The Philadelphia Eagles rebounded from all the outsize noise concerning the chemistry of the team, in particular between quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receiver A.J. Brown, they also withstood the damage of two early turnovers to defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-13 at Lincoln Financial Field improving to 12-2 on the season.
The Birds also set a franchise record with their tenth win in a row.
The way the Eagles offense performed with Jalen Hurts going 25 of 32 for 290 yards, two touchdown passes and 45 yards rushing on 15 carries and another score, not to mention a spectacular 10-minute drive to end the game, should silence Hurts’ critics for at least one week and put to bed the idea that the Birds were hemorrhaging in the chemistry department.
Hurts was asked about the well-rounded offense and the drive to end the game.
“We’ve been able to do that a couple of times this year,” Hurts said post game. “It was crucial. Hats off to Saquon, being able to do that all year in those moments. Kenny (Gainwell) stepping up and making some of the plays he made tonight, not foreign to that at all. And just putting it all together.
“The defense played a hell of a game, how they started the game off. Would love to get out and take advantage of how they’re playing in that moment. But tons to learn from in the end. We’ll get back to our regular scheduled routine, put a 24-hour rule on what we do, learn from it tomorrow, and move forward.”
While the defense played well again this week, holding the visitors to 13 points, it was the Eagles offense that put on a dazzling display of ball control and time management in the second half that will be remembered for years to come.
The Birds led 17-13 at the half, scoring on a Jake Elliott 34-yard field goal on their first drive of the game.
The Eagles jumped out to a 17-3 lead on a five-yard touchdown from Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown and a two-yard pitch from Hurts to DeVonta Smith.
That the Steelers only scored three points at the 9:07 mark of the second quarter was remarkable.
Hurts fumbled after a two-yard gain at the Eagles 43-yard line on a hit by T.J. Watt. The ball was recovered by Beanie Bishop, Jr.
Led by an eleven-yard sack by Josh Sweat, the Birds forced the Steelers to punt.
Cooper DeJean caught the Corliss Waitman 49-yard punt at the Eagles 17-yaed line. DeJean makes it ten yards up field when Mark Robinson hits the rookie causing a fumble that Nick Herbig recovers at the Eagles eleven-yard line.
The Steelers (10-4) lost eleven yards on the next three plays after both wide receiver Calvin Austin III and tight end Darnell Washington are called for unnecessary roughness after a seven-yard completion from Russell Wilson to running back Najee Harris that turned into a scuffle in the back of the end zone.
Pittsburgh settled for a Chris Boswell 37-yard field goal.
The Eagles offense started to struggle in the second quarter while the Steelers scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to tight end Pat Freiermuth and on a 49-yard Boswell field goal.
A SECOND HALF FOR THE AGES
Saquon Barkley did not light up the stat sheet this week. The Steelers have one of the best rush defenses in the NFL this year.
Barkley rushed for 65 yards on 19 carries. But Hurts and Kenny Gainwell more than made up for it and helped the Birds dominate in other areas. The Eagles had 26 first downs to the Steelers 16.
The Eagles offense produced 401 yards on offense compared to the Steelers 163.
The Eagles had the ball nearly twice as long as the Steelers 39:52 minutes to 20:08 minutes.
The Eagles took the opening kick of the third quarter and from their thirty-yard line, drove 47 yards to the Steelers 23-yard line and settled for an Elliott 41-yard field goal to go up 20-13.
The 13-play drive took up 7:08 of the clock.
On the ensuing drive, the Steelers looked like they would respond; driving to the Eagles 26-yard line. The highlight was a flea-flicker play that saw Wilson hit Austin for a 31-yard gain.
But on first-and-ten from the Eagles 26-yard line Wilson fumbled the hand off that was recovered by Darius Slay.
With 5:50 left in the third quarter, the Steelers would only get their hands on the ball one more time for the rest of the game.
The Eagles offense took over at their own 26-yard line and took up 6:33 of the clock to go 74 yards on a drive that went 13 plays ending with a one-yard “tush push” by Hurts to go up 27-13.
After the Steelers drive stalled at the Eagles 46, head coach Mike Tomlin decided to punt instead of going for on fourth and seven.
