Dave Boling: Kenneth Walker's second-half rushing sparks an unforgettable Seahawks comeback

Dec. 18—SEATTLE — Sometimes it takes just one guy, doing something truly exceptional, that can remind a team what it takes to play at a high level.

More effective, of course, if it's the product of uncommon effort, the kind that causes everybody else on the team to question their own play and level of commitment.

A number of others came up with big plays in a fourth-quarter rally — that may end up being the highlight of the entire season — but the catalyst of the 20-17 Monday night prime-time upset of Philadelphia was the second-half rushing of back Kenneth Walker III.

By pushing the tushes of the Eagles back to Philadelphia, the Seahawks (7-7) might have just salvaged a season that had been skidding toward the abyss.

Now, facing three seemingly winnable games to finish the season, the Seahawks have enhanced their playoff possibilities.

"Nobody will forget that game," coach Pete Carroll said.

After four straight losses, this win was even more dramatic in its unexpectedness.

Sometimes teams forget what winning demands. And they can get caught up in losing and all the things that go with it: grumbling in the locker room, finger-pointing, blame-spreading.

That's how losing becomes contagious, and negative inertia pulls down 53 men.

That's where the Hawks were before taking the field Monday night. Starting quarterback Geno Smith would miss this one, again, coming off a groin injury. The defense had been inconsistent and the offense generally uninspiring.

They had slipped to third in their division, and fans had started grumbling about the competence of the staff, and even the future of Carroll, the most successful coach in franchise history, seemed in doubt.

The boos at Lumen Field started after the first ineffective offensive possession. Three hours later, fans by the thousands drained out of the stadium harmonizing in chants "Sea-hawks, Sea-hawks."

Safety Julian Love came up with two huge second half interceptions and DK Metcalf had several astonishing catches in traffic, one of which he caught with one hand, pinning the ball against his thigh. Metcalf had promised in a television ad during the preseason that he could catch the ball "with my abs."

His other crazy catch on the go-ahead drive may have been better than one with his abs, as he overpowered two defenders in blanket coverage.

And rookie receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba capped it with an over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone as he looked back up, the falling right into his face.

But Carroll conceded that Walker's running of the ball in the third period "changed the game ... it was the game we wanted to play."

Fans with a good enough memory might have squinted hard and had flashing visions of predecessors like Curt Warner and Shaun Alexander and Marshawn Lynch.

Maybe it all seemed so significant because this spasm of excellence occurred in an otherwise ordinary season.

Walker had been banged up in his second season, and not able to match the output of his All-Rookie first season. Even with his less impressive statistics, it's been a rare game that he hasn't shown flashes of effort-driven star quality.

On the first possession after halftime, Walker had five touches, three rushes and two receptions, for 55 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown.

He ran tough, racing past half the Eagle defense, and refusing to be pulled down by the other half.

When Walker scored on his breakaway (with an unexpected block on the goal line by a hustling quarterback Drew Lock), Carroll sprinted down the sideline, screaming, pumping his fists, as if he had started to worry if his offense would ever score another touchdown.

That touchdown tied the score at 10-10, and the defense played with greater resolve in the second half, setting up the wild fourth quarter.

Maybe it's too much to see this as a fulcrum upon which this team bounces back upward. But in that second half, the Seahawks looked confident that one of them, somebody, would make the big play.

Fans can remember the days when this defense vowed to defend every blade of grass, and when they pursued like a pack of hounds, and challenged each other to come up with big plays.

Sometimes it might take a big hit by a Kam Chancellor or a run by Lynch, or a crunch time scramble by Russell Wilson.

On Monday night, it was Kenneth Walker who inspired a very timely rally.

If some of the guys pick up their own game to match that effort, the rest of the season could get interesting.

And the ones who don't keep pace, well, those are the ones you need to be rid of to have any hope of recapturing the culture that used to fuel championships.