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December 15, 2024

The pivotal plays from another Eagles statement win over the Steelers

Jalen Hurts got the ball to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and Kenny Gainwell made some big plays behind Saquon Barkley.

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By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff
Eagles NFL
121524_EaglesSteelers_Jalen-Hurts-offense-0498.jpg Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice

Jalen Hurts winds a pass up for Kenny Gainwell in the open field. Both played big roles in the Eagles' win over the Steelers on Sunday.


There won't be any complaints about the Eagles' passing game this week, or much else, really. 

Jalen Hurts found A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith each for a touchdown, 100-plus receiving yards, and 10-plus targets, putting any issues or frustrations well behind the trio. Kenny Gainwell came up with some major open-field plays that led straight to scores, and Vic Fangio's defense kept another tough offense well under control, holding Rusell Wilson and the Steelers to just 13 points – and hey, Jake Elliott's hitting kicks again, too.

The Eagles beat Pittsburgh, 27-13, at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday. That makes it 10 straight wins for the Birds and a `12-2 record that will have them set up to clinch the NFC East next week down in Washington. 

There was a whole lot less for Eagles fans to want to pull their hair out about this week, and all against the AFC North leader and a visiting quarterback that has tormented the Birds for years. 

Here's how the Eagles dismantled the Steelers...

Get it out of the way

The Eagles' first play from scrimmage: Jalen Hurts lofts a ball over a defender and into the hands of a leaping Grant Calcaterra along the hash marks for a 22-yard gain.

The Eagles' next play: A seven-yard completion from Hurts directly to A.J. Brown. 

The passing game's struggles against Carolina were a point of emphasis all week, and so was Brown's frustration with them afterward and the thought of that frustration being directed at Hurts. 

The Eagles took on those concerns right away and just got them over with, then Hurts hit DeVonta Smith on a drag across plenty of open field that the receiver took up to the doorstep of the red zone for a 21-yard gain. 

The offense only managed a field goal out of that opening drive – a 34-yarder from Jake Elliott that probably also needed to be seen right away after his own struggles last week – but they showed immediately that they can throw it. It just became a matter of sustaining it. 

Loose grip

And all for a new problem to suddenly arise.

Hurts took off running on a 3rd and 4 during the Eagles' second possession. He shed the first tackle trying to turn the corner, but then T.J. Watt moved in and made his move, wrapping around Hurts and stripping the ball away. The Steelers recovered it to take over at the Philadelphia 45.

Then Cooper DeJean fielded a punt. Pittsburgh's Mark Robinson stormed down the field in coverage, and decked DeJean, knocking the ball loose again. The Steelers, again, recovered. 

The Eagles had fumbled twice within a minute. 

Luckily the defense held strong and bailed those situations out as well as they could. 

Pittsburgh was forced into another three-and-out following Hurts' fumble, and then the Steelers were held to a tying field goal on DeJean's turnover, with Philly's benefit of two unnecessary roughness calls on Calvin Austin and Darnell Washington after the whistle to push the Steelers a bit further back from in close. 

The sudden case of the fumbles was addressed quickly. The Eagles held the ball a lot tighter the rest of the way.

No issues 

The Eagles' offense got in rhythm once it got the ball back late in the first quarter. 

Hurts went to Brown for back-to-back completions of 16 and then 20 yards.

Then the quarterback put Watt in a blender on a play-action tuck and run for seven yards. Saquon Barkley hadn't done much to that point, but all eyes tracked to him on the play, and the Steelers got caught. Pittsburgh suddenly had him, Brown, Smith, and the threat of Hurts running all to worry about at once again, and the Eagles knew it. 

On the next play, a massive hole opened up and Barkley took off through it for a 22-yard run down to the Pittsburgh 5, which set up Hurts to Brown on the slant for the score. 

No issues there.

The touchdown also made for 10 Eagles points before the first quarter was up, which has been a rarity this season, but hey, they'll certainly take it now.

Everything to gain

They'll take Kenny Gainwell thriving in a role behind Saquon Barkley, too, though with some concern. 

