Each week KIRO 7 Sports Director Chris Francis previews the Seahawks matchup with his Steps to Victory. These are featured on the weekly Scouting Report which airs Saturday at 7:30 p.m. After losing four straight the Seahawks are desperate to get a win over the Eagles on Monday night and keep their playoff hopes alive. So, to save the season, here are the Seahawks’ Steps to Victory against Philly.
- Step number one: Hurts Hurting. That would be Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, no doubt about it he is not 100% healthy. The Seahawks need to take advantage of that. At halftime of their blowout of the Eagles last week, Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said, “It starts with the quarterback, that’s where we’ve got to keep our focus”. And they did, Hurts finished with 197 yards passing, no touchdowns and a fumble, and clearly isn’t as athletic as years past, or even earlier this season, nursing a sore knee. Seahawks can’t let him get comfortable if they want to win on Monday.
- Care with Explosives. The Hawks can’t allow explosive plays like they did last week. The Niners had 10 plays of 20+ yards. That’s ridiculous. Every San Francisco playmaker had at least one and three of those plays were either touchdowns or as the first play of the game set up, a short TD run. The Eagles also boast some big-time playmakers and like to go deep, AJ Brown, DeVante Smith, Dallas Goedert and DeAndre Swift can all bust a defense. The “explosives” need to be in the low single digits or we’ll see the same results we’ve seen the last six weeks from the Hawks defense which is giving up an average of 28 points per game in that span.
- And Simple on Offense. That’s gotta be the mantra. Try to run the ball but if they can’t against the 6th-ranked rush D in the league, bring out that “Dallas” passing gameplan. Get the ball out quick and hit your playmakers on short to intermediate passes. QUICK being the key, the Eagles secondary is susceptible to big plays but they can’t be forced. Too often the Seahawks have tried to force things and receivers are winding up next to each other, or entire personnel groups are going without the ball. DK with two targets in the 1st quarter against the Niners and then none until late in the fourth is not how they should be calling offense.
Alright, there you go, the Seahawks Steps to Victory for Week 15 vs Philadelphia.