Major Questions Loom as Eagles Take On Seahawks Hoping to Snap Two-Game Skid

The week leading up to the Monday Night Football matchup against the Seattle Seahawks came with plenty of drama as the Eagles look to snap a two-game skid and retake the sole possession of the NFC East and stay neck and neck with the 49ers for the number one seed in the conference.

The Eagles have not beaten Seattle in 15 years and have lost 8 straight matchups dating back to 2008 with the most recent defeat coming in the 2019 Wild Card where Carson Wentz was injured and Josh McCown had to right the ship but came up short in a 17-9.

Social media was riddled with news about the Birds leading up to this week, with most of the headlines putting this season even in more doubt than it was after last Sunday night’s loss to Dallas in blowout fashion.

We will recap this week’s news in chronological order.

First up, the NFL released a statement earlier in the week that banned very popular security personnel Dom from the sidelines for the remainder of the regular season. This comes after 49ers LB Dre Greenlaw and Dom were involved in a scuffle mid-third quarter two weeks ago. He was unable to rejoin the team on the sideline last week and after more review, the NFL has decided to ban Dom from the sideline till at least the playoffs. This is an important loss to the players as he was considered a crucial momentum builder in the locker room and on the sidelines for games. Let’s hope he isn’t the Eagles’ good luck charm and they can pull out a win tonight.

Next, Darius Slay in a shocking update had arthroscopic surgery on his knee this week which will force him out of this week’s matchup and he could be possibly out until the end of the regular season. A bit confusing since we did not see him get injured or banged up against Dallas. This seems prudent to get him 100% healthy for the playoffs. Nevertheless, that means that Kelee Ringo and Eli Ricks must step up tonight in a clear matchup disadvantage against DK Metcalf and Co. who are known to get the better of the Eagles’ secondary. Now even more banged up, the Eagles must force a bracket on DK, eliminate their best offensive weapon, and go from there.

Now for the shocker of the week. Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai has been removed of his duties as head of the defense and will now be in another position in coaching for the Eagles’ defense. After multiple reports this week have come out saying Desai is unconfident and the players urging Desai to give the players the game breakdown and matchup study, he has been replaced by former Lions HC and Patriots DC Matt Patricia. Patrica, who won multiple Super Bowls with New England before landing a head coaching job in Detroit, struggled as a head football coach and has bounced around the league until the Eagles made him a defensive backs coach and defensive advisor. Now, Patricia will take over the defensive play calling from Desai in hopes of improving the Eagles’ abysmal backend and calling a better game. Many folks on Eagles’ Twitter are comparing this to the 2012 Ravens, who dropped Cam Cameron and replaced him with Jim Caldwell at 9-4 only to win the Super Bowl that same season. Maybe the move will come back to bite us, but I think it is worth a shot with how the defense has been playing.

And finally, the biggest story of the week. Jalen Hurts came down with an illness in practice this week and the sickness worsened on Saturday night leaving his status in question for tonight’s game. He had to take his own charter to Seattle to prevent anyone else from getting sick and his availability is still in doubt a few hours before the game. This comes after a rough week for Hurts, who was criticized (as well as the Eagles coaching staff) for running fumble drills and looking unconfident on the practice field this week. Maybe there is some correlation there but the hope is Hurts does suit up for a crucial matchup in one of the loudest stadiums in the league. Geno Smith is not on track to play for the Seahawks, so right now it could be Marcus Mariota vs Drew Lock on a Monday Night. And they flexed this game too!

All of these stories coming out about the Eagles hopefully didn’t distract the players too much and I hope every decision made this week was for the better but it is yet to be known. This is the most important game of the year, as the Seahawks have also struggled, losing 4 in a row. Both teams are due for a win, and no doubt the Seattle faithful will be loud as they look to win for the first time in over a month. A lot to recap this week but obviously the two most important things are Hurts’ health and how the defense will respond to the change of coordinator. Let’s all say a little prayer DK doesn’t torch us for 200 tonight.

With all that being said, if Hurts plays I still like the Eagles to leave Seattle victorious and get their first win against the Seahawks in 15 years. The Jets defeated us for the first time in their history earlier this year, so I believe we will return the favor and snap our losing streak on the road. Go Birds!

Eagles: 27

Seahawks: 23