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Eagles fans furious with Seahawks’ Jadeveon Clowney, but not complaining about Birds’ effort in NFL playoffs loss

In the end, fans were proud of this team for making it to the playoffs despite so many injuries.

Eagles coach Doug Pederson consoles running back Boston Scott as they leave the field after the loss to the Seahawks.
Eagles coach Doug Pederson consoles running back Boston Scott as they leave the field after the loss to the Seahawks.Read moreDAVID MAIALETTI / Staff Photographer

The Eagles’ season is over, but at least the Birds went down with a fight in Sunday’s 17-9 playoff loss to the Seahawks.

There was plenty for fans to talk about during the game, from Jadeveon Clowney’s cheap shot hit on Carson Wentz to Josh McCown’s attempts to rally his team in the fourth quarter. Here’s a look back at how the evening unfolded on social media.

NBC started its broadcast with a shoutout to all the Cris Collinsworth haters in Philadelphia: it showed Eagles fans singing “Fly, Eagles Fly” in the stands at the Linc. If you’re the kind of person who thinks all of the national media are biased against Philly, well, there you go.

The defenses dominated early. Both teams went three-and-out on their first drives, and on the Seahawks’ second, Vinny Curry blocked a field goal:

Late in the first quarter, Wentz took a nasty-looking head-to-head hit from Clowney. The Seattle defensive end wasn’t penalized for the play, but Wentz had to leave the field and went to the locker room for concussion testing. Eagles fans were rightly furious.

Josh McCown came in to play quarterback for the Birds, and all fans could do was hope for the best.

Late in the second quarter, Jake Elliott connected on a 46-yard field goal to tie the game. Then this happened:

Seattle responded by scoring the game’s first touchdown, with Marshawn Lynch pounding his way into the end zone on a 5-yard run. It was notably the exact play Seahawks coach Pete Carroll didn’t call at the end of their loss to the 49ers.

Just before the touchdown, word got out that the Cowboys finally fired head coach Jason Garrett. The timing of the news seemed rather suspicious to some fans:

The Eagles hung around until midway through the third quarter, when Russell Wilson uncorked a 53-yard touchdown pass to D.K. Metcalf. Many Eagles fans noticed that the Birds could have had him, but took JJ-Arcega Whiteside.

It was still 17-9 with 6:34 to go in the game, and the Eagles were still alive. They got to fourth-and-4 at the Seahawks’ 24, and Doug Pederson was a perfect 4-for-4 on fourth downs in the playoffs as Eagles head coach up to then. He went for it, and Josh McCown had Miles Sanders open, but Sanders dropped the pass.

The Eagles defense forced the Seahawks to go three and out, giving McCown the ball back. He got the Birds down the field (with help from a big pass interference penalty on Seattle), then faced fourth down at the Seahawks’ 10-yard line coming out of the two-minute warning.

Some fans dared to dream.

Others were more pragmatic.

Alas, none of that happened. McCown was sacked as he scrambled out of the pocket.

When the Seahawks took over, Wilson sealed the Eagles’ fate with one more big pass to Metcalf. After all the Eagles went through, especially with so many injuries, fans appreciated that this team gave all it had.

    Jonathan Tannenwald
    I'm The Inquirer's soccer reporter, covering the Union, the U.S. men's and women's national teams, MLS, the NWSL, and Philadelphia's place in the world's game. I also cover college basketball and the WNBA, as Philadelphia pursues an expansion team.
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