THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Lock aces his audition for Seahawks' QB job

“I feel blessed,” said Drew Lock.

The statement was simple, but seemed to mean everything — and it was delivered as mayhem erupted around Lock at Lumen Field Monday night.

The question now: Were the Seahawks likewise blessed, perhaps looking at their next long-term quarterback?

Lock, the much-maligned afterthought who came along to the Hawks in the Russell Wilson trade, has always has had a rocket-launcher arm.

But he was deemed a failure in Denver, where he had to deal with multiple coaches and coordinators.

It was kind of assumed, when he got COVID in the summer of 2022 and missed a chance to really fight Geno Smith for the starting job, that we’d never really see him play a crunch-time game again.

Oh, how wrong that turned out to be.

In just his second start since leaving Colorado, Lock led the Seahawks 92 yards in less than two minutes under the glaring lights of Monday Night Football — stunning Philadelphia with a series of sensational throws.

The final one was a 29-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, with the rookie making an outstanding catch in the corner of the end zone with 28 seconds remaining — ultimately handing the Hawks a 20-17 victory that snapped a four-game losing streak and kept their playoff hopes alive with a 7-7 record.

EARLIER in that dramatic drive, DK Metcalf made three astonishing catches, one while being double-covered at the sideline and another when snatching the ball off a fallen defender’s leg.

Two of Metcalf’s receptions covered 18 and 34 yards, setting the stage for Lock’s picture-perfect throw to Smith-Njigba and the ensuing chaos.

“It’s just amazing how the boys rallied around me,” Lock said. “Here I’m just playing my second game, and they were fantastic.

“The offensive line gave me time, guys made great catches, and the defense was amazing (safety Julian Love made two highlight interceptions, including a flying grab that ended the game).”

Lock admitted that he didn’t know until Monday that he would start in place of Smith, who has been suffering from a groin injury.

The late-game heroics capped a tense week around the Seahawks camp, with several people around the team — including longtime linebacker K.J. Wright — angrily claiming that the squad was tuning out coach Pete Carroll.

Then on Carroll’s weekly radio show, host Mike Salk asked him point blank: “Do you think the players are no longer getting your message?”

Carroll was uncharacteristically blunt with a shocking answer.

“Ask them,” he said. “Next.”

The entire vibe was so unlike Carroll’s Seahawks, a team that has always sold its family culture, and succeeded with it.

Carroll obviously felt that something wasn’t getting through to a team that, at one time, was tied for the NFC lead with a 6-3 record.

The coach shook up the secondary, among other things, and went back to the running game he has always believed breeds winning football.

Although Kenneth Walker III ran for 86 yards and caught three passes for another 26, the Eagles didn’t trail after jumping to a 10-0 lead.

Seattle got the game tied at 10-10 with drive punctuated with Walker’s running, but Philadelphia went back up 17-10 on one of QB Jalen Hurts’ infamous “Tush Push” sneaks.

Eventually, it came down to one last shot for the Hawks, stuck on their own 8-yard line with holding just one last timeout.

AS IT turned out, Lock didn’t even need to call time.

He’d been calm and accurate most of the night, but Seattle offensive coordinator Shane Waldron — mindful that Lock hadn’t taken many reps with the first-team offense — really didn’t let Lock turn the ball loose.

He finished up completing 22 of 33 passes for 208 yards and that one glorious touchdown, but hardly one at Lumen can honestly tell you what was about to happen when the Seahawks had no choice but to hang the game on Lock’s arm.

When Metcalf’s catches got Seattle to the Eagles’ 29, Lock had a feeling what he wanted to do.

“I told Jax, ‘If it’s one-on-one, I’m coming to you,’ “ Lock said.

“Shane saw the same thing and reminded me (during the play call to Lock’s helmet receiver).

“The safety stayed in the middle, so Jax ran right by the guy (Eagles corner James Bradbury, and he just made a tremendous catch.

“I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”

Lumen went bonkers with the touchdown — including Metcalf, who ran around leaping and punching the air like a kid on Christmas morning.

Lock poise, strength and accuracy under fire will give the Seahawks a massive decision, for the rest of this season and beyond.

Smith was outstanding last year but has regressed a bit, and he’s 33.

Lock is not only younger (27), but considerably more mobile — more modeled on Monday’s opponent, Hurts.

He would give the Seahawks another critical weapon as they continue to put together the pieces of another playoff team.

We know for certain that if this was the audition that Lock never had a chance to perform a year ago, well …

He aced it.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”