Jalen Hurts shines as Eagles’ passing game comes alive in win over Steelers, 27 to 13

The Philadelphia Eagles are 12-2 after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday evening! Final score: 27 to 13. Make that 10 wins in a row!

The Eagles left Week 14 feeling like they needed to be better at passing the football. And that’s exactly what they did well against a Steelers defense allowing the second-lowest passer rating (79.2) this season.

Jalen Hurts got off to a red hot start as a passer in this one and he finished with the following stat line: 25/32 (78.1% completion), 290 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT, and a 125.3 passer rating. He also pitched in with 15 carries for 45 yards and one rushing touchdown … in addition to an early fumble.

A.J. Brown was the squeaky wheel who got the grease. He led the Eagles with eight receptions for 110 yards and one touchdown. DeVonta Smith was barely behind him with 11 receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown of his own.

Things feel better when the passing game is working. And with the Steelers hellbent on stopping Saquon Barkley, who appeared to be banged up in this game, the Eagles were able to rely on the aerial element of their offense. That much bodes well for their outlook moving forward.

With the Eagles winning and the Detroit Lions losing, the Birds moved a step closer to getting the No. 1 seed. If the following three things happen: 1) Eagles win out, 2) Lions lose one of their final three (at CHI, at SF, vs. MIN), and 3) the Vikings lose of their final four (vs. CHI, at SEA, vs. GB, at DET) … the Eagles will clinch a first-round bye.

Next up for the Eagles: a road game against the Washington Commanders, who just barely held on to beat the New Orleans Saints. The Eagles will officially clinch the NFC East with a win next Sunday!

Read on for a recap and stay tuned for BGN’s postgame coverage.

FIRST QUARTER

• The Eagles won the opening coin toss and elected to defer, putting the Steelers up on offense first. The Steelers took over at their own 31-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-7, Russell Wilson chucked it deep but his pass was well overthrown. Good on the Eagles’ defense to immediately force a three-and-out.
• The Eagles took over at their own 30-yard line after a mere 36-yard punt. Jalen Hurts made a nice over the middle throw to Grant Calcaterra in a tight window for a first down into Steelers territory. Then Hurts hit A.J. Brown for another first down and DeVonta Smith for another first down. Three throws, three first downs! Facing 3rd-and-8 after a short Saquon Barkley run and a short completion to DeVonta, Hurts took off running for just a yard with the pocket collapsing on him. Rare time where forcing the ball to Barkley may have not been the call with the passing game looking unstoppable to that point. But, hey, first quarter points! The Eagles settled for a 34-yard Jake Elliott field goal make. EAGLES 3, STEELERS 0.
• The Steelers took over at their own 32-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-8 after two ineffective Harris runs, Nolan Smith deflected Wilson’s pass for an incompletion. Two straight three-and-outs forced by the Eagles’ defense.
• The Eagles took over at their own 21-yard line. One Barkley run gained eight and another lost three. Facing 3rd-and-5, Kenny Gainwell got the ball on a checkdown and put a nasty spin move on Donte Jackson to break the CB’s ankles for a first down. Facing 3rd-and-4, Hurts took off running and had the ball punched out by T.J. Watt for a fumble and Steelers recovery. Can’t do that.

• The Steelers took over at the plus 45-yard line. Nolan Smith pressured Wilson into a throwaway and then Milton Williams batted a Wilson pass. Facing 3rd-and-10, the pocket collapsed around Wilson and Josh Sweat got home for the SACK. Big response by the Eagles’ defense. Three straight three-and-outs forced by Vic Fangio’s unit.
• DeJean fumbled on the punt return for a Steelers recovery. Two Eagles turnovers with 4:13 remaining in the first quarter.

• The Steelers took over at the plus 11-yard line. A scrum broke out and flags were thrown after a Harris catch took the ball to the 4-yard line. Two personal foul penalties were called on the Steelers, knocking Pittsburgh back to 2nd-and-18 from the 19-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-18, Wilson aired a throw for an incompletion. Chris Bowell came in for the 37-yard field goal make. EAGLES 3, STEELERS 3.

• The Eagles took over at their own 30-yard line. Two straight throws to A.J. Brown got the Eagles to the plus 34-yard line. Hurts took a keeper, where he broke Patrick Queen’s ankles, for seven yards. Then Barkley broke a run to the 6-yard line. Hurts targeted Brown in the end zone for the Eagles’ first touchdown! After the score, Brown went up to Hurts to celebrate. EAGLES 10, STEELERS 3.

