Sunday nights nationally televised ( 5:30 p.m.) clash between the Philadelphia Eagles (10-1) and Seattle Seahawks(7-4) is an intriguing match in that the Eagles look to convince the football world their league-best nine game win streak is no fluke and they are a legitimate SuperBowl contender.
If action speak louder than words the best way for the Eagles to prove the point is to beat the Seahawks an NFC powerhouse on their home field. The Seahawks will be looking to make the case that they are not a has been fading team that despite defensive injuries and a struggling running game are still relevant in the race for postseason glory.
While there will be many intriguing matchups on Sunday night the best showdown will be between two players that will be on the field at different times during the game, Russell Wilson and Carson Wentz. The two quarterbacks are different in size, Wentz is 6-foot-5, 237 pounds while Wilson is 5-foot-11 203 pounds and took completely different paths to the League, Wentz was drafted no. 2 overall while Wilson was undrafted. Their year two on-field trajectory to elite NFL quarterback status is a mirror image of each other.
Sunday’s showdown at quarterback could result in an explosive offensive game if both players are allowed to gain some rhythm in the passing game. Both can stretch plays with thier feet and are in command of their offenses.
Seahawks Head coach Pete Carroll has seen tremendous growth in Wentz from year one to year two,
“Yeah, I mean what stands out is that he’s making plays and he can make plays with his arm, he can make plays with his feet, and he has a good sense about him in the pocket. He can throw from the pocket, he can make guys miss, and he has that scrambling ability as well to extend the play, but then if he needs to run and get yards, he can do that as well. He’s progressing really nice.”
Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pedersen was all praise when asked how to stop the Seahawks during Sunday game,
“For us looking at them, the Seahawks’ offense. Everything runs through Russell right now. This kid, he is unbelievable. I loved him when he came out of Wisconsin. I was actually a part of the Eagles staff when I had a chance to work him out and thought he was going to be a special player in this league and he has obviously turned out to be one. The team feeds off of that and they still do. We got our work cut out for us there. We got to make sure that we can try to somehow get some hands on him and not let him escape like he does because he is very dangerous outside the pocket.