Prior to Hurts' fumble, Gainwell wheeled out and then took in the short pass, making a nasty spin move past Pittsburgh's Donte Jackson for a 10-yard gain and a first down. 

Then, in the second quarter and with the Eagles' offense marching back down the field, Gainwell took another quick pass into the open field on a 3rd and 3, going 16 yards from the Pittsburgh 18 down to the 2, and setting up another passing touchdown, this time from Hurts to Smith to go up 17-3.

To have Gainwell capable of pulling off substantial chunk plays as the next running back behind Barkley can be a major boost for the Eagles' offensive depth, but the latter play came with word that Barkley had gone into the medical tent on the sideline to be looked at. He only played a couple more snaps the rest of the first half, but was back out for the second. 

Pittsburgh pushes back

The Eagles' defense did an excellent job in keeping Wilson and the Steelers' offense in check for the better part of the first half, but Pittsburgh started making some headway in the second quarter. 

Reed Blankenship got caught going for the tackle as Justin Fields began to slide on the run, and got tagged for the 15-yard unnecessary roughness call, which snowballed into the Steelers patching together an 11-play, 70-yard scoring drive when Freiermuth fought through C.J. Gardner-Johnson's coverage on the end-zone pass for the touchdown. 

The possession brought the Steelers to within seven, and after Watt and the Pittsburgh defense disrupted the next Eagles drive to force a short punt from deep within Philadelphia, Wilson and co. had the ball back late with some momentum and pretty advantageous field position at the Eagles' 45. 

They still got three on a 49-yard Chris Boswell field goal to make it 17-13 with only 37 seconds left, but another key stop minimized the damage on the Eagles' end. 

Snake eyes

Nolan Smith bolted off the edge on 2nd and 10, turning the corner into Wilson's blindside and bringing him down 10 yards back for the sack. 

The Steelers still had another down to work with, but the situation shifted into getting back into field-goal range, which is all a 12-yard completion to Austin could muster before Pittsburgh elected for the kick. 

Smith has taken a substantial leap as a pass rusher in Year 2, and on Sunday, he was especially noticeable in the trenches, causing chaos on numerous plays before coming up with the late-half sack. 

He made the difference between a potentially tie game going into the break versus the Eagles still holding on to a lead.

In control

The Eagles took the ball coming back from the half, and the offense shifted into its notorious signature. 

Barkley checked back in, Hurts slowed the game to a crawl, and an ill-timed fourth down roughing call on Pittsburgh's part allowed the Eagles to run 13 plays that killed 7:08 off the clock before Jake Elliott hit on a 41-yard field goal to go up 20-13 – another promising sign following the kicker's struggles from last week, including the one he hit before on the fourth down before the flag pushed the Eagles forward and reset the downs.

Then the Steelers suddenly got butter fingers. 

Pittsburgh moved into Philadelphia territory on a flea flicker that Austin tracked downfield and hauled in for 31 yards, but then the Steelers drew up a pitch to Harris, and he dropped the toss. 

Darius Slay fell on it, and the Eagles were getting the ball back late into the third quarter in no particular rush. 

Hurts and the offense came back out and drained the 5:50 left in the period, an early chunk of the fourth too. 

Barkley chipped away, Hurts took off on a 23-yard run with tons of open space through the middle, and then Gainwell took another chunk play for 14 yards to the Pittsburgh 1. 

Cue the "Tush Push" to send the Eagles up two scores, now with the clock running in the fourth. 

That drive took 6:33 away, and with it capitalizing off their fumble, the possession just took the wind out of the Steelers' sails. 

The Eagles' defense made one more stop on Pittsburgh, taking the punt with just over 10 minutes left. 

Hurts and the offense proceeded to drain all of the remaining time away with a methodical 21-play drive. 

There was nothing the Steelers could do.

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Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

nick@phillyvoice.com

Read more Eagles NFL Philadelphia Russell Wilson Kenny Gainwell T.J. Watt Jake Elliott Pittsburgh Steelers Saquon Barkley DeVonta Smith A.J. Brown Jalen Hurts

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