Head coach Pete Carroll hailed stand-in quarterback Drew Lock after he kept the Seattle Seahawks’ play-off hopes alive with a gutsy 20-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Making his second start in place of the injured Geno Smith, Lock earned his first win for Seattle by engineering a 92-yard drive late in the final quarter that culminated in a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
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The win moved Seattle to 7-7 and still in contention for the post-season.
“I’m so thrilled for the kid, really,” said Carroll, who was delighted Lock improved on last week’s promising display against the San Francisco 49ers.
“First off, it’s a memory you’re never going to lose. He’s going to hold on to this Monday night forever. He earned it. He deserved it. He played up to the great moments in the game and came through.
“It’s been hard for him. Any guy that backs up that has the brain of a starter, the brain of a championship kid, it’s difficult as heck to have to wait. He’s had to do it. He has his chances and he almost put together a game good enough last week, and this week he did the whole thing. It was amazing.”
Drew led the way. #EasyToCelebrate | @budlight pic.twitter.com/o2RfujSEsu
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 19, 2023
On his match-winning drive, Carroll added: “Beautiful football, just beautiful football.
“The poise that we talked to you about last week, that’s where he’s been. He’s been on it. He’s been in command. There’s a couple incompletes in that drive; he came right back and hit it and converted and made the first downs. Then to throw the touchdown to win the football game, just amazing stuff.”
Lock was delighted to have played a part, although Smith is likely to return for Sunday’s clash with the Tennessee Titans.
“For us to come out tonight and play the way we did and get a win in one of two opportunities I had this year to start, gosh, I was excited,” he said.
“I was emotional. I was emotional for myself but I was emotional for these guys in this locker room. It’s been a rough couple of weeks. We needed a win.”
