Eagles' offense dominated by Seattle in 24-14 loss
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Chip Kelly's up-tempo offense never had a chance to get going against Seattle.
The Seahawks held the Eagles to their fewest points, yards and first downs in a dominating 24-14 victory on Sunday.
LeSean McCoy set a franchise record for yards rushing, but had a costly fumble. Mark Sanchez threw for just 96 yards and Philadelphia's 10-game home winning streak in the regular season ended.
"When you play a game like this, it falls on everybody," Kelly said.
The Eagles (9-4) host Dallas (9-4) for first place in the NFC East next week. They beat the Cowboys 33-10 on Thanksgiving.
"We have to learn from this and flush it," Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin said.
The Seahawks set a franchise record by holding the ball for 41:56 and limited the Eagles to 45 offensive plays and 139 total yards, their fewest under Kelly.
"If you don't get as many opportunities, you have to make the ones you get count and we didn't do that," Sanchez said. "We expected to do a lot of things better."
Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score, but Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman and the rest of Seattle's "Legion of Boom" defense were the difference.
"Even though they are a great defense, we left some plays on the field," Maclin said.
The defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks have victories over NFC West-leading Arizona (10-3), San Francisco (7-6) and Philadelphia in the last three weeks.
Pete Carroll was the winner in his first NFL matchup against Kelly. In the coaches' only other meeting, Kelly's Oregon Ducks beat Carroll and USC 47-20 on Oct. 31, 2009.
"I have total respect for everything Chip does," Carroll said. "Our defense, for the third straight week, did the job for us."
Sanchez, who played for Carroll in college, threw two TD passes and one interception.
McCoy's 4-yard run in the third quarter moved him past Wilbert Montgomery into first place on the Eagles' career rushing list. McCoy finished with 50 yards and has 6,540 yards.
"It's something special, but I wish it could've been in a different situation, not with me playing a terrible game." McCoy said.
The Seahawks were leading 10-7 when K.J. Wright forced McCoy to fumble on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Earl Thomas recovered at the Eagles 19 and Wilson connected with Lynch two plays later.
"That's real bad and that's on me," McCoy said. "I didn't play well at all, probably one of my worst games since I've been here."
Wilson tossed a 23-yard pass to Doug Baldwin to make it 24-14 later in the quarter after the Eagles got within a field goal on Sanchez's 35-yard pass to Zach Ertz.
One play after Lynch fumbled at the Eagles 30 in the fourth quarter, Sanchez threw an interception to Tharold Simon to end Philadelphia's hopes of a comeback.
The Seahawks dominated the Eagles statistically in the first half and took a 10-7 lead on Steven Hauschka's 44-yard field goal. Wilson's 20-yard completion to Paul Richardson on third-and-15 kept the drive going.
Seattle outgained Philadelphia 242-67 and had the ball for 21:56 in the first half, yet only led by a field goal.
The Eagles started their second drive at the Seahawks 14 after punter Jon Ryan dropped the snap and Ertz recovered for Philadelphia.
After McCoy ran for a first down on fourth-and-1 from the 5, Sanchez tossed a 1-yard pass to Jeremy Maclin to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
The Seahawks hadn't allowed a touchdown since a 24-20 loss at Kansas City on Nov. 16. They beat division rivals Arizona and San Francisco by the same score, 19-3, in the previous two games.
Seattle tied it at 7 on Wilson's 26-yard run. Wilson faked an inside handoff to Lynch, saw linebacker Trent Cole commit and ran around the left side untouched for the score.
NOTES: American League MVP Mike Trout, a native of nearby Millville, New Jersey, and lifelong Eagles fan, was at the game along with Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander and pro golfer Rory McIlroy. They were guests of Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie. ... Eagles WR Josh Huff left with a hip injury.
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