Eagles Down Steelers 27-13 Behind Big Passing Day From Jalen Hurts
Kiel Leggere / Philadelphia Eagles
In a battle of the two teams who call the state of Pennsylvania home, the Philadelphia Eagles pulled out a big victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers for their 10th straight victory in a row.
Jalen Hurts shined in the win, finishing with 290 passing yards, and two passing touchdowns, while adding 45 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith both have impressive games as well, both recording a touchdown and 110 and 109 yards respectively. Saquon Barkley struggled in the win,
After a quick three and out to open the game for Pittsburgh, right away the passing game was on display. Hurts found Grant Calcaterra, A.J. Brown, and DeVonta Smith on the first three plays on offense for a combined 50 yards. Now inside of field goal range, three short-yardage plays brought up 4th down from the 16-yard line and Jake Elliott drilled a 34-yard field goal to make it 3-0 Philadelphia.
Another three-and-out for Pittsburgh gave the Eagles the ball back but Hurts fumbled on the next drive trying to stretch for a first down. Steelers once again struggled to move the ball and were forced to punt for the third time in the first quarter. However, on the punt return, Cooper DeJean fumbled the ball allowing the Steelers to recover it inside the redzone. The Eagles defense forced another defensive stop thanks to a big sack from Josh Sweat forcing a 37-yard field goal by Chris Boswell to tie the game at three.
With under four minutes left in the first quarter, the Hurts and Brown connection looked the best it’s been all season, hooking up on two big passes to cross midfield. A huge 22-yard run by Saquon Barkley set up the Eagles with first and goal at the five, and after two short runs by Barkley, Hurts found Brown in the back of the endzone for a touchdown to make it 10-3 Philadelphia.
The defensive dominance by the Eagles continued on the next drive as once again they forced a three-and-out punt. After a solid return by DeJean on the punt, the Eagles then continued to dominate on offense with Hurts finding Brown on a big 17-yard catch, and a Kenneth Gainwell 16-yard catch set them up inside the two-yard line. After two failed runs by Hurts, he stepped back and found Smith on a slant for an easy touchdown to extend the lead to 14. However, around this time Barkley reportedly went into the medical tent and missed the remainder of the 1st half.
After four punts and a field goal to open the game, the Steelers’ finding got their offense rolling on the next drive. A few runs and short yardage plays turned into multiple first downs and eventually got Pittsburgh inside the 10. On 3rd and goal Russell Wilson found Pat Freiermuth in the back corner of the endzone for a touchdown to make a one-score game.
The Eagles then went three and out and punted back to Pittsburgh and Wilson was able to find Friermuth and Calvin Austin for a few passes to set up Boswell with a 49-yard field goal to make it 17-13 heading into the half.
Out of the break, Barkley returned to the game, and thanks to a couple of runs by him and a big 20-yard catch by Smith set up the Eagles in field goal range. After accepting a penalty on an Elliott field goal, the Eagles stalled out and were forced to kick another field goal to make it 20-13.
The Steelers down seven, continued their recent offense success with a big 31-yard catch by Austin, and then runs by Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris set them up at the 26-yard. However, a pitch by Wilson to Harris was dropped and the Eagles recovered the ball for a fumble.
The Eagles then went off a long 13-play drive using a mix of short passes and big yardage runs to get the Eagles down to the one-yard line. Out came the tush push and after a failed attempt on the first try, Hurts found the endzone on the second to make it 27-13 Eagles.
With the 4th quarter now underway the Steelers needed points and needed them fast. After an early first down, Pittsburgh ran into trouble after picking up a tripping penalty and was forced to punt. The Eagles then went on to dominate the final 10 minutes of the game with a 21-play drive. Through runs and big passes, the Eagles went on to finish off the Steelers winning 27-13.
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
