Philadelphia Eagles’ Loss to Seattle Seahawks Toughest To Swallow Yet
It's one thing when you get blown out by the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys in consecutive weeks by a combined score of 75-32. But for the Philadelphia Eagles, Monday night's loss to the Seattle Seahawks -- their third in a row and fourth on the season -- might be the toughest one to swallow yet.
Let's start with the micro. The Seahawks had lost four games in a row entering Monday evening's game, and there seemed to be a legitimate question about an hour before the game about who they would start at quarterback.
Geno Smith might not be a superstar, but he's definitely one of the 32 best quarterbacks in the league. But while Smith was active for the game, the Seahawks ultimately kept him on the sideline as he continues to battle a groin injury.
Instead, Drew Lock got his second consecutive start. The former second-round pick -- acquired from the Denver Broncos in the March 2022 Russell Wilson trade -- has always come off as likable. The viral video of him rapping along to Jeezy and Kanye West's classic hit "Put On" during his rookie season of 2019 regularly circulates on social media. He seemed emotional in his postgame interview on ESPN. Lock is easy to root for, but there's very little evidence that he's a starting-caliber quarterback at the NFL level.
In fact, before Lock tossed the go-ahead touchdown pass to rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the quarterback threw at least three passes on what ended up being the game-winning drive that very well could have been intercepted.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles have lost three games in a row.
Joe Nicholson/USA Today
One of those can be chalked up to the individual greatness of Seattle receiver D.K. Metcalf, who torched the Eagles on the final drive after being silent for much of the night. But when you have three chances to record a game-sealing interception on the final drive of the game and don't convert on any of them, you deserve to lose.
The reality is that for as much as the Eagles secondary has become a liability -- especially now without cornerback Darius Slay -- no one would have bet on Lock leading a 92-yard touchdown drive to win the game. But, because of the missed opportunities to pick him off by the Eagles, that's exactly what happened.
From a macro sense, the Eagles failed to capitalize on a chance to gain some ground on the Dallas Cowboys, who fell to 10-4 after being throttled by the Buffalo Bills Sunday afternoon.
The Eagles will be heavy favorites in each of their three remaining games, two matchups against the 5-9 New York Giants sandwiched around a meeting with coach Jonathan Gannon's 3-11 Arizona Cardinals. When you compare that to the three remaining matchups on the Cowboys slate -- the Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders -- the Eagles should still win the NFC East.
But it perhaps can't be taken for granted that quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Eagles will win all three of their final games with ease, even if they should. Hurts has become a turnover machine under first-year offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who seems far too reliant on uncreative screen passes, quarterback draws and receiver A.J. Brown coming down with 50/50 balls.
Coach Nick Sirianni's squad isn't mathematically eliminated from contention for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but it feels increasingly unlikely that the Eagles will have a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the postseason. The 49ers are 11-3, essentially giving them a two-game lead for the top spot in the NFC over the Eagles because they own the tie-breaker by virtue of a head-to-head victory.
To make matters worse, the winner of the NFC East isn't even certain to be the No. 2 seed, given that the Detroit Lions are 10-4.
The guess here is the Eagles will win their final three games, and finish the season with a 13-4 record. Even if that happens, though, this feels like a team with a ceiling. The Eagles will probably win a Wild Card game. They may win in the Divisional Round. This version of the Eagles, though, isn't going back to the Super Bowl for the second year in a row, let alone winning it, especially given that three straight losses have made their path through the NFC much more difficult.
