DK Metcalf posts career-high receiving yards as Seattle Seahawks fly to Philadelphia

There is something about Russell Wilson playing in prime time.

And there’s something about DK Metcalf playing in Philadelphia.

The Wilson-Metcalf combination – plus another solid performance from the resurgent Seattle Seahawks defense – was enough for a 23-17 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

Metcalf caught 10 assists for a career-high 177 yards while dealing most of his damage against All-Pro cornerback Darius Slay. That topped his 160-yard performance at the same stadium in January, when he set an NFL rookie playoff record in Seattle’s victory over the Eagles.

“It’s kind of like coming home,” Metcalf said. “A place that was lucky enough to recruit me but didn’t, so I have to make them pay.”

Monday night’s victory gives Seattle (8-3) a one-game NFC West lead over the Los Angeles Rams, and it gives the Seahawks seven straight wins over Philadelphia (including the playoffs) since 2011.

It also continues Wilson’s dominance under the lights. He’s now 29-8-1 in prime-time games (defined as starting at 7 p.m. ET or later) for a 0.776 winning percentage. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, this is the best of any starting quarterback since 1950 with at least 20 starts. Steve Young (.767, 23-7) is second.

Wilson improved to 10-2 on Monday Night Football, for a 0.833 winning percentage which is also the first in MNF history.

Wilson completed 22 of 31 attempts for 230 yards, one touchdown and no rolls. It was his second straight game without an interception or fumble lost after committing 10 turnovers from Week 7 to Week 10, the most of four games of his career.

He connected with wide receiver David Moore on a fade from the goal line for his touchdown. Chris Carson scored Seattle’s other touchdown on a 16-yard run. He carried eight times for 41 yards on his return from a foot injury that sidelined him for four games. Carlos Hyde led the Seahawks’ backers with 15 carries (for 22 yards) as they relied more on their running game for the second straight week after relying heavily on Wilson for the first nine games.

The Seahawks’ defense, which was slashed at an historic rate in the first half of the season, posted its second consecutive solid performance. He forced three and strikeouts on the Eagles’ first five possessions, sacked Carson Wentz six times, intercepted him once and held Philadelphia nine points down to a Hail Mary. It was only the second time this season that a team has started a game with five consecutive three-outs, according to a study by ESPN Stats & Information.

The Seahawks’ 62% win rate on Monday night was their highest in a game this season. Their 22 sacks since Week 8 are three more than any other team in this period.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll kicked himself after the game for Seattle’s two failed fourth and second-place attempts at the start of the game, saying he didn’t like the way he handled the timing. of these decisions. But he was otherwise pleased with how Seattle failed to commit any turnover on offense and continued its turnaround in defense.

“It was great to see our guys play like that and play consistently,” he said. “Again, like last week, a lot of corrections, a lot of corrections during the game, a lot of good communication. We’ve taken a very good step forward and I hope we can continue to build on it.”

Metcalf sealed the victory for Seattle by recovering the onside kick that followed after Wentz’s Hail Mary touchdown to Richard Rodgers.

Metcalf now has 1,039 receiving yards in 11 games. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, that makes him the fastest player in Seahawks history with 1,000 receiving yards in one season. It’s also the fifth-most yards by a first- or second-year player in 11 games over the past 30 seasons. His 1,939 career receiving yards are 88 off Joey Galloway’s pass over the two seasons in franchise history.

Metcalf accounted for 77% of the Seahawks’ 230 receiving yards on Monday night, the third highest percentage in the past five seasons. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Metcalf has lined up against Slay on 26 of his 27 routes. When Slay was the closest defenseman, Metcalf caught seven of 10 targets for 141 yards. The 141 yards are second by a receiver against a lone defenseman this season.

Slay said he could have played the worst game of his career.

The Eagles were one of eight teams to pick a wide receiver in last year’s draft before Seattle chose Metcalf with the final pick of the second round. He found another source of motivation on Monday night when Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz approached him and said, according to Metcalf, “I was in Detroit with Megatron, but you’re not there yet. In my mind, I’m not trying to be Megatron. I try to be me. So I had a little chip on my shoulder the whole game. “

The Schwartz side of the story was that he complimented Metcalf by telling him that he was the closest thing Schwartz had seen to Calvin Johnson.

“He pushed the bear and Slay had to go over there and end up having to face that bear,” said Seahawks goaltender Quandre Diggs, who was Slay’s teammate in Detroit. “So hey, Slay has to blame his D-coordinator for this.”

Seahawks All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner finished with five tackles to push him over 100 for the ninth time in as many seasons in the NFL. According to research from ESPN Stats & Info, he is now tied with Keith Brooking for the second straight season with 100 tackles in the past 20 years. London Fletcher is the oldest at 13.

“We’re looking at a Hall of Fame football player,” Carroll said. “We’re so used to the way he plays and [these] He continues to add up extremely consistent numbers, and we might not realize how great a player he is and how difficult it is to do what he does. It’s just a timer. … Shoot, we have five games left, so he’s going to have a ton this year. “