A week after putting together arguably their most crucial win of the season, the Philadelphia Eagles suffered their most lopsided defeat in a 24-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle ran 85 plays to Philadelphia’s 45 and used a dominant defensive effort to limit the Eagles to just 139 total yards, nine first downs and little more than 18 minutes of possession.
Turnovers were again a story for the Eagles as a back-and-forth affair in the first half gave way to a LeSean McCoy fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. The Seahawks drove 30 yards on two plays to stretch a 10-7 lead to 17-7 and set the tone for the second half. Given the way Seattle’s defense controlled the game, a double-digit lead felt insurmountable.
Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez completed 10 of 20 passes for just 96 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The Seahawks defense was his stiffest test since stepping in for Nick Foles as the team’s starter, and he looked overmatched. His fourth-quarter interception came on the first play after Philadelphia forced a turnover of its own and squandered any chance of taking back momentum late.
For the Eagles, the loss was their first at Lincoln Financial Field and dropped them into a first-place tie with the Dallas Cowboys at the top of the NFC East. The teams will play Sunday in a rematch of Philadelphia’s 33-10 road win on Thanksgiving Day. Bad loss or not, Chip Kelly’s squad is still very much in control of its postseason destiny.
Ross Tucker, Jon Ritchie and Dustin Hockensmith break down the implications of Philadelphia’s Week 14 loss and previewed the upcoming matchup with Dallas in this week’s Keystone Sports Network podcast. Check out audio from the show in this post and get plenty more podcasts and analysis on KeystoneSportsNetwork.com and by following @KSNSportsNet on Twitter.