Philadelphia – 10

Seattle – 24

The Seahawks were supposed to be dead. The figurative championship window was slammed shut. The Legion of Boom and the defense were no more. Injuries were going to keep Seattle on the outside looking in for the playoffs. Carson Wentz and the 10-1 Eagles were going to keep up their dominance by marching into CenturyLink Field to beat Seattle. Wentz would take advantage of a depleted secondary, and Philly’s front seven would be able to disrupt Wilson enough to slow him down.

Except somebody forgot to tell all that to the Seahawks.

Instead, it was Philly that was held in check all night long. Wentz and the offense couldn’t get much going against Seattle’s alleged broken defense for most of the night, and their defense had absolutely no answers for Russell Wilson.

Starting the game off, Wilson led the Hawks on a nice, clock-eating opening drive that resulted in an early 3-0 lead. Following the field goal, both teams traded punts after both drives ended with their quarterbacks being sacked. Seattle then put together an efficient drive, which was then capped off with Wilson finding Jimmy Graham for his ninth touchdown reception on the season. The Seahawks scored with only 14 seconds left in the quarter to increase their lead to 10. Wilson’s touchdown was the first touchdown in the first quarter Philadelphia had allowed all season, and it gave Seattle a rare fast start they have so desperately needed this season.

The Eagles responded with a field goal drive of their own, but that was all the offense they could muster. Philly only had four total possessions in the first half despite being able to accumulate more rushing yards and controlling the clock longer. A halftime score of 10-3 in favor of Seattle was certainly not what anyone was expecting.

Philadelphia started the second half fast and explosive, opening up their offense more than it had been through the first two quarters. Wentz was looking sharp and was finding receivers who were continuously getting open. It appeared that the Hawks were about to surrender the game-tying score when Wentz connected with Alshon Jeffry to the Seattle five-yard line.

After stuffing running back Jay Ajayi, Wentz dropped back to pass. Finding no one open, #11 took off towards the end zone only to be stopped and stripped of the ball from Sheldon Richardson at the one-yard line. The fumble bounced out of the end zone for a Seattle touchback, eliminating any momentum the Eagles had built.

The Hawks then capitalized in a big way. During their first drive of the second half, Philly tried sending an all-out blitz to smother Wilson and paid the price dearly. Wilson changed the protection at the last minute, recognizing what Philly was doing, and had just enough time to bomb it deep to a wide-open Doug Baldwin. The 47-yard reception was stopped just short of a touchdown at the one-yard line, but it did not matter. Wilson found Tyler Lockett for his first touchdown of 2017 in the same corner he found Graham earlier. Seattle had just gone up 17-3 over the Eagles, and CenturyLink Field was roaring.

I have been to several Seahawk games in Seattle, and I must say there has been only one other time that I’ve witnessed, in person, the 12’s being louder than we were on Sunday night. Sitting in the lower end zone, I was fairly close to the field, and my ears were absolutely ringing. My screams felt completely deafened, as if I wasn’t making a sound despite the fact that my throat was aching. Seattle was absolutely rocking. I truly believe that the Eagles were caught off-guard, as we reminded them where the most hostile place to play in the NFL really was.

It took until the fourth quarter for the Eagles to finally shake off their shell shock. Facing a 3^rd and 13 early in the fourth, Carson Wentz gave the country a momentary show. Being chased to the ground by Frank Clark, who had been harassing him all night, Wentz was able to get rid of the ball by hucking it downfield while falling down, avoiding a sack. Except this throwaway pass was able to find third-year standout Nelson Agholor for a massive 47-yard completion, who got behind Seattle’s Byron Maxwell. It was quite literally breathtaking as the entire stadium was speechless over such a play.

Several plays later, Wentz did it again. Avoiding the rush, Wentz threw across his body on the run to find Agholor again for a 27-yard touchdown, burning Maxwell once more. This was the only time the Eagles felt like they might have posed a threat to Seattle. With such an impressive and seemingly magical drive, the momentum looked like it might have been swinging back to the Eagles.

Luckily for Seattle, they had their own magician and MVP candidate in Russell Wilson. This was a drive the Seahawks where the need to score points was even greater than usual. Seattle had to keep the pressure on Philly, close out the game, and avoid a late collapse. Facing a third and nine at about midfield, the Hawks had to make something happen to keep the drive from stalling out. With the pocket collapsing (shocker, right?) Wilson scampered past the reach of Chris Long and dashed for the first down. He got about eight yards and looked like he was going to be stopped just short until he lateralled to running back Mike Davis, who picked up 17 yards and the much needed first down.

The Seahawks then took advantage of an exasperated Eagles defense. Wilson found JD McKissic for a 15-yard touchdown, his third of the night, to increase the lead back to 14. Wilson was simply sensational and proved he absolutely deserves to be considered for the NFL’s highest single player award. The game was iced when Byron Maxwell found some redemption by picking off Carson Wentz’ last chance Hail Mary heave to the end zone.

Seattle accomplished the wildly improbable and thrust themselves back into the playoff picture thanks to losses by the Falcons and Saints. The Hawks are still within striking distance of the Rams for the division and showed once more that they can play with anybody.

The Seahawks improve to 8-4 and 20-5 in December since 2012. The 12^th month of the year has always been when Seattle plays the best, and they kicked it off right with this monumental upset over the supposed best team in the NFC.

Seattle has only just begun the most challenging part of the season. Next week doesn’t get any easier as they travel south to face the 8-4 Jaguars. The Seahawks open as underdogs for the third time in the last four weeks. Jacksonville boasts the League’s best defense, and the Hawks much-maligned offensive line will face all they can handle. If the Hawks hope to keep pace in the NFC playoff picture and with the Rams, this is another must-win.

Speaking of the Rams, all Seahawks fans should become Eagles fans for the week. Philadelphia is staying out west to take on the Rams in Los Angeles. Sitting at 9-3, they hold the first place position in the division, but their margin for error is nonexistent as well. If the Hawks find a way to upset the Jags, and the Rams fall at home, then the rematch two weeks from now in Seattle becomes all the more important. However, that hypothetical will not matter if Seattle stumbles on the road themselves.