3 Up, 3 Down: Winners, Losers From Seahawks Playoff Win vs. Eagles

Following a 17-9 victory over the Eagles, the Seahawks are now scheduled to face off against the Packers during the divisional round of the playoffs.

After scoring just three points in the opening quarter, Seattle’s offense finally entered the end zone, as “Beast Mode” ignited his team with a touchdown for the second straight game.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, Carson Wentz was forced to leave in the first half with a concussion. After he left for the locker room, Seattle’s defense prevented Philadelphia from scoring a touchdown the entire game. The Seahawks’ defense also kept the Eagles from converting on a pair of fourth down conversions late in the game, holding their opponent scoreless in the fourth quarter.

With the Seahawks advancing to the next round, they’ll need a similar performance from their defense against Aaron Rogers next Sunday. If victorious, they would either host the NFC Championship game or travel to San Francisco for a shot at playing in the Super Bowl.

Let's dive into our three big winners and three losers from Seattle's wild card victory.

Three Up

Marshawn Lynch

Despite struggling to produce on the ground this week, Lynch made two catches for 25 yards and recorded his second touchdown run in as many weeks. During Beast Mode’s five-yard touchdown run, the 13-year pro looked stopped short of the goal line, but he surged through multiple defenders before reaching the end zone for six points.

Along with producing his second touchdown of the season, Lynch also helped extend Seattle’s lead to 17-6. With the Seahawks needing one yard on third down, the iconic back caught a short pass from Russell Wilson and ran 18 yards down the sideline, finishing the play with a nasty stiff arm. That outstanding play from Lynch ultimately setup DK Metcalf’s 53-yard touchdown reception, which occurred just two plays later.

DK Metcalf

Following his impressive Week 17 performance against San Francisco, Metcalf played a key role for Seattle’s offense yet again. The rookie receiver caught a career-high seven passes for 160 yards along with a 53-yard touchdown reception from Wilson in the third quarter, setting a new rookie record for receiving yards in a playoff game.

DK Metcalf's 160 receiving yards are the most by a rookie in a playoff game in the Super Bowl era#Seahawks | @dkm14 | @Seahawks
— NFL Research (@NFLPlus) January 6, 2020

Metcalf reeled in multiple catches on third down, including a 26-yard reception which continued Seattle’s drive and ultimately set up Lynch’s five-yard touchdown run. In addition, Metcalf caught a 36-yard pass from Wilson, who finished with 325 passing yards, on a critical third down inside two minutes remaining to seal the win.

Ugo Amadi

During Seattle’s victory over Philadelphia, Amadi recorded his best performance of his rookie campaign. Along with a trio of tackles, the fourth-round selection from the 2019 NFL Draft played well in coverage as a nickel cornerback.

On the Eagles opening drive in the first quarter, the rookie corner blsnketed Greg Ward Jr. in coverage, forcing an incompletion and a punt. Later in the quarter, he displayed outstanding awareness as he dropped down from the secondary and tackled Boston Scott seven yards short of the first down marker. Both these plays by Amadi helped keep Philadelphia scoreless through the opening quarter.

Three Down

Travis Homer

After generating a breakout performance during the NFC West title game, Homer was unable to replicate that same success in Philadelphia. Despite leading the Seahawks in carries (11), the first-year running back produced just 12 rushing yards. The Miami product also struggled in the passing game as Homer made just one catch for five yards.

While the only successful rusher for Seattle was Wilson with his team-leading 45 rushing yards, Homer averaged just 1.1 yards per attempt as he couldn’t find any running room to speak of. Hopefully for the Seahawks, they’ll receive improved results from Homer next Sunday against the Packers.

Jacob Hollister

Similar to his Week 12 performance in Philadelphia, Hollister was irrelevant in the passing game once again for the Seahawks. He tied his season-low with just two catches for 16 yards. Additionally, Hollister also failed to catch a pair of third down passes, which helped prevent the Seahawks from further extending their lead.

To make matters worse, Hollister also committed two false start penalties and had a costly offensive pass interference call that erased a first down reception.

Germain Ifedi

The Seahawks’ offensive line struggled mightily with both pass protection and run blocking throughout their matchup against the Eagles. Specifically, Ifedi struggled to provide Wilson with enough time in the pocket before he was forced to scramble and escape.

Along with his protection woes, the fourth-year pro also failed to hold his block against Vinny Curry during Jason Myers’ 35-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter. Just as Myers connected with the football, Curry reached around Ifedi and blocked the field goal attempt, keeping the game scoreless.