The ball was originally downed by Steelers wide receiver Ben Skowronek at the Eagles six, an unnecessary roughness penalty on Jalen Carter put the ball on the three.
A false start call on Brown on the first play of the drive put the ball just in front of the one-yard line with 10:29 left in the fourth.
The drive of the year- that yielded no points-went 89 yards on 23 plays, six first downs and ended with Hurts taking a knee at the Steelers nine-yard line to end the game.
“It's crazy, it's crazy,” linebacker Zack Baun said with a look of awe on his face. “That may have been one of the most impressive drives I've ever seen in my life.”
Baun continued to rave about how the Eagles were able to rush for 131 yards on one of the best rush defenses in the league.
“It's hard to run the ball on a really good defense, said Baun, who finished with five solo tackles. “The guys up front of spectacular...and you have the outside threat..KG and Saquon...it's a really good deal that we've got.”
A evening where Barkley was not wearing his Super Man cape, back up running back Kenny Gainwell stepped up and played well. He carried the ball three times one that last drive.
“We took it down...we had like ten minutes left at the end of the game? Gainwell said at his locker after the game. “It was just the situation of the game, knowing that we're up, let's stay up and go out and finish the game.”
“We have to keep going, we haven't done anything yet,” continued Gainwell, who finished with 20 yards rushing on seven carries and three catches for 40 yards. “At the end of the day we have to just keep going...and finish.”
Like Baun, Slay was impressed with the final drive.
“I've been here with the Eagles a long time,” said Slay, who recorded a solo tackle and the fumble recovery. “We've closed out a lot of games on the offensive side ...having like four minute drives, six minute drives. These two drives have been crucial. They came out third quarter...took out like 6-7 minutes. We went out there and got a little stop and they came back again and …ten minutes?
“That was big time! We appreciate was the offense do. They will keep pushing and pushing to be great. Everybody talks about a four-minute offense...that was a ten-minute offense!”
OFFENSIVE LINE BACKUPS STEP UP AND PRODUCE IN THE CLUTCH
After the game, Landon Dickerson said his knee started bothering him after about 20 plays. When the Eagles came out for the second half Tyler Steen was playing left guard.
After two holding calls on the first drive of the third quarter that Hurts was able to pass his way out of the first time, the second holding call occurred at the Steelers 14-yard line.
The penalty killed the drive and the Birds had to kick a field goal.
But Steen was solid the rest of the way.
During the second half, Lane Johnson had to leave the game briefly as did Mekhi Becton. Jack Driscoll and Fred Johnson took turns coming in and out of the game.
Dickerson was at his locker after the game and talked about the Birds depth on all five offensive line positions.
“I've said it many times before, we have a certain level of expectation regardless of who is in the game, who goes in, it's next man up,” the 26-year-old. “We play to that standard.”
The 6-foot-6. 332-pounder continued the thought.
“A game like this really shows you we have faith in every guy who goes in there to execute their assignment,” Dickerson said. “We're not changing anything just because a guy goes out. I was very proud of (Tyler) Steen, I was watching him a lot, he went in there and balled out.
“I mean...for a guy coming in cold after halftime, going against a very good defense including Cam Heyward, a very good veteran player who can be a problem. I think Steen did a phenomenal job going in there cold, doing his job and executing...there weren't any hiccups...the offense kept going.”
One can understand that Dickerson was feeling good after the victory that now has the Birds tied with Minnesota and Detroit for the best record in the NFC.
Dickerson was asked of coaching on the sideline can keep the O-line room focused on the task at hand.
“Absolutely,” Dickerson said. “Not only during the game but during the week...everyone on that offensive line room is treated like a starter. That's how we approach things and how we do things. I don't know how many guys dress for game day...nine or ten...eight, I don't know. You've really got the guys that are prepared as starters that game day.”
The former Alabama standout was asked if this will be a game they back on when a new guy
comes in and thinks something is special? Like “You should have been here for the Pittsburgh game in 2024.”
“We can refer to it as a great moment,” Dickerson said. “But we're going to come back in tomorrow, look at the film, evaluate and then it's on to the next game.”
