Seattle Seahawks vs. Philadelphia Eagles: Full Report Card Grades for Seattle
It was an absolutely dominant 24-14 victory for the Seattle Seahawks, suffocating the vaunted Philadelphia Eagles offense throughout the game. The Eagles managed just nine first downs and held possession for just over 18 minutes.
It was the lowest offensive yardage total by the Eagles in the young Chip Kelly coaching era, limiting them to 139 yards total. Both teams are now 9-4 with three weeks remaining in the season, Seattle remains in fifth-place in the NFC with the Cardinals also winning.
LeSean McCoy was held in check throughout the day, and the passing game was limited to short throws. Seattle's offense benefited from the great play of its defense, biding their time with long third-down conversions and slowly wearing down a Philadelphia defense that played well overall.
Final Game Stats
| Seattle Seahawks | Category | Philadelphia Eagles |
|---|---|---|
| 440 | Total Yards | 139 |
| 252 | Passing Yards | 82 |
| 6.5 | Yards Per Attempt | 3.6 |
| 188 | Rushing Yards | 57 |
| 4.1 | Yards Per Attempt | 2.6 |
| 8-67 | Penalties | 4-69 |
| 2 | Turnovers | 2 |
| 7-16 | Third-Down Conversions | 2-11 |
| 41:56 | Possession | 18:04 |
Quarterback
1 of 10
It was Russell Wilson's improv night in Philadelphia for most of the game, as he was forced to scramble several times to avoid sacks and buy time for receivers that would never get open. He finished the day with 263 yards passing, 48 yards rushing and three total touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing).
The third-year quarterback completed 22 of his 37 pass attempts, with the majority of the incompletions being throwaways. It was clear pretty early on in the game that the Eagles weren't going to allow Marshawn Lynch to pound away with solid runs.
If not for Wilson's mobility, things may have gone differently in this one, because there was a lot to deal with from the Eagles' defense. Once again, Wilson completely outdueled the opposing team's quarterback, despite the Eagles doing a good job of limiting his ability to run freely.
He did blow a couple of field-goal opportunities by holding on to the ball too long and taking a sack on one play, and then taking an intentional grounding penalty on another. The two plays cost Seattle field-goal position. He also got away with what would have likely been a pick-six at a key point in the game, but the opposing defender dropped the pass.
Grade: A+
Running Back
2 of 10
The Eagles front dominated Seattle's offensive line on running plays, with most of the Seahawks' success coming later in the game. The Seahawks were able to stick with the ground game, despite it generally being to the detriment of the offense's success.
Seattle ran the ball 46 times in the game for 188 yards, being led by the enigmatic Marshawn Lynch and his 86 yards on half of the team's total carries. Lynch was able to chip in elsewhere, pulling in five catches for 27 yards. One of his receptions went for 15 yards and a touchdown.
Christine Michael did well with his touches taking six totes for 32 yards, while Robert Turbin ran for just seven yards on his four carries. Turbin also made a catch for 14 yards. The ground game did a solid job of moving the chains as the game wore on, but for the majority of it, the offense relied on Russell Wilson.
Grade: B
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
The receiving corps and tight ends struggled to get open early on in the game, leaving Russell Wilson to scramble around for as long as possible before throwing the ball away. Seattle opted to keep its tight ends in line to help hold off the Eagles' powerful pass rush for most of the game.
It became clear the Seattle passing game would be looking for chunk plays as things progressed, and the strategy proved to be effective enough. Three different receivers made a reception of 20 yards or more, and Ricardo Lockette had a 19-yard reception as well.
Doug Baldwin was key to several third-down conversions in the game, including a 20-yard catch on 3rd-and-15. He finished the game with five receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown. Paul Richardson had a couple of key catches in the game as well totalling 27 yards on two grabs.
Tony Moeaki made one catch, on three targets, for a gain of 15 yards. With Cooper Helfet out of the lineup again, Luke Willson could only muster up a gain of a yard on his sole reception. It's not often that an opponent will call for so much extra attention from Seattle's tight ends, so this group should get back on track in the coming weeks.
Grade: B+
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
The offensive line allowed two sacks for a loss of 11, but things would have been a lot worse for the unit if not for Russell Wilson's mobility. As things progressed the unit improved in its pass protection, but through the first half the unit was allowing entirely too much pressure.
The run blocking was nearly nonexistent for much of the game. Eventually, the team's running backs were able to get to the second level but could not get much further. Philadelphia made seven tackles for a loss of yardage, but only hit Wilson on the two sacks.
Overall, it was a quality outing against an elite defensive front seven in Philadelphia. There's still room for improvement, especially when Max Unger returns to the lineup, but they have done enough for Wilson to be able to post a near 300-yard passing day.
