Sunday down at the Linc was just about everything Philadelphia needed to see.
Jalen Hurts and the passing game had a rhythm, Vic Fangio's defense kept another talented offense in check, and the Eagles, overall, robbed the AFC-North leading Pittsburgh Steelers of any sort of time in a completely controlled 27-13 win.
With that, the Birds improved to a franchise-best 10 straight wins and a 12-2 record that now has them right there in the race for the NFC's top seed in the playoffs, and the numbers from Sunday's game tell a pretty convincing tale of how they did it.
Here's a dive in...
290
Hurts' passing yards from Sunday, the first time he's thrown above 200 yards passing in four weeks, and the most yardage he's thrown for since the Eagles came back from the bye in early October.
Sunday was his second-highest passing yardage mark of the season. His best so far, still, is when he racked up 311 yards against the Saints back in Week 3.
78.1
Hurts' completion percentage against the Steelers, also his second-best mark of 2024.
He completed 80 percent of his passes in the win over Cincinnati back in Week 8, but while going 16-for-20 for 236 yards and a touchdown.
Against Pittsburgh, Hurts put up a much higher line of 25-for-32 passing, for the aforementioned 290 yards and two touchdowns.
"So that's what y'all wanted to see, huh?" Hurts quipped to the media as soon as he sat down for his postgame press conference.
11
A.J. Brown's targets on Sunday, a season-high just a week after seeing a season-low four against the Panthers to visible frustration.
He caught eight of them for 110 yards and the Eagles' first touchdown, with a very deliberate celebration between himself and Hurts after a week of outside speculation and drama.
"That was our moment to tell everybody to shut up, honestly," Brown said at his locker postgame.
109
DeVonta Smith's receiving yards against the Steelers, a season-high mark.
Smith, who was also left frustrated by the passing game's lack of production against Carolina last week, got his most targets of the year as well (12), making 11 receptions along with his own touchdown grab in the second quarter.
"We always knew that there was gonna come a time where we needed to rely on throwing the ball," Smith said postgame. "It happened and we were there to answer."
13.3
Kenny Gainwell's average yardage per pass reception on Sunday.
The backup running back only had three of them against the Steelers – on three targets – but took each one of them for big plays into the open field on third down to give the Eagles a fresh set, with the latter two contributing to scoring drives.
He also sent Pittsburgh cornerback Donte Jackson flying on a spin move with the first big completion, but that was nullified by a Hurts fumble soon after.
Still, that was one for the highlight reel, and a show of Gainwell settling into a nice reserve role behind Saquon Barkley.
"I'm taking full advantage of every opportunity I get," Gainwell said after the win. "Every time I at least touch that field, I try to make an impact and leave my name out there."
10
The number of points the Eagles scored in the first quarter against Pittsburgh, which was easily the most they've racked up within the first 15 minutes so far this season.
Slow, disjointed starts had become a notorious trademark of the 2024 Eagles offense, but on Sunday, Hurts and Co. didn't waste any time.
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Hurts attacked with the pass right away, with completions of 22 yards to Grant Calcaterra, seven to Brown, and then 21 to Smith to get the Eagles downfield for an opening field goal.
Then, after losing a fumble, the quarterback went back to chipping away at the Steelers through the air again, hitting Brown for back-to-back gains of 16 and then 20 yards on the way to getting the star receiver in the end zone for the game's first touchdown.
Sunday was only the fourth time all season that the Eagles scored points in the opening quarter, and just the third time that they left it leading their opponent – Week 9's win over Jacksonville and then Week 10's route of Dallas were the only other instances.
39:52
The Eagles' total time of possession by game's end on Sunday, compared to the Steelers' 20:08 of time holding the ball.
The Eagles took complete control of the game's tempo, which just crushed Pittsburgh's will, especially in the second half, as evidenced by...
2
The number of times the Steelers actually held the ball in the second half.
Running back Najee Harris fumbled the first possession away on a pitch after Pittsburgh had the ball for just 2:02 of game time down 20-13.
The second ended in a punt after 3:48 of clock ran off, on a drive done in by a 15-yard tripping penalty that put the Steelers at a 1st and 21 gap they couldn't overcome.
On the other side, the Pittsburgh defense couldn't stop the Eagles, so there was nothing left they could do.
The Eagles' offense ran slow, methodical drives that took 7:08 (field goal), 6:33 (touchdown), and then 10:29 (end of game) of clock away.
And the Steelers were trapped watching themselves run out of time.
2
Also the number of yards the Steelers netted in the first quarter.
The Eagles forced Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh offense into three-and-outs through each of their first three possessions, and they only managed an early field goal because a Cooper DeJean fumble on a punt return set the Steelers up in close.
Fangio's defense came out fierce and hounded the Steelers, holding them to single-digit yardage for the opening quarter and then only 163 yards in total for the game in another stellar performance, as further evidenced by...
1
The lone touchdown Pittsburgh scored on Sunday, on a Pat Freiermuth catch in the end zone late into the first half that could've been the foundation for a Steelers' momentum shift, but...
5.5
With the Steelers trying to put together one more drive before halftime – to potentially tie the game at 17 – Nolan Smith burst around the edge on a 2nd and 10 and took Wilson down 10 yards back for the sack to bring him up to 5.5 on the year.
The play set up a 3rd and 20 at the Philadelphia 43, effectively knocking the Steelers out of field-goal range with only 48 seconds left.
In an instant, Pittsburgh's priority went from trying to get one more touchdown before the break to just getting their kicker Chris Boswell close enough to keep themselves within four, and that turning point was all credit to Smith, who has somewhat quietly stepped up into a key role within the Eagles' pass rush in his Year 2.
10
Going back to it: the number of consecutive wins the Eagles have piled up after beating Pittsburgh, a franchise record that now has them sitting at 12-2.
They're in a spot to clinch the NFC East when they go down to Washington next week, and since the Lions lost to the Bills on Sunday, too, they're right there in the running now for the conference's No. 1 playoff seed.
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