An end and beginning for Jalen Hurts, Carson Wentz the last time Eagles played Seahawks

PHILADELPHIA − It was a little more than three years ago when the Eagles and Seahawks last played.

Back then, the Eagles were in the throes of a 4-11-1 nightmare of a season. Five weeks after their 23-17 loss to Seattle on Nov. 30, 2020, they would fire head coach Doug Pederson, trade quarterback Carson Wentz and pretty much start over with a whole bunch of question marks.

How things have changed since then as the Eagles and Seahawks meet on Monday night in Seattle.

Jalen Hurts, who’s listed as questionable for Monday with an illness, was the biggest question mark of all in the final month of the 2020 season. He was a rookie, picked in the second round less than a year after the Eagles (at the time) made Wentz the highest-paid QB in NFL history.

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But that loss to Seattle, in front of a few hundred cardboard cutout fans − the real fans were banned because of the COVID-19 pandemic − represented something else: It was the last time the Eagles didn't take Hurts seriously as a quarterback.

Oh sure, the Eagles saw the talent Hurts had, something DeSean Jackson noted a few weeks ago when he officially retired as an Eagle. The 2020 season was Jackson's last in Philly.

Jackson said he remembered during training camp in 2020, watching in amazement as Hurts and the second unit went against the starting defense.

"I’m just seeing him slinging the ball and he’s making crazy plays," Jackson said. "And it was like, I tapped (general manager) Howie (Roseman), and I said, 'Howie, I told you, that kid’s going to be special, man.'"

Eagles center Jason Kelce noticed that as well.

"That year, I still remember (watching) 7-on-7," Kelce said. "He was labeled as somewhat of a gadget quarterback or a running guy. But I remember he could throw the ball very impressively. Not just accurately, but he could push it down the field, too. I think for me, it was apparent in a way that he could do more than just be a gadget player.

"I thought the narrative that he didn’t have the arm, it felt like watching him every day at practice, that wasn’t necessarily the case."

That was becoming apparent to everybody else, too. Even before that game, the calls to bench Wentz for Hurts were growing louder. Yet against Seattle, Hurts was on the field for 2 snaps. He handed off on one, then threw only his third pass of the season on the other. He completed it for 6 yards to Alshon Jeffrey.

As for Wentz, it was another miserable game. Sure, Wentz's stats that day looked respectable as he finished 25 of 45 for 215 yards, with 2 touchdowns and an interception.

Don't be fooled. When Hurts completed that pass to Jeffrey to start the second quarter, he had more passing yards than Wentz did in the entire first quarter. At that point, Wentz had thrown for 4 yards. He had just 30 yards passing in the first half.

Needless to say, the Eagles never had a chance. They trailed 14-0 in the second quarter and 23-9 before Wentz threw a meaningless touchdown pass to Richard Rodgers with 12 seconds left in the game.

The next week, Wentz was pulled for Hurts in the third quarter against Green Bay. Wentz never played for the Eagles again.

It's interesting to see how much has changed for the Eagles since then. The offseason upheaval began almost immediately as Nick Sirianni replaced Pederson as coach and Hurts officially became the quarterback, although not without some reservations.

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So it's remarkable that two-plus years after that game, the Eagles were in the Super Bowl.

The Eagles retooled at wide receiver, drafting DeVonta Smith in 2021, then trading for AJ Brown the next year. And Hurts became an MVP finalist last season and most likely will be in the running again this season.

Hurts was also rewarded with a record contract − since surpassed − of five years worth as much as $255 million. Hurts has the Eagles at 10-3 this season, tied for the best record in the NFL, even with the two-game losing streak in which the lost by a combined score of 75-32 to San Francisco and Dallas.

Wentz, meanwhile, was traded to Indianapolis, then to Washington. Then he was out of football before the Rams signed him last month to back up Matthew Stafford. He has yet to throw a pass this season.

No wonder Hurts hardly remembers that last game against Seattle.

"It was long ago," he said. "This is my first time, really, playing against them."

Hurts, of course, is focused more on turning around both his the Eagles' recent fortunes. The Eagles lost three fumbles in Dallas territory last week, and Hurts had one of them. Hurts also has a career-high 10 interceptions.

But Hurts is matching his career-high completion percentage of 66.5%. He's on pace for the most passing yards in team history, and he has 31 total touchdowns (19 passing, 12 rushing) this season, just four short of the franchise record he tied last season.

Hurts said he's driven by the adversity.

"It’s usually what’s supposed to happen," he said. "You don’t get anywhere without any challenges. It’s not natural to grow and develop the right type of character and develop into a team, truly, if you don’t go through anything together.

"As I’ve said, this a great opportunity for us and it’s something we’re going through, and that’s a beautiful thing."

It began in earnest one week after the last time Hurts was not taken seriously as a QB.

DK Metcalf, noted Eagles killer, talks trash silently

AJ Brown has known Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf ever since they were teammates at Mississippi. They both were drafted in the second round in 2019. Brown went No. 51 overall to the Tennessee Titans, while Metcalf went No. 64 to Seattle.

The two are close friends, and trash talkers. In fact, Metcalf has taken his game to a new level by learning how to trash talk in sign language.

"DK is one of a kind," Brown said. "He’s always thinking of things, trying to be different, because he’s always a different person. That’s what makes him special. I think that’s pretty cool. He’s talking trash in sign language. I don’t think anyone has ever done that before."

As we all know, the Eagles could have drafted Metcalf that season when they picked No. 57. Instead, they selected Stanford wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, and that was a disaster. Metcalf has made the Eagles regret that every time he went against them.

In 2019, Metcalf had only 3 catches for 35 yards in the regular-season meeting, a 17-9 Seahawks win. But in the playoffs, he had 7 catches for 160 yards in another 17-9 win. Arcega-Whiteside had just 169 yards receiving that entire season.

Then in that 2020 game, Metcalf had 10 catches for 177 yards.

The Seahawks have three good receivers in Metcalf, who has 864 yards receiving this season, along with T.J. Lockett (711) and rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba (493).

That makes Metcalf all the more dangerous against a struggling defense like the Eagles, especially without Darius Slay, who had arthroscopic knee surgery last week. The Eagles rank 22nd in total defense (354 yards per game), 28th against the pass (260 yards per game), 28th in points allowed per game (24.7) and 32nd in third-down defense (48.1%).

But Seattle's defense is just as bad, and the Eagles' offense is much better than Seattle's. The Seahawks are 26th in total defense, 25th against the pass, 27th in points allowed and 30th in third-down defense.

The Eagles haven't faced a defense this bad in weeks. And that will make the difference − as long as those ball security drills pay off.

Score: Eagles 27, Seahawks 20.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: How Eagles knew to play Jalen Hurts over Carson Wentz vs Seahawks in '20