Are the Eagles in a big hole after their latest defeat to the Seahawks?

The Seattle Seahawks overcame the Philadelphia Eagles in dramatic style late on Monday night, with backup quarterback Drew Lock leading a final-minute touchdown drive to secure a 20-17 win.

Head coach Pete Carroll is now 8-0 against the Eagles, who are now on a three-game losing streak and tied for the lead in the NFC East at 10-4 with the Dallas Cowboys.

For Philadelphia, they lose more ground as they look to get back to the Super Bowl this year. The #1 seed in the NFC has fallen out of their grasp at the moment, but the Eagles are still in a very good position to go far in the playoffs.

Yet, they’ve just lost to a QB player starting just his second game in two seasons, and there are definite rifts emerging between players and the coaching staff. Something feels off with this team at the moment, so what is behind this slump?

The Eagles are still a big threat, but need to improve

While Philadelphia have already clinched a playoff spot and still have a good chance to win their division, many see that their ceiling for this year falling because it has hit a rough patch against talented opponents.

Monday’s game against a steady Seahawks team was a real opportunity to take advantage of the Bills thrashing the Cowboys, and really take control of the NFC East. But it wasn’t to be, and a last-minute loss must feel very excruciating and deflating for a team we so many expectations on them.

The defnese has been the real issue, and to be fair, it looked much improved against Seattle compared to what it had looked like in previous weeks, with Matt Patricia taking control.

Through three quarters in Seattle, the dangerous receiver DK Metcalf had one reception for a measly eight yards, and while the Seahawks run-game was strong with Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet impressing, they could only muster one touchdown on eight drives. Yes, giving up 92 yards for the game-winning touchdown, which included the Jaxon Smith-Njigba score which sailed over out-of-form cornerback James Bradberry, isn’t a great look, but they stopped the rot on third-down situations.

Offensively, the Eagles are equally as inconsistent. The run game was good against Seattle but the passing game struggled, and Hurts hasn’t been 100% for a while now. He now has 12 interceptions in 14 games this year, compared with 19 interceptions in the first 45 games of his career.

Philadelphia still has some of the most talented offensive and defensive lines in the league and should be fine come January, with some real get-right games to come against the New York Giants sandwiched in-between a clash with the Arizona Cardinals. They should win their remaining games, and even if they don’t earn a first-round home playoff game, they could face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-7), the worst NFL division leader, in a #4/#5 seed battle.

So things look good from a schedule perspective, but nothing really feels right at the moment in Philly. They can’t afford any more slip ups if they are going to go far in the postseason.