Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Game Review – PHI 27, PIT 13

Posted December 19th, 2024 | 1 Comment »

Both the Steelers and Eagles came into this game wanting to run the ball. Both teams also played good run defense. The Eagles came out throwing and went right down the field to take a 3-0 lead. The Steelers stuck with the run game and gained one yard in the first quarter on four drives. Sticking to your guns is good. Being stupidly stubborn is not.

To be fair, Pittsburgh just doesn’t have the same kind of weapons. They have chain-movers. The Eagles have playmakers. There is a massive difference and that showed in the game. The Steelers focused on Saquon Barkley and did slow him down. They had no answer for AJ Brown. The Eagles offense is kind of a pick-your-poison situation. The Steelers probably made the right choice in pushing the Eagles to throw the ball, but it didn’t work the way they hoped. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles passing attack performed at a high level and that was that.

This was a tough physical game for both teams. The Eagles showed how good they are, but also how tough. That is a complete 180 from last year when the Eagles were more like cotton candy than a rugged football team. The Eagles closing out the game with a 21-play, 88-yard, 10:29 drive shows just how tough this team can be.

Both teams came into this game hot so this was a good test for the Eagles. They passed with flying colors. You could see they are a legit Super Bowl contender. The Steelers are a solid playoff team, but aren’t on the same level.

COACHING

Nick Sirianni had the right messaging for his team: Tough. Detailed. Together. The players heard that and bought in. Sirianni told the Eagles they would be the more physical team and he was right. I don’t know if he needed to say that, but it worked. There wasn’t a whole lot of strategy within the game. The Eagles only went for it on 4th down once and that was late in the game.

Kellen Moore had a smart, aggressive gameplan early on. The Eagles came out throwing. They called plays that Jalen was able to make quick reads on and get the ball out on time. They used empty sets more than any other game this season. That put all five receivers out on pass patterns. It helped give Hurts more definitive reads. There was risk with the Steelers gifted pass rushers, but the Eagles OL was able to block them well on most plays and give Hurts the time he needed.

Vic Fangio focused on shutting down the run game and forcing Russell Wilson to beat the defense. The Steelers ran 17 times for 56 yards. The long run was only 8 yards (and that was by their QBs). The Eagles kept both safeties back in passing situations and took away the deep passing game. Pittsburgh only had one play longer than 17 yards (the Eagles had 9). Russell Wilson’s mobility helped on a few plays, but the Eagles kept him under control for most of the game.

OFFENSE

Jalen Hurts played his best game of the year, going 25-32-290 with a pair of TDs. He looked good from the vert first play, when he hit Calcaterra for a gain of 22. Good read, good throw. Hurts was more confident and aggressive than last week. This is the Hurts we’ve seen when he’s playing his best football.

Hurts got the ball to AJ and DeVonta a lot. He also completed 3 passes to Kenny Gainwell. Hurts was good in the red zone, with both of his TDs being short, quick throws. His most creative play came when he started to scramble and saw Saquon out wide.

That didn’t gain much, but it was kinda fun and will give defenses something to think about when Hurts starts to scramble in the coming weeks. He was 15-45-1 on the ground. Almost half of those were sneaks and kneel-downs. There was one fumble. Hurts got out in space and didn’t realize TJ Watt was there, ready to punch the ball out. Hurts did have a run up the middle for 23 yards. He had a broken finger on his left hand and did a lot of his hand-offs with his right hand, which looked odd, but was effective.

Saquon Barkley was 19-65 on the ground. He also caught 2 passes for 9 yards. Barkley came close to breaking a couple of runs, but couldn’t quite get by the final guy. The Steelers played good run defense. Their front got off blocks and into the backfield. Minkah Fitzpatrick came down aggressively in run support at times. Barkley had to earn his yards.

Kenny Gainwell was 7-20 on the ground and 3-40 as a receiver. All of the catches came on 3rd down and moved the chains. Barkley missed some time after a big hit so Gainwell played more than usual. He delivered in some key moments.

AJ Brown was 8-110-1 and made some key catches. His most impressive play came on 3rd & 6 from the Eagles own 7-yd line late in the game. Hurts hit AJ and he turned that into a gain of 20 yards. That jump-started the final drive of the game and gave the Eagles some room to work with. DeVonta Smith was 11-109-1. He did a good job of working the middle and moving the chains.

The OL was good in pass pro. They did give up 3 sacks, but Hurts still had time to throw on those plays. Lane Johnson gave up a sack to TJ Watt, but controlled him most of the game. Watt had another sack on a hustle play.

Landon Dickerson hurt his knee and got replaced by Tyler Steen in the second half. Steen had a couple of early penalties, but then settled down and played better. Mailata had some early struggles with run blocks. Cam Jurgens had a bad snap near the goal line. He got lucky that Hurts was able to get the ball and protect it.

DEFENSE

The Steelers finished with 163 yards. They had 3 scoring drives and 2 of them started in Eagles territory. The long TD drive was aided by a questionable penalty. The Eagles defense did well to limit the Steelers to just 3 points after a pair of fumbles.

The Eagles DL controlled the LOS and limited the run game in a big way. Steelers RBs were 15-40. The guys up front did the dirty work and let the LBs fly in to make the tackles. Jalen Carter was his usual disruptive self. He made 2 tackles and deflected a pass, but that only tells part of the story.