DEFENSE HAD A PLAN GOING IN
Baun said they wanted to make an experienced quarterback like Russell Wilson feel uncomfortable and not know what the Eagles were planning on other side of the ball.
“We were doing a good job of disguising coverage,” Baun said at his locker after the game. “Holding the safeties so he didn't know what we were in and what we were doing. He's a veteran guy and he's looking for all the tricks that he can. I saw him try to ID me a couple of times and get the coverage and I think we did a great job disguising.”
Baun was asked about getting two big stops in the first quarter and holding Pittsburgh to just a field goal.
“Turnovers determine the game” Baum said. “Us, as a defense, we don't care what the offense does or what situation they put us in...we're just going to stop them and get what we can.”
WORDS FROM THE STEELERS AFTER THE GAME
Mike Tomlin was asked about not taking advantage of the early turnovers.
“As I mentioned, there were several plays like that that were significant,” the veteran coach said. “Settling for a field goal when we had the ball maybe around the one is significant.
“Not making tackles in the flat when we have a chance to make those tackles on possession downs are significant.
“You can point to one play, but more than anything, when I look at it through the lens in which I look at it, we weren't good enough in some fundamental areas tonight. We own that, particularly as coaches.”
Wilson, who was 14 of 22 for 128 yards including a nine-yard TD pass to tight end Pat Friermuth
Was asked what the Eagles were doing on first and second downs that the Steelers weren’t successful against.
“They just played better than us in those situations, honestly,” Wilson said. “They made tackles, they made plays. They played good football tonight. Like I said, you have to give respect where it's due.
“They did better than us tonight. And I think the biggest thing is that we have to clean that up. We have to tighten that up. And like I said, when you're playing a really good football team, you can't hurt yourself.
“We hurt ourselves too much tonight with the penalties, and it was a game where they turned the ball over a couple of times. We have to capitalize on them. We can't turn it over either. And we know that, and we're going to respond.
“The great thing is, we’ve got the right character guys. If anybody believes, I believe in who we have, the guys that we have.
“The temperament, the character, the work ethic. And we shot ourselves in the foot too much today in key situations to tie the game up, or take the lead, or whatever it may have been. So that's where that game was lost, I felt like.”
EAGLES COACH IS ASKED IF HE SILENCED THE DOUBTERS
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was asked to talk about all the attention his team received after the Birds escaped with a five-point win over the three-win Carolina Panthers.
It was a game were Hurts only threw for a measly 108 yards. Brown openly complained and sidelined linebacker Brandon Graham said Hurts and Brown weren’t getting along.
The coach was asked if he felt like performance by Hurts was a chance to silence the critics.
“I would actually say to look at how efficient we've been passing the ball for the last nine weeks, through this little stretch that we've been in,” Sirianni said at his post-game press conference. “I think it kind of gets a little bit blown out of proportion. Jalen's quarterback rating has been over 100 most of the games. I don't know what he was today, but most of the games he's been over 100. We're averaging 8.5-plus in the pass game.
“I just think a little bit has been blown out of proportion because we've been running the ball so well. There's only so many yards you're going to get in a game. You can't have all the yards rushing and have a passing game, or have all the yards in the passing game.
“I think we've been super-efficient. Today we needed our passing game even more. I know you guys may look at yards a lot. It was just another good day for the passing game because I think we've been super-efficient.
“Like I don't think you understand how hard it is to have that yards-per-attempt number, that quarterback rating, and take care of the ball and be explosive, which we've been.
“So, yeah, today was really good. We threw for more yards, so I know that's going to be -- hell, the passing game is back. I don't think the passing game was anywhere. I think it's been a little bit blown out of proportion because of how efficient we've been. You guys will check the numbers after I say that, and you'll probably agree.”
WELL?
A.J. Brown was asked if the Eagles made a statement to the league about who hey are. Brown said they aren't concerned about statements.
“We did what we needed to do today,” Brown said. “We have a lot of confidence in this locker room...in our players and out teammates.”
At least for one game…that was obvious.*
Email Al Thompson at al.thompson@footballstories.com
Comments