• The Steelers took over at their own 30-yard line. Two penalties knocked them back to 2nd-and-24 to end the first quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

• Facing 3rd-and-18, it looked like Zack Baun was going to miss an open field tackle on Jaylen Warren but the linebacker held on to bring the RB down. Yet another stop.
• DeJean returned a line drive punt 22 yards to the plus 45-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-7 after two Barkley runs, Hurts found Brown on a slant for a first down and then some. Next play, Brown did a nice job of breaking up a potential Joey Porter Jr. interception. Hurts’ first incompletion. Facing 3rd-and-2, Hurts found an open crossing Gainwell for a first down at the 2-yard line. Hurts failed to cleanly catch a Cam Jurgens shotgun snap that bounced into the air but was fortunately caught by Hurts. Wasted play. Nick Sirianni took the Eagles’ first timeout. Then a Hurts designed run went for no gain. Facing 3rd-and-goal from the 2-yard line, Hurts hit DeVonta Smith in the end zone for a score. QB1 en fuego. EAGLES 17, STEELERS 3.

• The Steelers took over at their own 30-yard line. They picked up their first first down with just under nine minutes remaining in the second quarter. Justin Fields got lit up on a run and Reed Blankenship got flagged for unnecessary roughness, total bullshit. Fields slid way late. Facing 3rd-and-2, Wilson ran for a first down into the red zone. Facing 3rd-and-1 after Wilson had a wide open middle of the field to run into, the Steelers went with a QB sneak for a first down into goal-to-go territory. C.J. Gardner-Johnson tackled for Harris for a loss. DeJean tackled Van Jefferson for a catch for no gain, great play by the rookie be in position. Facing 3rd-and-goal, CJGJ was in position for a PBU in the end zone but he failed to prevent the touchdown catch by Pat Freiermuth. 11-play, 70-yard TD drive aided by a bogus 15-yard penalty on Blankenship. EAGLES 17, STEELERS 10.

• The Eagles took over at their own 30-yard line with 2:34 on the clock and two timeouts to work with. A scrambling Hurts was sacked by Watt for no gain (or, no loss) to bring up third down and the two-minute warning. Facing 3rd-and-7, Lane Johnson jumped early for a false start. Facing 3rd-and-12, Watt got to Hurts from behind for a sack. Not sure how Hurts didn’t get stripped there. Watt’s a pretty good player. Mike Tomlin took the Steelers’ second timeout at 1:29 and the Eagles brought in Braden Mann for their first punt of the game.
• After a mere 29-yard punt by Mann (gross), the Steelers took over at the plus 45-yard line. Freiermuth caught a pass, fumbled, and recovered for a first down. Lucky. Nolan Smith sacked Wilson for a 10-yard loss to knock the Steelers back big. Facing 3rd-and-20, Wilson completed a pass for 11 yards. Sirianni took the Eagles’ second timeout at 0:41 in order to get the ball back. Boswell’s field goal from 49 yards out was good. EAGLES 17, STEELERS 13.

• The Eagles took over at their own 35-yard line with 0:28 on the clock and one timeout to work with. Hurts ran into a sack and the Eagles let the first half expire. Still could’ve been more aggressive even in spite of the sack.

THIRD QUARTER

• The Eagles took over at their own 30-yard line to being the second half. Barkley re-entered the game after sitting out late in the second quarter. Hurts took off scrambling for a first down. Hurts threw to a motioning DeVonta for another first down, this one into Steelers territory. The offense got knocked by with OPI on DeVonta … the ref threw the flag after the play was already over. Tyler Steen got called for holding (which the Steelers declined to turn 1st-and-30 into 2nd-and-20) but then Hurts ran and threw to DeVonta for a first down catch-and-run. Facing 3rd-and-6, Hurts threw short of the sticks to DeVonta. Facing 4th-and-2, Sirianni incorrectly decided to kick a 48-yard field goal, which Elliott made … but it was wiped out by a Steelers unnecessary roughness penalty that instead gave the Eagles a first down at the plus 15-yard line. Steen got called for another holding penalty with this one being accepted. The Eagles decided it was cool to run with their backup running back on 2nd-and-19 for a gain of one yard. Facing 3rd-and-18, Hurts scrambled out of the pocket and tried to fit a ball into the back corner of the end zone where no one was really open. Elliott came back in for a 41-yard field goal make by Elliott. EAGLES 20, STEELERS 13.
• The Steelers took over at their own 30-yard line. The Steelers ran a flea flicker where Zack Baun had pretty good coverage downfield running with a WR but Calvin Austin just made a great adjustment for the catch. Harris dropped a toss and the ball bounced for a Slay recovery! The Eagles’ defense was due for some good fumble luck.

