Eagles-Seahawks Final Score: 10 things learned from Philadelphia's loss to Seattle

The Philadelphia Eagles are 9-4 after losing to the Seattle Seahawks by a final score of 24-14.

Here are 10 things to be learned from this game. There is a lot to discuss, so let's get right to it.

1) The Seattle Seahawks are the Super Bowl Champs for a reason

The Seahawks played a great game against Philadelphia. They totally deserved to win. Seattle isn't unbeatable but they don't leave much margin for error. Their defense is filled to the brim with talented players. They are dominant at defending both the pass and the run. Their offense isn't a juggernaut but they get the job done. Marshawn Lynch draws a lot of attention and Russell Wilson is dangerous. If Wilson is struggling through the air, he can easily beat you with his legs. It's really hard not to think about what Chip Kelly could do with a quarterback like that. In any case, the Seahawks deserved this win.

2) The Eagles are not favorites to contend

The big narrative being pushed out of this game is that the Eagles can't beat the best teams in the league. There's obviously some credence to this idea given the fact they lost to the Packers and Seahawks. Not only did they lose those games but they just didn't look to be on the same level. The Eagles are not a bad team by any stretch. They are 9-4 and have a number of talented players. They arguably have one of the best coaches in the league. But they just aren't ready to go toe-to-toe with the top contenders... yet.

3) The Eagles need an answer at quarterback

So what can make the Eagles ready to compete with the top dogs? Well, a franchise quarterback would be a great place to start. It's the most important position and the Eagles just don't have a clear answer there. In the context of this season, it appears Nick Foles will return to the line-up if/when he is healthy enough. There's still no timetable for Foles' return so there's a lot up in the air.

Beyond this season, well, Philadelphia's quarterback situation is even more uncertain. Whether you want to believe the Eagles have an answer at quarterback on their current roster now or not, the bottom line is they need better play from the position. Mark Sanchez obviously struggled against Seattle. He only completed half of his 20 passes for 96 yards, two touchdowns, and one costly interception that essentially sealed the game.

4) Bad officiating

Full disclaimer: the reason the Eagles lost to the Seahawks was NOT because of the referees. Seattle deserved their victory, as noted in the first point in this post.

That being said, the officiating was not good. Just a few plays off the top of my head: Brent Celek being hit before the pass arrived on the team's first drive, Bryon Maxwell holding Jordan Matthews' arm before the ball arrived, Seahawks offensive lineman James Carpenter being illegally down field on a big Seattle pass play:

Here's the play that had Chip all types of animated with refs. 1:45 in 1Q - SEA guard #77 streaking down field. LOL. pic.twitter.com/04zXGnFnNW

— Andrew Porter (@And_Porter) December 8, 2014

The Bradley Fletcher pass interference penalty on Doug Baldwin could have arguably been offensive pass interference.  And so on.

The Eagles are now 1-5 all-time when Bill Vinovich's crew officiates their games. The Seahawks, meanwhile, are 6-1.

5) LeSean McCoy breaks the record but doesn't look right

LeSean McCoy owns a significant record in Philadelphia history now as the team's all-time leading rusher. It was a bittersweet moment for McCoy because he didn't have a good game.

Seattle's run defense is certainly good, but McCoy just looked off against the Seahawks. It seems very possible his recent personal loss could have been weighing on him. There were times that McCoy had room to run and he just... fell. With no one near him. It was weird.

6) Fletcher Cox and  Mychal Kendricks are studs

Fletcher Cox's performance in the Eagles' loss was one of the few bright spots. Cox is just a monster. He turns 24 in less than a week. He played a big part in disrupting Wilson and shutting down Marshawn Lynch. Pay the man.

It also seemed like Kendricks was aiming to outperform fellow 2012 NFL Draft class linebacker Bobby Wagner because he took his game to another level against the Seahawks. Kendricks can really do it all: cover, rush, tackle, you name it. He's a legitimate play-maker.

7) Nate Allen is not always the worst of the Eagles safeties

Malcolm Jenkins did not have a very good game against the Seahawks. He missed some tackles and was beaten in coverage a few times. Jenkins has been good overall for the Eagles this season. He's also stepped up into a leadership role ever since defensive captain DeMeco Ryans went down to a season-ending injury. The veteran safety needs to put this game behind him.

8) Riley Cooper is still bad

Riley Cooper is bad. He is not good. In his last 6 games, he has 17 catches for 165 yards, zero touchdowns, and a long reception of 21 yds. He is averaging 2.8 catches for 27.5 yards. While Cooper had a great block on Jeremy Maclin's touchdown, he was basically invisible for the rest of the game with three receptions for 13 yards.

9) Marcus Smith II did something

He really did! The team's rookie first round finally made a positive impact on a game. Smith II forced Seahawks punter Jon Ryan to fumble after Ryan tried to recover a bad long snap. The fumble allowed Zach Ertz to pick it up and gain eight yards on the recovery. The lack of Smith II's contributions as a rookie have been disappointing, but now he's at least on the board.

10) The second Eagles-Cowboys game is really important

The Eagles are still very much alive in the playoff race. In order to safely clinch the division they will need to win two more games out of their final three. They can put themselves in great shape to win the NFC East by beating the Dallas Cowboys in Philadelphia next week. The Birds have already proven they can beat the Cowboys once this year. Can they do it again? There's certainly reason to be optimistic.