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| ATL at STL | BUF at WAS | CIN at PIT | CLE at ARI | DEN at OAK | DET at MIN | GB at DAL | HOU at TEN |
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Week 13 Game Recap: Seattle Seahawks 28, Philadelphia Eagles 24
What you need to know
| Seattle Seahawks |
Seattle took advantage of two early A. J. Feeley interceptions to get the ball in great field position and score 14 first quarter points and held on for victory in rainy conditions. Seattle was unable to get any type of consistent offense going in the poor conditions, but did manage to score twice more on a combination of big plays that were helped by poor tackling by Eagles defensive backs. The Seattle defense was able to intercept Feeley twice more in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Matt Hasselbeck had a bad game statistically. This was partially due to the poor weather conditions and partially due to the ineffective rushing attack. The conditions probably factored into three drops by Seahawk receivers, and two potential interceptions that were dropped by Eagles defenders.
The Seattle rushing attack looked overmatched. The final numbers looked decent, but were inflated by the game winning 45 yard touchdown run by Maurice Morris. The touchdown run was aided by missed tackles within a few yards of the line of scrimmage allowing Morris to hit the open field and outrun the defenders to the end zone.
Seahawks receivers had little trouble finding open spots in the Eagles zone, but were unable to gain a lot of yards after the catch. The offensive line gave Hasselbeck time to throw, and when he had time he was able to find the open receiver. Seattle heavily involved the wide outs, as the tight ends and backs were only used as safety valves and on screens to keep the defense honest.
| Philadelphia Eagles |
A. J. Feeley's performance was a reflection of how the game went for the Eagles. Feeley was intercepted twice in the first quarter that would directly lead to 14 Seahawks points. At the end of the game he was intercepted inside the red zone as they were driving for the game winning score.
Due to Feeley's erratic performance, the offense had to rely on the running game. The offensive line gave both Brian Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter plenty of room to run. They were effective in the first half, but when it became apparent that the passing attack was not effective in the second half the backs found little room to run.
Eagles receivers had difficulty making an impact. This was due to the erratic play by Feeley as he tried to make things happen by throwing into coverage. Kevin Curtis was the only receiver who was able to make an impact, but even he was hindered as Feeley seemed to lock onto him and telegraph his throws.
What you ought to know
| QB Matt Hasselbeck, Pass: 19 - 34 - 187 - 2 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - -1 - 0 |
Hasselbeck did not have a great game statistically, but he was able to make plays and find the open receiver. He led the Seahawks on scoring drives on two of their first three possessions, with both possessions starting in the red zone. After missing on his first two attempts, he completed ten of his next 12 to close the first half, with one of the incompletions on a pass that was bobbled and dropped by Leonard Weaver. He connected on two scoring passes, one of which came on play in which he hit a wide open Nate Burleson on the 30 yard line and Burleson took it the rest of way in. Hasselbeck was victimized by dropped passes and turnovers in the second half. On the first series of the half he hit the receiver, but the ball was immediately fumbled and lost. Later, he threw an interception on a deep ball to Deion Branch in which the defensive player made an excellent play to gain position for the interception. He also threw three other passes that could have been interceptions, but the defensive player dropped the ball.
| RB Shaun Alexander, Rush: 20 - 65 - 1 |
The Seattle rushing attack revolves around Alexander. Even though he was only able to gain 65 total yards, his value to the team was important as a good balance to the passing attack. Alexander showed that he still is capable of big plays on the first series of the game. With the Seahawks gaining possession on the Eagle 18 he was responsible for the entire yardage on the first scoring drive. The rest of the first half was spent on short runs where the offensive line was unable to open any type of hole to run through. That changed in the second half. After Seattle gained the lead for good he ripped off two straight gains of over ten yards on the next series. Later in the half he was able to gain enough yards to allow for more manageable second and third down situations.
| RB Maurice Morris, Rush: 5 - 64 - 1 |
Morris provides a good complement to Alexander. His only action was when Alexander needed to rest, but he provided a huge impact when called upon. On his second carry he found a hole in the right side of the line and ran for 15 yards. He did not touch the ball again until the third quarter, but that touch was the turning point of the game. With the team trailing and in a third and one situation, Morris took the ball around the left end, found the hole and accelerated for the game winning 45 yard score.
| RB Leonard Weaver, Rush: 2 - 7 - 0, Rec: 3 - 5 - 0 (4 targets) |
Weaver's value was as the only back targeted on passes out of the backfield.
| WR Deion Branch, Rec: 5 - 40 - 0 (10 targets) |
Branch is the number one receiver in Seattle, and the one man that was relied upon when Hasselbeck went deep. He was intended receiver on the only interception, but was also the intended receiver on two other passes that could have been picked off. He did drop one pass that was catchable.
| WR Bobby Engram, Rec: 5 - 60 - 1 (7 targets) |
Engram has proven to be a receiver who is capable of going over the middle and making the tough catch while getting hit. Evidence of his toughness came on his final reception when he was hit hard immediately after making the catch on the 50 yard line and he popped right back up, seemingly unaffected by the hit. Even when he made a mistake, fumbling the ball after making the catch on the second play of the second half, he bounced right back and caught a sideline pass for a first down on the very next offensive play.
| WR Nate Burleson, Rec: 4 - 71 - 1 (8 targets) |
Burleson had the best day receiving of any Seahawk receiver, gaining 71 yards and scoring one touchdown. Most of his yards came on three plays in the first half when he was open and able to slip a couple of tackles to gain extra yards. His touchdown reception was on a play where he was wide open on the Eagles 30 and he made a couple of moves on the defensive backs to reach the end zone untouched.
