Raise your hand if you chuckled a bit when the clock expired as the Seattle Seahawks frantically tried to get off a play at the end of the first half their NFC Divisional playoff Sunday vs. the Falcons.
It’s not that I have anything against the Seahawks or young quarterback Russell Wilson. In fact, I kind of admire them.
It’s just that it all looked so familiar. The Seahawks, down 20-0, were looking to put six points on the board as a way to salvage a half in which they were thoroughly outplayed. But first a penalty pushed them back to the 11 yard line. Then Wilson was sacked. As he tried furiously to get his team lined up, the final few seconds ticked off. No touchdown, no field goal, either. You see, the Seahawks had no timeouts left. Sound familiar?
Pete Carroll, meet Andy Reid. It all looked eerily the same to Eagles fans. Over his 14 years as the Eagles head coach, the end of the first half sort of became Reid’s trademark. Inevitably the Eagles would win up with no timeouts and manage to blow a scoring attempt.
There was something else about the Seahawks-Falcons classic that should concern Eagles fans. That Seahawks defense? Tthe one ranked No. 1 all year, was not exactly dominant yesterday.
And most importantly, after Wilson rallied his team to a 28-27 lead with 31 seconds left in the game, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and his defense came up incredibly small.
The Falcons and their fans were dumstruck, having coughed up a 20-0 second half lead. QB Matt Ryan and coach Mike Smith were staring at sure ignominy as their reputation for failing to win in the post-season undoubtedly hung around their necks.
But Ryan, no doubt bracing for a whole new round of 'choker' claims, came up big, completing two passes that moved the Falcons into field goal range in the blink of an eye. For some reason, Bradley decided to go with a softer coverage. As it seemingly always does, the prevent defense prevented the Seahawks from a miraculous win.
Bradley is on the Eagles growing list of possible head coaching candidates.
Brian Billick, who worked the game as a color commentator, also now is on the Eagles’ radar. The team said they interviewed him for the job.
One name apparently still not on the list? Jon Gruden.
The Eagles will talk to his brother Jay this week.
The disdain the Eagles have for Jon Gruden is odd, and leaves you with the opinion that there is more to the story than meets the eye.
First the Seahawks blew their clock management at the end of the first half. Then their defense got burned in the last 31 seconds. We know how you feel, Seattle fans.
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