December 15, 2024
In Week 15, the Philadelphia Eagles won their tenth straight game against the tough and rugged Pittsburgh Steelers. As always, win, lose, or tie, we hand out 10 awards.
The Eagles only had three drives in the second half. They were as follows:
That would be 47 plays, 209 yards, 24:10.
The Steelers only had two possessions.
That would be 11 plays, 62 yards, 5:50.
The 11 offensive plays for the Steelers in the second half are tied for the fewest of any team in the last 10 seasons.
— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) December 16, 2024
Second-fewest of any team in a game since at least 2000. https://t.co/8mEfMAdHRF
The Eagles have been choking teams out in the fourth quarter with game-sealing drives all season, but this one was a little different in that they weren't punctuated by long Saquon Barkley TD runs.
"It wasn't pretty," Lane Johnson said. "It wasn't super explosive in the run game, but we kept attacking.
"I know [the last drive] started at the f***ing three yard line. We had a pass play [to start it off] and I was thinking, 'Do not let this guy f***ing sack Jalen.' So that's all I was thinking. It wasn't pretty but we ended up making plays, keeping drives alive. I'm exhausted. It was a tough game."
The final drive of the game ate up the entire rest of the clock (10:26 in game time), plus all three of the Steelers' timeouts, plus the two-minute warning.
"It felt like a year," Cam Jurgens said. "I don't care how many plays it was. It felt longer.
"I just think this team in general thrives in situations like that, where you can hang your hat and say, 'We're the tougher team. We're the grittier team.' We got a motto. Anyone can be the tougher player for one rep, but can you be the tougher player longer? Who's tougher longer? That's the team that's gonna win."
That's not the only motto the offensive line has. When hearing that the final drive was 21 plays, Jordan Mailata said, "Tough. Detailed. Together."
"I'm serious," Mailata said. "Tough. Detailed. Together."
Mekhi Becton, eavesdropping in the background added his own "Tough. Detailed. Together."
"That's grit," Mailata said. "That's grit. That's 'want to.' That's what it tells me about this team."
A week after A.J. Brown said that "passing" was what the offense needed to improve on, and Brandon Graham's subsequent comments that Brown's relationship with Jalen Hurts had changed, Brown and Hurts made sure to let everyone know that they're still the bestest of friends ever by doing the "Kid and Play" after a TD.
This TD celly from Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown 🔥 pic.twitter.com/TN2CRihTqJ
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 15, 2024
Smith had 11 catches on 12 targets for 109 yards and a TD.
It's Smitty's turn 🕺@DeVontaSmith_6 | #ProBowlVote pic.twitter.com/AhyiOWtCHA
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 15, 2024
That was the first time Smith has gone over 100 yards in a game this season.
The Steelers sought to pack the box and slow down Saquon Barkley, which they mostly did, daring the Eagles to beat them through the air. Hurts responded by finishing 25 of 32 for 290 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 INTs.
The Eagles have relied on their run game recently, because, I mean, why not with the way Barkley has been running it?
But the passing game also just felt off. It was on today.
"It's what we needed to do to win this football game," Nick Sirianni said.
Facing a 4th and 7 down 14 from the Eagles' 46 yard line with 10:40 to play, Mike Tomlin and the Steelers incomprehensibly punted.
The Steelers hang their hat on forcing turnovers, and perhaps Tomlin trusted his defense to make a big play more than he trusted his offense, but, uhhhh, nope. He never got the ball back again.
Jalen Carter lost his damn mind on the aforementioned punt and was flagged for an unnecessary roughness call, for doing this:
Lol. The Steelers were initially awarded a first down on that penalty, but it was eventually called a post-possession foul, which merely moved the ball from where it was downed at the 6 yard line half the distance to the 3.
Carter was extremely lucky that he didn't give the Steelers a new set of downs.
Big Dom and defensive line coach Clint Hurtt had to step in between Carter and a livid Nick Sirianni after the play.
Carter is a terrific player, but that can't happen.
Gainwell had 7 carries for 20 yards, as well as 3 catches on 3 targets for 40 yards. Those numbers don't sound super impressive, but all 3 of his receptions were clutch plays on third downs.
He even had this highlight reel spin move:
Kenneth Gainwell shakes 'em!
— NFL (@NFL) December 15, 2024
📺: #PITvsPHI on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/suz65wqdEK
Gainwell has quietly had a nice season as the RB2.
The Steelers had just 163 yards, 10 first downs, 4.0 yards per play, they were 3 for 10 on third down, and they only possessed the football for 20:08.
There wasn't any one obvious star player for the Eagles' defense in this game. It was just an excellent team effort against a quarterback in Russell Wilson who was previously 6-0 against the Eagles.
With a win or tie next Sunday in Maryland against the Commanders, the Eagles will win the NFC East and at least the 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. Their "magic number" in the NFC East is 1.
The Lions lost to the Bills, bringing their record to 12-2. The Eagles are now also 12-2 after their win over the Steelers, which means that the Eagles AND Lions are both 12-2. Trust me, I did the math on that.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, the Lions still hold the tiebreaker over the Eagles for the 1 seed, as do the 11-2 Vikings in most scenarios should they win the NFC North and finish with the same record as the Eagles. A quick snapshot of the tiebreaker scenarios, via Deniz Selman.
Updated NFC 1 seed scenarios: #Eagles are just one more DET loss + one MIN loss away from controlling their own fate for the NFC 1 seed. pic.twitter.com/BosS7e0guF
— Deniz Selman (@denizselman33) December 16, 2024
There's still work to do, but the Birds took a big step in the right direction with their win over the Steelers and the Lions' loss to the Bills.
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