Under the Microscope ...' Under the Microscope

After a review of the game tape, here is a look at three key Eagles in Sunday's 28-24 loss to Seattle:

The Eagles' No. 1 receiver had his third 100-yard game this season, catching six passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. With 911 yards, he figures to join Terrell Owens as the only 1,000-yard receivers during coach Andy Reid's nine-year tenure.

Curtis has had at least 60 yards receiving in seven of the team's 12 games and has been a worthwhile free-agent addition. Three of Curtis' six catches against the Seahawks were for 24 yards or more.

His first big play came with 6 minutes, 33 seconds left in the opening quarter when he beat cornerback Marcus Trufant on an out route and caught the ball at the Seattle 37-yard line on a third-and-5 play. Curtis, despite briefly juggling the football, picked up 23 yards after the catch, giving the Eagles a first down at the Seattle 14-yard line.

Curtis got the Eagles back within four points with 9:06 left in the second quarter when he ran an inside route and caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from A.J. Feeley with cornerback Kelly Jennings tightly covering him from behind. It was his fifth touchdown of the season but his first since the Eagles' Oct. 14 win over the New York Jets.

Just before halftime, Curtis drew a pass-interference call from Jennings that set up a first-and-goal situation from the 1-yard line. It was questionable whether Curtis could have caught the football, but Jennings clearly hit the Eagles receiver in the helmet with his right hand long before the ball arrived, which is why the call was made.

The Eagles, of course, failed to punch the ball into the end zone on four tries and went into halftime still trailing by four points.

A screen pass to Curtis with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter didn't have any chance of working when Eagles Nuisance No. 1 Lofa Tatupu easily shed a block by guard Todd Herremans and leveled the wide receiver after a short gain.

Two plays later, Curtis allowed the Eagles to convert a third-and-7 situation by pulling down a high throw from Feeley, then heading up the field for a 25-yard gain. Curtis made a nice inside cut at Seattle's 45-yard line to make Trufant miss and picked up an additional 11 yards.

Going against Seahawks defensive end Patrick Kerney, the tackle won the majority of the battles even if the Eagles lost the war. Kerney, who had recorded three sacks in each of his previous two games, was blanked by Runyan.

Kerney applied pressure on Feeley only twice, and Runyan was not responsible either time. Late in the third quarter, Kerney looped inside and went through the middle of the offensive line to apply pressure that resulted in the third of Feeley's four interceptions. On a fourth-and-6 play, the defensive end made the same move and forced Feeley to throw off his back foot, resulting in a late and high throw to Curtis.

Runyan's only bad moment came on the fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line right before halftime. He allowed defensive tackle Rocky Bernard to get underneath him and stop Brian Westbrook for a 1-yard loss that completed the Seahawks' goal-line stand and sent Seattle into the locker room with a four-point lead.

The tackle played a huge role in the Eagles' first-quarter touchdown. He did a great job of sealing off Kerney on a 15-yard run by Westbrook to the Seattle 30, then got just enough of Kerney to help spring Correll Buckhalter for a 30-yard touchdown run.

The Eagles defensive tackle played for the first time this season without fellow first-round draft pick Brodrick Bunkley on the opposite side of him. Patterson did something he normally does not do, alternating between the left and right sides. He typically lines up at left tackle.

Patterson finished with five tackles and a half-sack and probably should have been credited for another half-sack. Patterson's third season has been by far the best of his career; he has shown durability at a position where players are constantly getting banged up. Patterson has never missed a game and has started 34 straight counting the two playoff games last season.

With the help of an initial hit by veteran defensive tackle Kimo von Oelhoffen, who was filling in for the injured Bunkley, Patterson picked up his half-sack in the first quarter. As he was driving quarterback Matt Hasselbeck into the turf, defensive end Trent Cole stripped the football. Unfortunately for the Eagles, the ball squirted out of von Oelhoffen's hands as he tried to recover it.

A couple of bad moments for Patterson: He burst past guard Chris Gray on the Seahawks' second offensive play but missed a chance to tackle tailback Shaun Alexander, who ran 16 yards to the Eagles' 2-yard line, setting up Seattle's first touchdown. Patterson was stood up at the line of scrimmage by guard Rob Sims on Alexander's 2-yard TD run two plays later.