Eagles vs. Seahawks could feature backup QBs in primetime
The first-ever flexed Monday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks could end up featuring backup quarterbacks. Both team's starting quarterback is questionable to play on Monday night. Eagles' starter Jalen Hurts is questionable with an illness while Seahawks' starter Geno Smith is questionable with a groin injury. Hurts practiced with the team […]
The first-ever flexed Monday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks could end up featuring backup quarterbacks.
Both team's starting quarterback is questionable to play on Monday night.
Eagles' starter Jalen Hurts is questionable with an illness while Seahawks' starter Geno Smith is questionable with a groin injury.
Hurts practiced with the team all week except for Saturday. It was reported on Sunday that he woke up feeling worse and that's when the team downgraded his game status. He then traveled to Seattle on a separate charter.
As for Smith, he returned to practice after missing Week 14's matchup against the San Francisco 49ers, though he was a limited participant.
If both starters are unavailable, that means backup Marcus Mariota for the Eagles and Drew Lock for Seattle will start in primetime.
Lock, 27, made his first start for the Seahawks against the Niners last Sunday where completed 22 of 31 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns and was intercepted twice. It was a solid first start for Lock as a Seahawk, though Seattle lost 28-16.
As for 30-year-old Mariota, he hasn't started a game since Week 13 of the 2022 season when he was still with the Atlanta Falcons. He was benched for the rest of the season after he completed 13-of-24 pass attempts for 167 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the Falcons' 19-16 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Mariota did very briefly step in for Hurts in Week 13 against the Niners, completing 2 of 3 passes for 16 yards, but we can't analyze him off of three throws.
The good news is, while the Eagles have had a hard time beating the Seahawks and have not been able to since 2008, Mariota has beaten them both times he's played them in his career.
His most recent victory over Seattle came in 2022 at Lumen Field.
Mariota completed 13 of 20 passes for 229 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for four yards and a touchdown and the Falcons beat the Seahawks 27-23 with Mariota under center.
While both teams need their starting quarterbacks out there, the backups should be able to put on a decent show on Monday Night Football, if worse comes to worse.
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