Roob’s Observations: Eagles collect monster win over Steelers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Ten in a row, the longest winning streak in franchise history. A couple massive steps closer to the No. 1 seed. A commanding win over a 10-3 team.
This was a monster win for the Eagles, 27-13 over a very good Steelers team that had won seven of their last eight after a little bit of a challenging week. And with the Commanders, Cowboys and Giants coming up before the regular season ends there’s a real chance the Eagles can finish this thing with a 13-game winning streak.
They threw the ball beautifully. They played tremendous defense. And they even won without a huge contribution from Saquon Barkley.
This was spectacular stuff.
1. We talk all the time about complimentary football, and you don’t beat good teams without it. That’s the offense and defense working together and taking advantage of big plays they each make. So here we are six minutes left in the third quarter, the Steelers have already trimmed a 14-point lead down to seven and they’re methodically driving, inside the Eagles’ 30, with all the momentum in the world. Then Najee Harris fumbles a pitch from Russell Wilson, Darius Slay pounces on it, the Eagles take over on their own 26-yard-line and then drive 74 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown that gives them a 27-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. Defense is on its heels, gets the ball back, gives it to the offense, who immediately takes advantage with an impressive drive for a 14-point lead. This is what great teams do. They not only get contributions from both sides of the ball, they get both sides of the ball working together, and that’s what we saw Sunday and that’s a very good sign.
2. You want a passing game? Here’s your passing game. This was a statement from Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Nick Sirianni and Kellen Moore that the Eagles’ passing game is alive and well and fully capable of taking over a game against a top defense when needed. After netting 112 and 83 net passing yards the last two weeks against the Ravens and Panthers, the Eagles’ passing game woke up Sunday with 104 yards .. just in the first quarter. Right from the get go, Hurts looked sharp, Moore kept dialing up the mid-range passing game, and the Eagles made more plays through the air than they have since before the bye. Yeah, the last two weeks were ugly as far as the passing game goes, but we’ve seen Jalen have plenty of huge games in the past and there was no reason with Kellen Moore really focused on being balanced against the Steelers that he couldn’t bounce back. With these weapons? We kept saying there would be a day where the Eagles really needed to rely on the passing game. This was that kind of game, and Hurts, his line and his receivers responded to the challenge and came up huge.
3. As for Hurts, he was exceptional against the NFL’s 5th-ranked defense. He completed 25 of 32 passes for 290 yards with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 125.3 passer rating – his eighth game over 100 during the 10-game winning streak. Hurts is so good at diagnosing any weaknesses in his game and addressing them, whether it’s interceptions early in the year or holding onto the ball too long over the last couple weeks or whatever other issue comes up along the way. Every quarterback deals with issues at some point, the elite ones figure it out. On Sunday, Hurts drove the ball vertically, making quick decisions and unloading. He completed six passes of at least 20 yards and four more of 16 or more. His 21-yarder on 3rd and 6 from the 7-yard-line to A.J. Brown with 9 ½ minutes left was as big a throw you can make backed up in the soup. Here are Hurts’ numbers during the 10-game winning streak: 157-for-225, 1,962 yards, 14 touchdown passes, 12 rushing touchdowns and over 400 rushing yards with a monster 115.5 passer rating. Elite.
4. Man, it was great to see DeVonta Smith really play a significant role for the first time in a while. It’s been a weird year for Smith. He got off to a hot start, then got hurt, then disappeared from the offense, then got hurt again, then came back last week and was a non-factor against the Panthers. So to see him play a major role in a big win over a quality opponent was huge. Smith caught 10 of 11 targets for 109 yards and a touchdown – the most catches of his career and his most yards since the Bills game last November. The Eagles need Smith and they need Hurts to feed him like this. He’s too good to not be a factor, especially while Dallas Goedert is out. And one thing that doesn’t get said enough about the 170-pound Smith. He might be slightly built but you don’t see one catch where he’s not bulling his way for extra yards against d-backs who outweigh him by 20 or 30 pounds. Dude is tough.
5. This was a masterpiece by the defense and, sure, the Steelers were undermanned, missing George Pickens, but that’s a Hall of Fame quarterback on the other side of the line of scrimmage with a three-time 1,000-yard rusher running the ball, and the Eagles held them to 163 yards, 10 first downs, 3.3 yards per rushing attempt and 107 net passing yards. This is 10 straight games the defense has allowed 20 or fewer points, their longest streak since 1998. This is the best defense in the NFL, and they showed it Sunday.
More coming …
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