Jalen Hurts rushes for two touchdowns but throws for just 143 passing yards having been questionable to play after struggling with illness since Thursday; the Philadelphia Eagles clip to 10-4 after suffering their third straight defeat.
Tuesday 19 December 2023 10:56, UK
Drew Lock threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba with 28 seconds left to cap a 92-yard drive as the Seattle Seahawks stunned the Philadelphia Eagles 20-17 on Monday night to end a four-game skid and get back into NFC playoff contention.
Seattle (7-7) rallied behind its backup quarterback, who moved the team the length of the field for its longest touchdown drive this season and found the Seahawks' rookie first-round pick for the biggest catch of his young career.
On third-and-10, Smith-Njigba beat James Bradberry off the line and Lock's throw was perfect to cap an unlikely comeback from an early 10-0 deficit.
Lock, who made his second straight start in place of the injured Geno Smith, connected with DK Metcalf three times on the decisive drive, including much-needed chunk plays of 18 and 34 yards.
Philadelphia had one last chance, but Julian Love made his second interception of the fourth quarter, picking off Jalen Hurts' deep pass intended for AJ Brown and just getting his feet down inbounds, to send the Eagles (10-4) to their third straight loss.
Midway through the fourth, Love picked off Hurts in the end zone to prevent the Eagles from extending their 17-13 lead.
Lock was 22 of 33 for 208 yards. Hurts, who was questionable to play with an illness, had 13 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns, but he was just 17 of 31 passing for 143 yards and the two picks.
Philadelphia Eagles
Seattle Seahawks
Lock was also the lead blocker on Kenneth Walker III's 23-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that pulled Seattle even at 10-10. Walker finished with 86 yards rushing.
Seattle moved into a logjam with four teams currently at .500 that are battling for the NFC's last two playoff spots, while Philadelphia wasted a chance to move a game ahead of Dallas in the NFC East. The defending NFC champion Eagles have already secured a playoff spot.
Hurts was unable to practice after getting sick on Saturday. He flew separately from his team-mates on a private jet to Seattle and his status was not a certainty until the list of inactive players was announced 90 minutes before kickoff.
Hurts did not look like he felt great, but for the first three quarters he played well enough. He capped a pair of long scoring drives with touchdown runs of three yards and one yard. He now has 14 rushing touchdowns, tied with Cam Newton in 2011 for the most by a quarterback in a season.
Smith remained sidelined by a groin injury, although he was active for the game and warmed up on his own a couple hours before kickoff.
Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock: "I think it was just the over-the-top of feeling of you don't get very many moments, you don't very many opportunities in this league. And with every opportunity you get, you need to be as ready as you can be."
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts: "I liked the opportunity to to go out there and execute regardless what the circumstances is and I didn't do a good job with that. I didn't lead good enough. I didn't do a good enough job in any circumstance."
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll: "It's a memory you're never going to lose. He's [Lock] going to hold on to this Monday night forever. He earned it, he deserved it. He played up to the great moments in the game and came through."
The Eagles will look to end their losing streak when they host their divisional rival New York Giants (5-9) on Christmas Day, live on Sky Sports NFL from 9.30pm.
Seattle are meanwhile scheduled to visit the Tennessee Titans (5-9) as they took to keep pace in the NFC playoff hunt.
Make sure you tune in to Sky Sports NFL every Sunday at 6pm for the first game of our triple-header of live action. The evening's entertainment also includes NFL Redzone action as hosted by Scott Hanson, as well as Sunday Night Football to round off the night.
Sky Sports will broadcast two exclusive live games every Sunday throughout the regular season in the 6pm and 9pm slots, while also showing every Thursday Night, Sunday Night and Monday Night match-up as well as every Christmas Day fixture.
Fans can also watch every minute of the playoffs across January, followed by Super Bowl LVIII at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on February 11.