Carter did have a dumb moment. He slapped a player in the head during a punt. Everyone thought that would give PIT a 1st down, but for some reason it didn’t. Sirianni got after Carter as he came to the sideline. DL coach Clint Hurtt took control of the situation. Later on, Carter and Sirianni hugged on the sideline. Dumb play, but good DTs have to be a bit crazy.

Milton Williams got the best of Isaac Seumalo in pass pro. Drove him straight back multiple times. Williams had a couple of tackles and also deflected a pass.

Josh Sweat sack on early 3rd down to end a drive. He finished with 2 tackles and a sack. Nolan Smith played one of his best games of the year. He was disruptive all game long.

He was good as a pass rusher, but the run defense was even more impressive. Bryce Huff could learn a lot by watching how Smith plays the run. Jalyx Hunt had some good moments. He’s become a solid run defender as well.

Nakobe Dean led the team with 10 tackles. He also had a FF. I loved the way Dean closed to the ball and made strong, physical tackles. Zack Baun also tackled well. He had 5 solo tackles. Pittsburgh ran a flea flicker and got 31 yards on the play, but Dean had really good coverage. It was just a great pass.

CJGJ had a couple of tackles and a TFL. He had a chance to break-up a pass in the endzone. Chauncey tried to pick off the pass, but couldn’t get control of the ball. I would have rather he tried to knock it down and prevent the TD. Reed Blankenship was in on 3 tackles. He got called for a highly questionable penalty when he hit Justin Fields just after he slid.

Darius Slay covered well and also had a fumble recovery. Quinyon Mitchell had another game where he didn’t get tested much. Cooper DeJean had a quiet game as well. Isaiah Rodgers played when the Eagles went to a dime look. Steelers WRs had 8 catches for 97 yards. Take away the flea flicker and that was 7 for 66. They struggled to get open and do anything.

ST

Sydney Brown got injured on opening KO. He’s got to protect his head better.

Cooper DeJean fumbled an early punt. That led to a FG for PIT. He later had a PR for 23 yards.

Jake Elliott hit both of his FGs.

Kenny Gainwell had a 32-yd KOR.

Braden Mann only punted once. It went 29 yards and gave PIT a short field that resulted in a FG. He’s got to be better than that over the final month.

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This Feels Different

Posted December 17th, 2024 | 3 Comments »

I have been lucky to see some really good Eagles teams over the years. They have been to four Super Bowls, winning it all in 2017 and restoring order to the world. We’ve seen other teams that were really good, some even special in a certain way. The Gang Green defense of 1991. Michael Vick and the explosive offense of 2010. The 2024 Eagles are good, possibly great. Some of the stuff we’ve seen this year feels different.

Let’s start with some comparisons to 2017. Do you remember the long drive to end the win over the Chargers that year? The Eagles ate up 6:44 to seal the game. The drive started at the 25-yard line. It came against an 0-3 team with a so-so defense. Sunday was different.

That was a historic drive. It started at the 3-yard line so that wasn’t exactly an ideal situation. It came against a red hot Steelers team (had won 7 of 8) that had a Top 10 defense. Having a drive eat up the final 10:29 of a game is just insane. You don’t hear of anything close to that.

The Eagles caught some flak earlier in the year for playing a soft schedule. That talk has changed a bit. They swept the AFC North. They have beaten three NFC teams projected to make the playoffs (WAS, LA, GB). Their only losses are to teams .500 or better.

Now let’s talk about the units. I wrote yesterday about how good this defense is. Compare it to the most recent Super Bowl teams.

YearYards AllowedPoints AllowedRush Yds AllowedPass Yds Allowed Red Zone Defense3rd Down Defense
2017306.518.41st17th20th3rd
2022301.520.216th1st12th14th
2024275.617.67th1st4th2nd

You can see that Vic Fangio’s unit is on another level. Those other two defenses were really good, but this group stands out because they are so much better situationally.

This defense hasn’t allowed more than 20 points in a game during the 10-game winning streak. The 2017 team never went more than 4 games without allowing more than 20 points. The 2022 team went 7 games without allowing more than 20 points. The 2024 Eagles could have 3 All Pro selections – Jalen Carter, Zack Baun, Quinyon Mitchell. And Cooper DeJean could get some votes. Mitchell has a legitimate chance to be the Defensive Rookie of the Year.

The offense is doing some pretty impressive things as well. Saquon Barkley leads the NFL in rushing and is on pace to rush for more than 2,000 yards. He is a serious candidate for MVP. The Eagles lead the NFL in rushing as a team. Their worst game is 113 yards. They have eclipsed 200 yards in 5 games so far.

Jalen Hurts has a strong chance to set the NFL record for rushing TDs in a season by a QB. He’s got 14 and needs just 2 more to set the record. Hurts isn’t posting big passing numbers in terms of volume, but has career high figures in completion percentage and passer rating.

The part of this team that is the hardest to quantify is the OL. They are the first or second best line in the league, depending on what you think of Detroit’s line.

The OL is doing special things with their run blocking. Saquon Barkley has brought out the best in them and they have brought out the best in him. Their pass protection can be next level as well.

This team sure has a good feel to it. The 2017 group was on another level when it came to having fun. Jason Kelce, Chris Long, Beau Allen, Brandon Graham, and the rest of the gang were special in that regard. This team is celebrating more and seems to be getting comfortable with how good they are. They’re doing a good job of living in the moment.

We don’t know where this team will end up. What we do know is that this is a really good team with a chance to do special things. The last couple of months have a chance to be a lot of fun.

Make sure you enjoy the ride.

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