Nelson Agholor exacts his revenge on the Seahawks
After having the worst game of his career in Seattle last season, Nelson Agholor exacted his revenge against the Seahawks in the Philadelphia Eagles Week 13 loss.
Even in a losing effort, there are still positive takeaways from every game, and for the Philadelphia Eagles, no performance from their Week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks was more encouraging than Nelson Agholor‘s absolute demolition of the Legion of Boom.
Now granted, both Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor were absent from the secondary, but Agholar’s seven catches for 141-yards and a touchdown was incredibly impressive, especially when put into its historical context.
As we’ve highlighted before, Agholor put up arguably the worst performance of his career one year prior in another late-season trouncing by the Seahawks in front of Seattle’s feared 12th man. In the aforementioned game, Agholor was targeted three times for zero catches, yet somehow found a way to hurt his team without even touching the ball.
Agholor had a crucial offsides penalty that ultimately took points off the board, a crucial error for a player who also dropped a would-be touchdown later in the game. It just seemed like no matter what the then second-year USC product did he couldn’t get out of his own way.
Related Story: Philadelphia Eagles: Now a Seahawk, Is Marcus Smith still a bust?
Simply put, Agholar was a player without any confidence, an unfortunate consequence of his mostly mental struggles that ultimately resulted in a benching during the team next game against the Green Bay Packers, and put his future into serious doubt.
But oh what a difference a year can make.
After Jordan Matthews was jettisoned to the great white north of Buffalo and veteran receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith came to town, Agholor began to blossom right in front of our eyes. Under the tutelage of new receiver coach Mike Groh, and now operating almost exclusively from the slot, Agholar started playing like a first-round pick.
And in the Eagles Week 13 game against the Seahawks, Agholar finally had his breakout performance in midnight green.
After only having one receiver break the century mark all season, Zach Ertz in Week 12, Agholar put together the best game of any Eagles receiver all season. His seven catches, highlighted by Carson Wentz‘s miracle throw while being tackled, exemplified a player absolutely brimming with confidence, and this could just be the beginning.
Next: 3 takeaways from Eagles 24-10 loss to Seahawks in Week 13
With his mental roadblocks now firmly in the rearview mirror, the future is looking bright for the former Trojan, and if his performance against the Seahawks is indicative of things to come, Nelson Agholar could be really good.