5 Keys to a Philadelphia Eagles win versus Seattle Seahawks in Week 12

1. The Philadelphia Eagles need to control the clock.

This has been a recurring theme in our keys to the game articles because the Philadelphia Eagles can’t seem to get it right. Since head coach Doug Pederson arrived in Philly, the Birds have been top four in time of possession in every year except this year. In two of those years, they were first in the league and in another year they were second. In 2020, they rank 24th in time of possession, and in their last three games, they are 27th.

When they got hot with the practice squad and won four straight at the end of 2019, they averaged 36 minutes and 51 seconds with the ball in their hands. For all of last year, they were 6-0 when they possessed the ball for 34 minutes or more and 3-8 when they went under 34 minutes.

In Pederson’s career, he is 34-14 when his squad wins the time of possession battle and 7-14 when they don’t. When his team possesses the ball for 34 minutes or more they are 22-5 and 20-23 when they don’t. From 2018-2019, the Eagles were 0-9 when they lost the time of possession battle and 5-10 when they had the ball for less than 32 minutes. On the flip side, they were 18-7 when winning the TOP battle in that span and 14-6 when they possessed the ball for 32 minutes or more.

Last year, the Eagles got a sneak peek at what D.K. Metcalf had in store for his sophomore season. Everyone in Philly remembers his 160-yard performance in the Wild Card game. Metcalf and the offense need to be kept off of the field. It’d be smart to just try and keep Russell Wilson, aka the magic man, and that offense on the sidelines