Drew Lock started in place of the injured Geno Smith before throwing a game-winning touchdown to Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the final 30 seconds as the Seattle Seahawks moved to 7-7 with a 20-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Tuesday 19 December 2023 10:57, UK
An emotional Drew Lock fought back tears as he tried to process his game-winning touchdown pass to lead the Seattle Seahawks to a 20-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the final seconds on Monday night.
Lock became the latest wholesome addition to a season of backup quarterback twists and tales as he helped Seattle stay alive in the playoff race while standing in for the injured starter Geno Smith.
With 28 seconds to play, Lock spotted Jaxon Smith-Njigba with a one-on-one matchup against soft coverage on the perimeter and took his shot to the end zone, where his rookie receiver was on hand to make the catch.
He said it was a play-call from Shane Waldron that he will remember for the rest of his life.
"Amazing won't do it justice," Lock said in his on-field interview after the game. "Amazing also won't do justice with the O-line, with what DK did on that catch, with what the receivers did, what Ken Walker, Zach Charbonnet did all game long. The tight ends man.
"It takes a special group to rally around a guy that comes into his second game of the year right? Used to the same thing all year long. Same cadence, same spin on the ball, everything. For a team like that, not just the offense, the defense [too], to rally around me tonight... man that was that was amazing.
"It's been a long time, I'm just blessed with a great group of guys, a great city, a great coaching staff, it's awesome."
Lock finished the game 22 of 33 passing for 208 yards and his decisive touchdown, which was followed up by Julian Love's game-icing interception of Jalen Hurts on a deep shot intended for AJ Brown with 13 seconds to play.
"It's a memory you're never going to lose. He's going to hold on to this Monday night forever," said Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll. "He earned it, he deserved it. He played up to the great moments in the game and came through."
Lock was drafted by the Denver Broncos as a second-round pick in 2019 and led the team to a 4-1 record in his five starts as a rookie, before throwing a league-high 15 interceptions and managing a completion percentage of just 57.3 while compiling a 4-9 record as starter in 2020.
He would make just three starts in 2021 as Denver leaned towards Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback, before he was traded to Seattle the following year as part of the deal that saw Russell Wilson head to Mile High. Lock eventually lost out to Smith in the battle to become starter heading into the 2022 campaign, with the latter having since flourished amid a career revival.
Monday night marked just Lock's fifth start in the last three seasons as Smith continues to nurse a groin injury.
"It's so hard. It's so hard to describe the feeling of not playing for so long," Lock said. "At least what feels like a really long time for me. And then you sit there, you watch game, you wonder, can I do this still? I haven't been out there on the field.
"That's the human nature of it. You get back out there last week. I'm like, 'You know what? I'm the man still. I can go do this.' And then you got another test this week where I didn't know if I was gonna play or not.
"Sure enough, I ended up playing. Playing the Eagles tonight. And the boys around me rallied tonight. Gosh, it feels so good. It feels so good. I'm so proud of everybody tonight."