• The Eagles took over at their own 26-yard line. Facing 3rd-and-5, Hurts hit DeVonta on a curl at the marker for a first down. Two straight Barkley runs resulted in a first down at midfield. Hurts took a run up the middle into open field to the 27-yard line after getting caught from behind by Watt. Had a chance to break it to the house there. A short completion to Barkley and then a Barkley run resulted in a first down into the red zone. Facing 3rd-and-9, Hurts got the ball out fast to Gainwell in the flat and the running back juked a Steelers defender for a first down at the 1-yard line to bring up the end of the third quarter. Best game of Kenny G’s career?!

FOURTH QUARTER

• The Eagles went Brotherly Shove twice to score a touchdown to cap off a 13-play, 74-yard drive to go up two possessions and take 6:33 off the clock. Great job to take advantage of the Steelers’ giveaway. EAGLES 27, STEELERS 13.

• The Steelers took over at their own 30-yard line. They got into plus territory before being knocked back due to a Zach Frazier tripping penalty. Jalen Carter deflected a Wilson pass incomplete. Facing 3rd-and-22, Wilson completed a pass for 15 yards. Facing 4th-and-7, the Steelers made a bizarre decision to punt the ball and allow the Eagles to potentially go up three possessions with just a field goal drive. But Mike Tomlin got bailed out with Carter being called for a dumb unnecessary roughness penalty to extend the Steelers’ drive. But then the refs changed course and said it was the Eagles’ ball (due to flag coming after the punt happened) with the penalty forcing them to take over at their own 3-yard line.

• The Eagles took over at their own 3-yard line. Then a Brown false start knocked the offense back to the 1.5-yard line. Hurts tried to throw a back shoulder ball to Brown that was off target/incomplete. Facing 3rd-and-6 after a Barkley run, Hurts hit Brown on a slant for a big first down to the minus 28-yard line. Hurts evaded pressure and flicked the ball to Barkley, who managed to set up a short third down. Facing 3rd-and-2, Barkley bowled over Damontae Kazee for a first down. Barkley slipped on a run to the outside for a loss. With plenty of time to throw, Hurts hit a wide open DeVonta over the middle for a 22-yard gain into plus territory. Hurts had a throw to an open Brown knocked down. Facing 3rd-and-13 with T.J. Watt off the field due to an injury, Hurts to DeVonta picked up 12 yards. Facing 4th-and-1, the Eagles lined up for a Brotherly Shove with the intent to draw the Steelers offside, which didn’t work and caused Sirianni to call the first timeout. Facing 4th-and-1 for real, the Eagles went Brotherly Shove … and got the first down. A pulling Jordan Mailata got called for holding to knock the offense back. The Steelers called their first timeout at 3:11. Brown caught a pass and fumbled but DeVonta was fortunately able to recover the ball for a first down. Replay assist ruled Brown stepped out of bounds, which stopped the clock and prevented the Steelers from having to call their second timeout and put the ball short of the marker. Facing 3rd-and-2, the Eagles went Brotherly Shove and picked up a first down. The Steelers took their second timeout at 3:00. Gainwell ran for a yard and the Steelers called their final timeout at 2:56. Facing 3rd-and-2, Gainwell ran for a first down. The Eagles ran victory formation three times from 1st-and-goal at the 8-yard line to end the game!

FINAL SCORE: EAGLES 27, STEELERS 13.

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EAGLES LINEUP NOTES

• Isaiah Rodgers was on the field in place of Avonte Maddox as the Eagles’ dime cornerback. Well overdue for Maddox to be taken off the field on defense.

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EAGLES INJURY NEWS

• Sydney Brown (concussion) was down on the ground after flying down the field on the opening kickoff coverage. He walked off the field and into the sideline medical tent. Brown was originally ruled questionable to return and later downgraded to OUT.
• Saquon Barkley visited the medical tent midway through the second quarter. He shortly rejoined the team thereafter. But he didn’t look 100% on the sideline.

• Darius Slay went down later in the second quarter and jogged/limped off the field. Isaiah Rodgers came in to play cornerback. Slay returned in the third quarter.
• Landon Dickerson (knee) was not in the game to start the second half. Tyler Steen came in at left guard. Dickerson was originally ruled questionable to return.
• Lane Johnson got banged up late in the third quarter. Fred Johnson came in at right tackle for one snap before Lane Johnson returned.
• Mekhi Becton got banged up late in the fourth quarter. He limped off the field. Jack Driscoll came in at right guard.
• A.J. Brown got banged up late in the fourth quarter.