4. Oh, and that defense! It shined again!
From the very start, the Eagles attacked the line of scrimmage and overwhelmed Pittsburgh to the tune of -19 yards on the Steelers’ first five possessions. Pittsburgh put up three points only after a Hurts fumble gave Pittsburgh the ball on the Eagles’ side of the 50-yard line (the defense held) and then after a Cooper DeJean fumble that the Steelers recovered at the Philadelphia 11-yard line and kicked a field goal. The Steelers picked up 10 first downs in this game. They gained 163 total net yards. TOTAL! They were 3 of 10 on third down. Philadelphia controlled the time of possession, 39 minutes, 52 seconds to Pittsburgh’s 20 minutes and 8 seconds. Total plays – Eagles 77 to Pittsburgh’s 42. Really, really remarkable and a total domination.
“I’m really proud of the performance. I mean, put in tough situations, having to get stops when we needed to. We did a really good job overall, we were very detailed,” linebacker Zack Baun said. “We did a good job stopping the run. That’s a team that’s going to run the ball if they got a shot to kill clock. That was an emphasis this game, to stop the run and we definitely did that in the first quarter. That’s a perfect time to do it.”
5. Turnovers were critical, as expected
The Eagles gave it away twice on the fumbles from Hurts and DeJean, and the defense stepped up, holding the Steelers to three points. A third-quarter fumble from Pittsburgh from the Philadelphia 26-yard line on a simple running play – quarterback Russell Wilson pitched to running back Najee Harris, who coughed up the football that was recovered by Darius “Big Play” Slay – helped keep Philadelphia, holding a 7-point lead at the time – in command. It was a pivotal moment that went in the favor of the Eagles and took a lot of starch out of the Steelers’ comeback efforts.
“Every time we attack the field, our goal is to go out there with a lot of energy. Play smart, play fast with each other, play together. And that’s what we did. We didn’t care about what’s going on the offensive side. When we attack the field, we’re going out there to handle business – three and out, turnover, that’s what we preach. We don’t like people driving the ball on our defense,” Slay said.
6. Some underrated moments and standout players
• On a day when Saquon Barkley was banged up early and held to 65 rushing yards on 19 carries, Kenneth Gainwell stepped up with some good work (60 yards from scrimmage on 10 touches) and his best play came after the Eagles took possession on the Slay fumble recovery. On a third-and-9 play from the Pittsburgh 15-yard line, Hurts threw on the left side short for Gainwell, who broke tackles and ended up gaining 14 yards to the Pittsburgh 1-yard line as the third quarter ended. A couple of plays later, Hurts scored on a Brotherly Shove and the Eagles held a 27-13 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
• Jake Elliott had field goals of 34 and 41 yards and nailed all three PAT kicks, a perfect day that helped the Eagles so much on special teams.
• Nolan Smith, Jr. continues to rise. He had a quarterback sack, two tackles for loss, and four total tackles. He was physical and fast off the line of scrimmage and was an impact player.
• Credit also to edge player outside linebacker Josh Sweat, who had a quarterback sack against the elusive Wilson.
• Linebacker Nakobe Dean led the defense with 10 total tackles, including 7 solos, and forced a fumble. More super-solid play from a player who has taken a huge leap forward this season.
