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Crucial mistakes cost Eagles possible halftime lead

SEATTLE --- Eagles fans could be celebrating a halftime lead Sunday, a big step toward what would be their team's best victory of the season, except for two plays, two killer plays in one of the toughest road venues in the NFL.

Brandon Graham jumped offside on third and 16 as Russell Wilson threw incomplete, making it third and 11 for the Seahawks, and Wilson then threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham, who ran away from a horrible tackling attempt by Jaylen Watkins.

Then, the Eagles caught the Seahawks perfectly on a tight end screen. Zach Ertz, criticized in some quarters for not getting yards after the catch, charged downfield, 57 yards for a touchdown. But on the far sideline lay a yellow flag. The Eagles had lined up three wide receivers in a sort of triangle on the opposite side of the play. The guy at the point of the triangle, ineffective 2015 first-round pick Nelson Agholor, was required to have his front foot at the line of scrimmage. He did not. It had nothing to do with anything that happened, but it was a penalty and the Eagles ended up punting instead of scoring a touchdown.

Agholor put a cherry on top of that by dropping a pass over the middle on the next series.

So what could have been a 14-9 Eagles halftime lead became a 16-7 deficit. Plus, running back Ryan Mathews went down with a knee injury.