The Seattle Seahawks secured their third win in a row to continue their surge towards a playoff spot in the NFC with a convincing 24-14 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles took the lead in the game when Seahawks punter Jon Ryan dropped the ball and the home side gathered inside the redzone.
Chip Kelly decided on fourth down to go for a touchdown, and he was rewarded after picking up the yardage as two plays later Mark Sanchez found Jeremy Maclin for a one-yard score.
The Seahawks drew level when Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch used the ground game to advance the visitors downfield, before Wilson faked the handoff to the back and ran in for a 26-yard touchdown.
Seattle had the chance to take the lead as Wilson advanced his team into field-goal range, but the Eagles made a defensive stand to drive them back, forcing the quarterback into a grounding penalty and the visitors to punt.
However, the Seahawks came back just before the break as Wilson fired deep for Doug Baldwin and completed a short pass to Paul Richardson to move his side in range of a field goal. Steven Hauschka obliged with the kick to fire his side in front from 44 yards.
After the break, Seattle powered further ahead following a LeSean McCoy fumble when Wilson faked out the Eagles' defense and lofted a pass to wide-open Lynch in the flat, who was left with a simple walk-in touchdown for a 15-yard score.
Philadelphia responded with a strike to Zach Ertz as Sanchez was able to launch a throw downfield on the sideline, and the tight end drove through a tackle to leap into the endzone for a 35-yard score.
The Seahawks hit right back as they were aided by a pass interference penalty on Bradley Fletcher when he fouled Baldwin. Four plays later, Wilson held his composure in the pocket and he lofted a pass over the defensive back for a 23-yard strike to Baldwin.
The visitors almost handed the Eagles a chance to get back into the game when Lynch fumbled as Mychal Kendricks knocked the ball loose with a solid tackle. However, in the following play for the home side, Sanchez was picked off by Tharold Simon as he looked downfield for Riley Cooper.
Seattle managed to see out the win as Sanchez was sacked twice while trying to lead his team on a late comeback as the visitors' defense returned to dominant form to notch their ninth win of the campaign.
Simon Sinclair
