Seattle Seahawks defensive player of the game: CB Tre Flowers

Flowers led the team with three passes defended while also racking up seven combined tackles, third on the team behind Kendricks and K.J. Wright.

The Seattle Seahawks defense was excellent on Sunday morning against the Philadelphia Eagles, forcing Carson Wentz into multiple mistakes and making up for an ugly game from the Seattle offense, ultimately leading to the team’s 17-9 victory.

While there were multiple players who could have been named defensive player of the game, including Ziggy Ansah, Shaquem Griffin, Mychal Kendricks, and Bradley McDougald, the award goes to cornerback Tre Flowers.

Flowers led the team with three passes defended while also racking up seven combined tackles, third on the team behind Kendricks and K.J. Wright.

Most importantly, he had a crucial interception late in the fourth quarter, which ended up icing the game.

Flowers has had his ups and downs this season, his second as a starter after getting drafted out of Oklahoma State – where he exclusively played safety.

He fits the bill as a lengthy, physical outside cornerback in Pete Carroll’s system, and his performance on Sunday proved he is coming into his own.

While it hasn’t always been pretty, Flowers may be taking the route of other late-round cornerbacks turned stars in Seattle, a staple of the Carroll/John Schneider/Legion of Boom era in the Emerald City.

The Seahawks are now 9-2 on the season, although the rest of their schedule will require a lot of work if they want to be more than a wild card team in the crowded NFC.

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Instant analysis of Seattle’s 17-9 victory over Philadelphia

In one of the uglier games of the season – even by Seattle’s standards – the Seahawks’ defense stifled the Philadelphia Eagles and helped lead them to a 17-9 victory.

In one of the uglier games of the season – even by Seattle’s standards – the Seahawks’ defense stifled the Philadelphia Eagles and helped lead them to a 17-9 victory.

Seattle is now 9-2 on the year.

A 58-yard touchdown run from Rashaad Penny early in the fourth quarter gave Seattle a two-touchdown lead, and an interception by Tre Flowers late in the fourth was the final nail in the coffin of an Eagles team that struggled all game against Seattle’s defense.

Penalties were a huge part of the game story, with Seattle getting penalized a whopping 12 times. They were penalized 10 times before Philadelphia received their first penalty late in the third quarter. They finished with two penalties for 15 yards, nothing compared to Seattle – who struggled with discipline upfront on the line of scrimmage all day long.

The wind had a huge impact on this game as well, with both quarterbacks struggling to generate yards through the air. Both Carson Wentz and Russell Wilson missed wide-open receivers throwing against the wind, and punts and kicks were considerably less effective all day long.

Seattle scrapped their way to a 10-3 lead at halftime, although they should have been up by multiple scores. A rare miss from Wilson to tight end Jacob Hollister in the end zone cost them four points (they converted a field goal instead) and a dropped catch by DK Metcalf, also in the end zone, cost them seven.

After the Eagles struck first on a short field goal midway through the first quarter, Seattle responded quickly on a flea-flicker from Chris Carson to Russell Wilson that worked perfectly, as Wilson hit Malik Turner in the end zone on a dime for a touchdown.

It was Seattle’s first flea-flicker of the season and gave them an early lead.

Later in the half, Ziggy Ansah forced a fumble that was negated by a Shaquill Griffin holding penalty, but Seattle forced a turnover a few plays later on an interception from Bradley McDougald.

The interception was part of a disastrous game from Wentz, who lost two fumbles and threw another interception – this one by Flowers – which sealed the game late in the fourth.

Wentz finished 33-45 with 256 yards, one garbage-time touchdown, two interceptions, and two lost fumbles.

Shaquem Griffin was the catalyst behind one of Wentz’s fumbles on his first big play of the season as a member of the defense, drilling Wentz and forcing a fumble that was recovered by Branden Jackson.

Griffin had a really solid game, flashing excellent disruption as a pass rusher and finishing with four tackles and one pass defended.

The Seahawks moved to 6-0 on the road this season, and will now root for Green Bay on Sunday night against San Francisco, Seattle’s NFC West rival.

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