| TE Marcus Pollard, Rec: 2 - 11 - 0 (4 targets) |
Pollard was not targeted until the second half. He had one dropped ball, and one play where he was unable to make the catch due to being well covered.
| PK Josh Brown 0 - 1 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 4 points |
Josh Brown did not have a good day. He missed his only field goal attempt from 40 yards when the ball went wide left.
| SEA Rush Defense |
The rushing defense was able to stop the Eagles backs from gaining good chunks of yards until late in the game. The Eagles were able to gain an average of five yards per rush, and were able to score on runs of 29 and 30 yards. Backs were able to get to the second level of the defense before receiving initial contact on most plays.
| SEA Pass Defense |
The final numbers show that the defense had four interceptions and only allowed a total of 219 yards passing. But the low totals were more a result of poor quarterback play by Feeley than by an excellent defensive performance. The interceptions resulted from balls being thrown directly to the defender, and Feeley was trying to force throws into double coverage. Most of the damage was done in the first half, and was the result of plays where the receiver was able to get extra yardage due to poor tackling.
| QB A.J. Feeley, Pass: 19 - 42 - 220 - 1 TD / 4 INT, Rush: 4 - 14 - 0 |
Feeley started his second consecutive game in place of an injured Donovan McNabb and Philly fans may be wishing for a new quarterback next week based on his performance. Feeley started by throwing interceptions on two of his first five passes, and four in total. All of the interceptions can be blamed on him as the passes were thrown directly to the defensive player. It appeared that he was trying to hard to make things happen by repeatedly throwing into double coverage and staring down his receivers before throwing the ball. His first half numbers were adequate, ten of 18 for 154 yards, but he seemed to really regress in the second half. His passes were usually off target high or the passes would be thrown into coverage. There were two passes along the sideline that were caught out of bounds, but if the ball had been thrown a little quicker the receiver would have been able to make the catch in bounds.
| RB Brian Westbrook, Rush: 21 - 93 - 1, Rec: 7 - 46 - 0 (10 targets) |
Westbrook did everything in his power to try and lead the Eagles to victory. No matter what the team needed, he was there to provide it. Rushing, he would find huge holes to run through and seemed to gain good yardage and was able to keep the defense off balance. Receiving, he took screen passes for medium sized gains and one pass that was flipped to him when Feeley was under pressure for a 24 yard gain. In the return game he served as the punt returner in the fourth quarter when a big play was needed. Westbrook almost provided that play as he took a punt 64 yards down to the Seattle 14 yard line with less than two minutes left, giving the Eagles an excellent opportunity to win the game.
| RB Correll Buckhalter, Rush: 4 - 37 - 1 (1 targets) |
Buckhalter's action came when Brian Westbrook needed a breather. The first appearance was after Westbrook gained 15 yards to the Seattle 30 and left the game from one play. That was all that was needed for the Eagles to score as Buckhalter lined up as a single back and found a huge hole on the right side of the line that allowed him to scamper in for the first score.
| WR Kevin Curtis, Rec: 6 - 111 - 1 (13 targets) |
Curtis was the only receiver who was able to make plays. He started out great by taking his first target for a 47 yard gain, slipping tackles on his way to the Seattle 14. Later in the half he used his body to shield the defender on his 24 yard touchdown reception. He closed the first half by drawing a pass interference penalty in the end zone to set up a first and goal situation on the one yards line. He picked up where he left off in the second half by getting wide open on a 25 yard reception and making a sliding catch to set up a third and two play in the fourth quarter. He was also the victim of poor decision making by Feeley, as it seemed like the quarterback was trying to force the ball to him, even when he was double covered.
| WR Reggie Brown, Rec: 2 - 26 - 0 (5 targets) |
Brown saw little action, but he did make the most of his opportunities early. He caught his first two targets, but was unable to make an impact in the second half.
| WR Hank Baskett (2 targets) |
The closest Baskett came to getting a reception was when he caught a pass out of bounds in the third quarter.
| WR Greg Lewis (3 targets) |
The only impact made by Lewis in the game was that he was the intended receiver on the second interception.
| TE L.J. Smith, Rec: 3 - 21 - 0 (9 targets) |
Smith was used when the Eagles first tried to establish their offense. He was targeted on the first two plays, but was unable to catch either pass. It seemed like the conditions affected Smith more than any other offensive player as he seemed to slip on short passes. Even when he was able to make a catch he would slip and fall before he was able to gain any extra yardage.
| TE Brent Celek, Rec: 1 - 16 - 0 (1 targets) |
Celek made the most of his only opportunity by catching a pass over the middle and gaining a first down.
| PK David Akers 1 - 2 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points |
Akers made his short field goal attempt and was wide right on a 49 yard attempt in the first half.
| PHI Rush Defense |
The defense relied on a number of run blitzes to help keep the Seahawks rushing game in check for most of the game. The defense only game up one big play on the ground, but it was a play that would hurt the most as Maurice Morris scored the game winning touchdown on a third and one play.
| PHI Pass Defense |
The pass defense had a very bad game. The front four was unable to get any type of pressure on Hasselbeck, and this allowed him to have plenty of time to find open receivers. The backs were able to do a good job for most of the game of limiting the receivers to little or no yards after the catch. The pass defense dropped at least three potential interceptions. They were only burned once, on a play where Nate Burleson was wide open on a play where there appeared to be blown coverage.
