6 Seahawks to Watch in Wild Card Round vs. Eagles
Seeking their first playoff win since 2016, the Seahawks will travel to Philadelphia for a rematch against the high-flying Eagles in the wild card round.
Seattle took care of business on the road this season, finishing 7-1 for the first time in franchise history. Among their seven victories, the Seahawks defeated the Eagles 17-9 at Lincoln Financial Field back in Week 12.
Since then, Seattle limped to the finish line and lost three of its final five games, while Philadelphia secured an NFC East title by winning each of its final four games against divisional foes.
Heading into Sunday's pivotal rematch, these six players will be key for the Seahawks to advance to the divisional round.
Marshawn Lynch
With another week of practice under his belt, “Beast Mode” should be more comfortable with Seattle’s playbook and according to coach Pete Carroll, he’s ready to execute a full game plan heading to Philadelphia. At 33 years old, Lynch’s days of being a bell cow back are long gone, but he still possesses enough quickness and power to be effective in a rotational role alongside rookie Travis Homer and defenders still have to make business decisions when tasked with trying to tackle him. Expect him to receive 10-12 carries and potentially get involved in the passing game against a tough Eagles defense that has yielded only 90 rushing yards per game.
John Ursua
All eyes will be on Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf, who need to have big games for Seattle to advance to the divisional round. But after catching just one pass all year, Ursua has a chance to make a significant impact in the playoffs for a couple of reasons. First off, the Seahawks have only four healthy receivers, though Carroll indicated Jaron Brown made a sensational recovery from a knee sprain and has a shot at playing Sunday. Secondly, the former Hawaii star has the ability to make defenders miss and the Eagles secondary has had trouble tackling throughout the 2019 season. Working out of the slot, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the quick rookie snag a few passes and pick up solid yardage after the catch.
George Fant
If there’s a true Achilles heel for the Seahawks going into the playoffs, it’s their injury riddled offensive line that could be missing up to three starters against the Eagles. All-Pro left tackle Duane Brown has been officially ruled out as he continues to recover from knee surgery, opening the door for Fant to make his second straight start. The fourth-year veteran performed well against the 49ers last Sunday and he’ll face another tough task blocking against the trio of Derek Barnett, Brandon Graham, and Vinny Curry, who combined to produce 20.0 sacks in 2019. For Seattle to have a chance at advancing, the line as a whole will need to do a better job protecting Russell Wilson, who was sacked six times and completed just 13 passes in the first matchup. It'll start with Fant, who has the toughest, most important job protecting the blind side.
Jadeveon Clowney
Clowney isn’t anywhere close to 100 percent healthy as he grinds through a nagging core injury. He only participated in a walkthrough on Friday and otherwise rested this week to ensure he’d be able to play on game day. As Carroll noted on Friday, that's how it'll be for the rest of the season. Seattle can’t expect him to produce at his usual disruptive level and who knows how many snaps he’ll be able to play from here on out, but considering tackle Lane Johnson will likely be out for Philadelphia, Clowney may still be able to do damage despite being a shell of his normal self.
Additionally, Clowney's mere presence on the field could make life easier for other teammates along the defensive line and provide a boost to the team’s pass rush. If Philadelphia throws double teams at him, defensive tackles Jarran Reed and Poona Ford should be able to generate interior pressure against a line missing star guard Brandon Brooks. Keeping Clowney at bay will also create one-on-one opportunities for other rushers such as Ziggy Ansah and Shaquem Griffin.
Cody Barton
Seattle will welcome back several injured players just in time for the postseason, but the team will be without veteran linebacker Mychal Kendricks, setting the stage for Barton to make his third career start. A former safety, the third-round pick out of Utah has looked like a natural in coverage in his two prior starts and nearly had two interceptions against the Panthers last month, but he’s been inconsistent with run fits and setting the edge. That's led to some lukewarm comments from coach Pete Carroll this week.
Philadelphia will likely look to mix in some outside runs and jet sweeps to test Barton, while he will face his biggest challenge yet in coverage dealing with the running back duo of Boston Scott and Miles Sanders, who have caught 41 passes combined in the past four weeks. He also may find himself in coverage against athletic 6-foot-5 tight end Dallas Goedert, which could create a potential mismatch advantage for the Eagles. If the rookie struggles early, the Seahawks may need to run more nickel defense with an additional defensive back to compensate.
Quandre Diggs
There’s no question the Seahawks haven’t been the same defense the last two weeks without Diggs roaming center field. After generating 16 turnovers in his first five starts, the team didn’t produce a single turnover in losses to the Cardinals and 49ers and reserve Lano Hill struggled as a replacement. Coming off a high ankle sprain, it’ll be interesting to see how healthy Diggs actually is, though adrenaline playing in his first playoff game could carry him through.
The Eagles are decimated at receiver minus Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, and Desean Jackson and aren’t equipped to take many deep shots down field, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see coach Doug Pederson dial up a few vertical routes early in the game to see how mobile the veteran safety is. If he’s compromised at all, that could open up opportunities for Philadelphia’s passing game. Seattle has to hope Diggs simply being back in the lineup elevates the play of everyone around him and if he’s close to 100 percent, he’s going to be a game changer as he was in the first matchup. He nearly picked off Wentz on the opening drive of the game back in November and also recovered a fumble.
