, Wilson turned his head briefly to the right and threw opposite his direction to find Jimmy Graham. As Graham broke a tackle, he sprinted towards the end-zone to help Seattle take a lead that they would not relinquish. The magic from Wilson did not end there, though.
We all knew that Wilson was dangerous on the ground and through the air, but now we know that he is apparently a receiving threat. Midway through the third quarter, receiver Doug Baldwin took the ball on an end-around play, stopped dead in his tracks, and threw a perfect spiral to: none other than quarterback Russell Wilson. Baldwin’s 15 yard touchdown pass to Wilson was the first pass attempt for Baldwin, his first passing touchdown, Wilson’s first receiving touchdown and the first receiving touchdown by a Seahawk quarterback. The score extended the lead to 23-7, following the extra point, and officially put the game away. Under a healthy Wilson’s lead and a resurgent run game as a result, the Seahawks tallied 439 yards of offense. This tops their previous season high set last week in Foxboro.
I bring up these two plays because they are exemplary of how Wilson is essentially toying with defenses at this point. He has been the best player on the field for three straight games now, and against quality opponents. People may say that the Seahawks have been lacking an offensive identity post-Marshawn Lynch. That is not true. Their identity is Russell Wilson. Even with his injuries, he has been the glue that has kept this unit together. Take away Russell Wilson and the Seahawks are not a 7 win team. They are not the second seed in the NFC. They do not go into Foxboro to beat the Patriots. They are contending for a top 3 pick instead of a Super Bowl.
While Russell Wilson shined on Sunday, they were not the only star performers. Rookie CJ Prosise continued his excellent play where it left off in New England. On Seattle’s second possession of the game, Prosise ripped off a 72 yard touchdown run. It was the longest scoring run in the history of CenturyLink field. All the more impressive when you remember this stadium used to be the stomping grounds for the likes of Shaun Alexander and Marshawn Lynch. The defense also put together yet another suffocating performance. Philadelphia’s run game found some early success, but the passing attack could not take flight. Rookie Carson Wentz did not look comfortable at any point during the game, as he barely completed 51% of his passes on 45 attempts. Wentz finished with 218 yards and two touchdowns, but most of that came in garbage time when Seattle had a comfortable 26-7 lead. The Legion of Boom did force two interceptions from Wentz. One to Kam Chancellor, his first of the season, and the other to Richard Sherman. Since 2012, the Legion of Boom has picked off 82 passes and only allowed 40 touchdowns. After two sacks on Sunday, Seattle is now tied with Buffalo for the most in the NFL. One went to defensive end Cliff Avril, which was his 10th sack of the season, tying him for the NFL lead. The other went to Bobby Wagner, in addition with his 15 total tackles from the game. Wagner now has an NFL lead 108 tackles on the season, putting him on pace for an astonishing 172.
Seattle won their third straight victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. This is the longest win streak for either team in the series, which now sits 8-7 in Seattle’s favor.
The Good – It seems that the Seahawks get a new player back each week thanks to injuries. Last week it was Kam Chancellor. This week Thomas Rawls made his return. Even though he has been out since the beginning of the week two matchup with the Rams, his return has felt much longer than that. Rawls looks to have returned to form from his dynamic rookie season, a season where he tallied over 800 rushing yards before an ankle injury cut it short. On his first carry, Rawls rambled through several Eagles for a 9 yard gain. On his second, he exploded for an 18 yard gain. Rawls had 88 total yards on 17 touches. Seattle had 152 rushing yards, which was a season high. However, Seahawks are hoping that Rawls can remain healthy because…
The Bad – Injuries. Yup, they’re the focus of another “the bad.” This week was truly damaging, as the Seahawks saw DeShawn Shead, Earl Thomas, Brock Coyle, Troymaine Pope and CJ Prosise all leave early. Two running backs, a quality linebacker, and two starting members of the secondary. Yikes. Shead and Thomas both have first degree hamstring strains, and look to be out anywhere from 10-14 days. CJ Prosise suffered a fractured scapula and is out until the playoffs (here’s hoping Seattle can hold on to that first round bye). There is no timetable for the return of Coyle or Pope, who suffered a foot strain and ankle sprain respectively.
The Ugly – If you are a fan of kickers, then this was not your weekend. On Sunday, kickers missed a record setting 12 extra points. Keep in perspective that two years ago, kickers missed 8 extra points. All season. It is clear that the long PAT is affecting the kickers confidence, as those once automatic kicks are now a high pressure situation. they are also clearly changing the game strategy, as coaches are putting high caliber starters on their field goal block units. To miss 12 PAT’s across the league is ugly, and if some of these kickers don’t change up their strategy, many could be looking for a job come this offseason.
Looking Ahead – The Seahawks travel across country again to Tampa Bay for a showdown with the Buccaneers. The Bucs are sitting at .500 with a 5-5 record. They are also coming off of a 19-17 upset of the Chiefs in Kansas City. Keep in mind that the Chiefs had previously (and interestingly) won 17 of their previous 19 games. No small feat. Tampa Bay is wildly inconsistent, but when they put it together they are formidable. The Seahawks will have an interesting time trying to stop receiver Mike Evans without Shead or Thomas, but it is November. What does that mean? Well, it means that Russell Wilson is 31-6 in the month of November, an NFL best since 2012. Seattle may have a comfortable three game lead over Arizona in the division, and a two game lead over Detroit in the NFC, but the Seahawks will look to continue their hot streak with a win on Sunday.
