Eagles Postgame Report: Eagles Top Steelers In Battle of PA

The Eagles came out against their cross-state rivals and it seemed like they came to play. The defense was elite and the offense looked to be humming.

The Eagles did have to settle for a field goal and then they screwed the pooch with another Hurts “run” that wasn’t nearly good enough to move the chains and he stayed up long enough to just drop the football on the ground and hand it over to Pittsburgh. Then, following another stand by the defense, Cooper DeJean followed suit with another fumble. The two plays of incredible stupidity combined to hand the Steelers 3 points.

That’s no exaggeration – through the first quarter, the Steelers offensive drives totaled -28 yards. They lost a quarter of a filed and never got a first down, but they managed a field goal.

The Eagles offense responded by not calling the incredibly stupid QB runs and they promptly put up a touchdown via pass to AJ Brown, setup by a big Saquon rush.

The Eagles offense piled on with everything, except the QB runs they refused to stop calling, working for them and the defense didn’t allow a first-down until halfway through the second quarter. That first down was followed by some BS penalty for a personal foul (covered in the game notes below) to gift the Steelers momentum they didn’t deserve.  That gifted momentum (and their second first down of the game they were handed undeservedly), ultimately led to a great catch by Pat Friermuth as CJGJ was there and had his hands on the ball but couldn’t wrestle it away.

The Eagles offense responded with a Lane Johnson false start and a Hurts holding the ball and stepping into the pressure (once again) to mark their worst drive of the half and give the Steelers the ball on the plus side of the field with 77 seconds left to try and tie up a game they had no right being in.

The defense forced a fumble, but couldn’t recover. A sack kept the Steelers from the tying touchdown attempt, but they did manage to kick the field goal due to a terrible punt by Mann setting up the Steelers just outside field goal range to start their drive. The Eagles had about 30 seconds to try and score, but Hurts promptly held the ball and stepped into pressure to end the drive and leave it 17-13 at the half.

The Eagles came out of the half and kept moving the chains until they went back to the QB draw, once again. It, once again, went for 0 yards. That forced the Eagles into a 48-yard field goal that was made but taken off the board as they were gifted a first down on a Steelers penalty. An Eagles gain was turned into a loss as the Steelers were literally allowed to choke out Tyler Steen with obvious hands to the face, but the refs only called him for the minor holding he had in response to nearly dying and trying to block the player he couldn’t see with his head forced up. Attempting to kill an opponent is neither holding nor hands to the face, evidently. That left the Eagles to kick another 41-yard field goal following a drive that took over seven minutes.

Quickly, the defense faltered. Zack Baun was in position but never turned around, which made what could have probably been an easy interception a 31-yard completion under his arm. The Steelers decided to pay back the Eagles a bit for their first half mistakes, however, fumbling the ball and letting it shoot far away for a Darius Slay recovery. The Steelers had been in field goal range already, so it was a play that bailed out the defense with an unforced error by the Steelers offense.

The offense finally had a drive of reasonable play calls and so the execution remained as a nearly six-minute drive and a tush push touchdown pushed the game to a two-score Philly lead in the fourth quarter. The defense held but Jalen Carter decided to give the Steelers the ball back and free points because he couldn’t behave like a decent human for the punt. Luckily for the Eagles, the refs suddenly decided it was a post-play penalty and the offense could maintain possession.

The true bailout was on a 21-yard pass to AJ Brown on the slant that converted the Eagles despite being behind the sticks. It kicked off a drive that went 88 yards and burned 8:17 of clock as well as all of the Steelers timeouts before setting the Birds up with a first and goal from the 8 at the two-minute warning. With three kneel downs, the Eagles secured the win.

That makes it 10 in a row and leaves the Eagles with three games remaining against their division rivals. Their last away game of the regular season is next Sunday (for now) against Washington in a game where they could secure the division as their own. They may also get help from the Bills, who currently lead the Lions and could put the Eagles in really good position to take the number one seed in the NFC.

Offensive MVP: Jalen Hurts

There were obviously issues with the fumble and the Eagles calling way to many QB draws (although we can’t say if that’s Hurts or the coaches doing that), but we saw an elite Hurts today when he was making the quick decisions and being intentional in his decisions rather than standing in the pocket forever. It’s what lead him to a 125.3 rating on 25/32 passing for 290 yards and two touchdowns. If he can play like that every week (sans the fumble), the offense could be near impossible.

Defensive MVP: Nolan Smith

Smith has developed into a truly effective pass rusher. Halfway through the season, fans would surely have agreed that edge rushers was the top need of the team moving forward. His breakout, especially after the Brandon Graham injury, has been a huge boon for the Eagles and the defense as a whole as they have been able to get pressure. He was particularly disruptive in this game with four tackles, including two for loss. He recorded a sack and two QB hits while getting his hands on at least one pass.

Game Notes

• Veteran TE CJ Uzomah is barely involved in the offense beside some blocking, but he seems so happy to be with the team and was out there, celebrating routine catches with the other guys and whatnot. Hard to see stuff like that and still truly believe there’s this major disfunction in the locker room.
• That “personal foul” on Reed Blankenship was total BS. In theory, it’d be for a “late hit” or a “helmet-to-helmet”. The problem is Blankenship wasn’t moving anymore. He was standing still and Fields rushed into him and didn’t slide until he was underneath him. That action also meant Fields initiated a helmet-to-helmet hit. Somehow that’s a foul on the defense. With that logic, Hurts should whack his head against anyone who attempts to tackle him and that’s 15 yards because the defender didn’t actively jump out of the runner’s way.
• Fans were so excited about Sidney Brown, but that seems like so long ago. He’s now had four different injuries sideline him in less than a year and it’s hard to imagine a player who can’t stay healthy for more than a few weeks at a time being able to take that next step.
• For much of the first half, Saquon stayed on the sidelines. He had just seven carries and 31 yards before disappearing after the beginning of the second touchdown drive for the Eagles with no update coming on why that was at all. He did return at the half, but there was not good reason given for his sudden disappearance beyond “Gainwell is our two-minute back”, which has been a questionable decision from the coaches the entire year.
• Jalen Carter letting the Steelers back into the game with an unnecessary roughness for no real reason on a punt. It was that exact attitude that caused him to fall in the draft and while he’s been better with it, that cannot happen. He’s lucky he was bailed out by the refs suddenly and for no apparent reason deciding that the penalty was AFTER the play and allowing the Eagles offense to maintain possession.
• A big question arises with this game: We saw both versions of Hurts – the one that stuggled when QB draws were called and when he held the ball and the one that was elite with quick decisions and passes. Could it be that Hurts leading the league this season in time to throw is the underlying cause of much of his struggles this year?
• Heavy dosage of both DeVonta Smith and AJ Brown in this game. Great to see that – it’ll be tough for any defense to cover both of them if both are actually getting the ball.

Injury Notes

• Sidney Brown was hit on the opening kickoff in a helmet-to-helmet collision and was down following that first play. He was ruled out with a concussion after returning from his previous injury.
• Darius Slay was shaken up in the second quarter but returned shortly thereafter.
• Landon Dickerson left in the third quarter and was replaced by Tyler Steen. He did not return.
• Lane Johnson left at the end of the third quarter and Fred Johnson came in as his replacement. He returned one play later.
• Toward the end of the game, Mekhi Becton left after being rolled up on, but returned one-play later.
• AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith each limped off with under 3 minutes left. The Eagles went with jumbo packages while running clock at that point, so it’s unknown if there’s serious issues or not – best to keep both out at that point.

Pittsburgh Steeler @ Philadelphia Eagles – December 15, 2024