Grade: B+
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The defensive line racked up three sacks of its own in a game important to maintaining a spot in the playoffs. All three sacks came in the second half, starting with Michael Bennett getting his fifth of the year. Jordan Hill continued to show his value with the second sack of the day for Seattle.
Cornerback Marcus Burley took the field for Tharold Simon, who was pulled from action two plays earlier with a injury to his hand, and took Philadelphia quarterback Mark Sanchez down for a sack on the play following Hill's sack. Hill and Bennett also accounted for four of the team's five tackles for a loss.
With the Eagles being forced off the play in three plays or fewer six times, and four plays or fewer eight times, the defensive line didn't get many opportunities to get after Sanchez. When the Eagles did have the ball they opted for short passes, to limited success.
LeSean McCoy and Co. didn't find any room to work with; McCoy rushed for 50 yards on 17 carries. The Eagles rushed for 57 yards total, the additional seven coming from Sanchez. Darren Sproles ran for zero yards on his four carries.
Grade: A+
Linebacker
6 of 10
Another week, another game with Bobby Wagner leading the defense in tackles. This time the Seattle linebacker finished with seven tackles. K.J. Wright made three tackles of his own and forced a fumble on LeSean McCoy on the first play of the second half.
The turnover resulted in Seattle scoring its second touchdown of the game and proved to be the game-winning score. Bruce Irvin made one tackle, but all three players were integral to the team's onslaught in stuffing the run and coverage.
When an offense finishes with 139 yards for a game, every aspect of the opposing team's defense had to have come together. This was another strong outing for Seattle's defense as the playoffs draw near.
Grade: A+
Secondary
7 of 10
Richard Sherman was chirping early after nearly intercepting Mark Sanchez's first throw of the game. Shutting down Jeremy Maclin was a key factor in winning this game, and Sherman was effective in doing so when lined up across from him.
Maclin finished with three receptions for 21 yards and a touchdown. The one-yard touchdown grab was not under Sherman's coverage, and I'll have to look at film for the other two catches. Byron Maxwell was one of the keys to the game as well.
Just as the team did last week against San Francisco, Maxwell was moved into the slot for nickel formations. He broke up two passes and was excellent in coverage throughout, avoiding any costly penalties.
Earl Thomas made the recovery on LeSean McCoy's fumble, Marcus Burley came in an made a previously mentioned sack and Tharold Simon had a key interception one play after Marshawn Lynch had fumbled the ball away.
Grade: A+
Special Teams
8 of 10
Special teams got off to a rocky start early, starting with a poor fielding decision by Doug Baldwin on a punt return. Rather than calling for a fair catch on a punt, Baldwin allowed the ball to hit the ground, and it cost his team upwards of 10 yards worth of field position.
Later in the game, punter Jon Ryan fumbled the snap, resulting in a recovery for Philadelphia that allowed the Eagles to take an early seven-point lead. Things settled down from there for the punter. He finished with six punts for 227 yards, landing three of them inside the Philadelphia 20-yard line.
Eagles returner Josh Huff did break free for a 46-yard kick return, but was otherwise held in check. Steven Hauschka nailed his only field-goal attempt of the day from 44 yards out. Overall, the continued slip-ups from the special teams units are cause for concern, but the team has been able to deal with the errors so far.
Grade: B-
Coaching
9 of 10
As long as Russell Wilson continues to play at this level, the offense will be able to put up enough points to beat anyone. The defense is playing at an extremely high level and is showing no signs of coming down. In a big game against another highly touted, no-huddle offense the Seattle defense has obliterated its opponent.
It's tough to imagine the defense playing any better than it is. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell is on the right track with his use of the tight ends, despite not being able to get them involved very often this week. Tony Moeaki, Cooper Helfet and Luke Willson's presence will pay dividends down the stretch.
The main point of concern has to be with the special teams units and their continuous flow of costly mistakes. At some point a fumbled punt could prove too much and cost this team a shot at a repeat Super Bowl win.
Grade: A
Final Grades
10 of 10
| Positional Unit | Overall Grade |
| QB | A+ |
| RB | B |
| WR/TE | B+ |
| OL | B+ |
| DL | A+ |
| LB | A+ |
| DB | A+ |
| Special Teams | B- |
| Coaching | A |
| Cumulative Grade | A- |
The Seahawks continue to dominate defensively, allowing a total of 20 points in their last three games. The defense was so dominant that even the perfectionist that is safety Earl Thomas was happy with the team's performance, per The Associated Press, via ESPN:
"I might be the most uptight guy on the defense, but even I was dancing today. We expect to dominate every time we step out.
"
The win leaves Seattle a game behind a shaky-looking 10-3 Arizona Cardinals and in front of fellow wild-card pursuers the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. The San Francisco 49ers are next up on the schedule after they dropped a game to the lowly Oakland Raiders.
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