PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Eagles’ 23-17 loss to the Seahawks was already difficult enough for fans who have been frustrated by the team’s ineptitude this season. But it also brought up another case of “what if?”
What if DK Metcalf was wearing the Eagles’ midnight green instead of Seattle’s action green?
Metcalf lit Philadelphia’s defense — predominantly, top cornerback Darius Slay — for 10 receptions and 177 yards. Nearly one year ago, he made seven catches for 160 yards and one touchdown in the Seahawks’ 17-9 playoff win over the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
“It’s kinda like coming home,” Metcalf said after Monday’s victory. “A place that had a chance to draft me, but they didn’t, so I gotta make them pay.”
Slay said it was by far the worst game of his NFL career.
“I lost every 50-50 ball today,” Slay said. “I’m usually on the other side of that. Today I’m on the other side of it. I let the team down. I told the defense that game was on me. I got to play better.”
In the 2019 NFL Draft, the Eagles had the chance to select Metcalf. A lot of teams did, but the Seahawks landed Metcalf with the last pick of the second round — 64th overall.
While the Eagles had three total selections before No. 64, the one that stands out is their third pick of the draft, and second of the second round: Stanford wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, who has struggled since entering the NFL.
Metcalf has 1,939 receiving yards on 116 receptions, with 16 touchdowns in 27 career regular games. This season — in 11 games — Metcalf is at 1,039 yards and nine touchdowns on 58 catches, which was his total number of regular-season receptions during his rookie season.
Meanwhile, Arcega-Whiteside has 12 total receptions for 214 yards and one receiving touchdown in 23 regular-season games. Metcalf almost caught Arcega-Whiteside’s total career yardage Monday night alone.
Metcalf suffered a significant neck injury while in college at Ole Miss, and that certainly hurt his draft stock. But he’s proving everyone who passed on him wrong, including the Eagles — twice.
“Two years in a row, I’ve just had two big games here, so like I said, God works in mysterious ways,” he said, “I’m just coming home.”
Metcalf motivated by Schwartz's comment
When asked about facing an opponent’s No. 1 cornerback, such as Slay, Metcalf said, “I’m getting a little respect, but I still got work to do.”
He continued, “One of the defensive coaches came up to me and kinda made me mad that he was like, ‘I was in Detroit with Megatron’ ” — all-time great wide receiver Calvin “Megatron” Johnson — “ ‘but you’re not there yet.’
“In my mind,” Metcalf said, “I’m not trying to be Megatron. I’m trying to be me. So, I had a little chip on my shoulder the whole game.”
That coach was Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who coached Johnson when he was the Lions head coach from 2009 to 2013.
Once Metcalf’s comment went viral, multiple outlets said Schwartz was actually complimenting Metcalf before and after the game, saying he’s the closest to Johnson he’s seen. And although he may not be Johnson yet, he’s on his way.
KYW Newsradio confirmed Schwartz’s side of the story from a team spokesperson.
But even after the interaction became more apparent to the media and public, Metcalf made it clear that Schwartz’s intentions were irrelevant, in terms of the motivation he took from those comments.