After the nonsensical drama of the week, it was thought that the Eagles’ Sunday response would be one of two things. Either they come out flat and lose at home to a good Steelers team, ending the streak, or squash the concerns with a comprehensive thrashing.

The result was mostly the latter, with the Birds running out to a 17-3 lead despite turning the ball over twice in the first quarter. It got a little dicey in the late second and early third, but a timely Steelers fumble allowed the Eagles to push the lead back to 14, and that was pretty much it. They grinded ’em out with a long fourth-quarter drive to make the ending anticlimactic, winning their 10th-straight while holding the visitors to just 13 points and 163 total yards of offense.

What did we learn from the Battle for Pennsylvania? Not much. It just confirmed what we already knew, that Wawa is better than Sheetz, the Linc is better than Heinz, and the Delaware and Schuylkill are better than all three of the rivers converging on Yinzerville at the same time. The Eagles are the kings of the Commonwealth and Pittsburgh is little brother. As a reward, we get to annex Shadyside and the Yinzers have to take Kensington.

Beyond all of that, this team continues to prove that it’s a Super Bowl contender. With the Lions losing to Buffalo the #1 seed is in play. Both teams are 12-2 with three games remaining, but while the Birds get the Commies, Cowboys, and Giants, the Lions still have to play the Vikings after navigating road trips to Chicago and San Fran. Why stop now? The sky is the limit. They haven’t lost since September 29th and remain undefeated since Nick Sirianni shaved his head.

1) Russell Wilson took a deep shot to Van Jefferson on 3rd of 7 of the first drive. Maybe a snapshot there of the Steelers’ receiving situation without George Pickens, throwing into triple coverage for someone else instead. It made Pittsburgh a little bit one-dimensional in this game, with a limited passing attack.


2) For all the talk of the passing game this week, it was great to see Jalen Hurts come out and make some nice completions early on. He hit Grant Calcaterra on a double move, A.J. Brown on a slant, and then DeVonta Smith on a shallow crosser before they even handed the ball to Saquon Barkley.

3) Just a field goal on the opening drive, but considering how slow they’ve started this year, putting points on the board (and seeing Elliott convert) was a big positive. Jake did not hit any fans with wayward kicks this week.

4) Cooper DeJean took a big hit on his second punt return of the game, then fumbled on his third. Really shaky back there. Vic Fangio was on the record more than two months ago saying it was something that worried him, but with Britain Covey down, DeJean was the next man up, and he’d been really good on special teams up until that point.

5) Kenny Gainwell’s spin move was sick. He has lowkey had a really nice season behind Saquon. That being said – did they have to run him two times in a row after that 3rd down conversion? It led to another third down in which Hurts fumbled on a scramble and gave the ball to Pittsburgh.

6) Hurts’ fumble was just his third turnover since Week 4. He had two in Dallas and this one, but otherwise he’s been clean.

7) Steelers ended up settling for a field goal after the DeJean muff. That drive more or less ended with the unnecessary roughness penalties and end zone scrum. Pittsburgh fans were complaining about both flags going against them, and thought Quinyon Mitchell should have been whistled for pushing Darnell Washington, which would have resulted in offsetting penalties. They may have been hosed there.

8) A.J. Brown’s first half: four targets, four receptions for 48 yards and a touchdown. Hurts was 8-8. Passing game looked good!

9) They outgained the Steelers 148 to 2 in the first quarter. And that’s despite turning the ball over twice.

10) Hurts was lucky that second quarter deep ball for Brown wasn’t picked off. Good D by A.J. on that one. Also shows you how much trust he has in the guy to chuck it up there for him.

11) Of course the penalty on Reed Blankenship was bullshit. It’s a late slide from Justin Fields, Blankenship ends up hitting him high, and there’s 15 yards right there. You could tell during the rest of that drive that the Eagles were hesitant to close down Wilson in the open field, which resulted in him grabbing a few extra yards en route to their first touchdown.

12) Great catch by Pat Freiermuth. Not even mad about it. You wonder if CJGJ could have swatted that down but it looked like a bang-bang play:

13) Ultra-rare rough sequence from Lane Johnson right before halftime. False start on 3rd and 7, then gets beat by T.J. Watt for a sack. Hurts holding onto that ball was a minor miracle.

14) 30-yard punt from Braden Mann to end the 2nd quarter. As good as he was in Baltimore, he didn’t give the defense much of a chance to keep Pittsburgh out of field goal range there. The Steelers dropped a pass and then took a bad sack, but regained enough yardage on third down to knock in a 49-yarder.

15) Only seven first half carries for Barkley. He took a hit to his leg at the goal line and stayed out for much of the 2nd quarter, but got the ball to start the third quarter. Erin Andrews noted as well that Gainwell is the two-minute back, so Saquon wouldn’t have been in on that final drive anyway.

16) The fans didn’t like the pick play penalty on Smitty, but he didn’t do a great job of selling it.

17) Elliott’s 48-yard field goal didn’t count because of a horrific penalty on the Steelers, but it felt good seeing that go through. A confidence boost and a precursor to the 41-yarder that he had to go make when the drive stalled again.

18) There was a third down hip drop tackle on Smitty that wasn’t called. Tell me you saw it, right? It happened again in the fourth quarter, to Brown, and again was not called. Almost broke his ankle.

19) Tom Brady called the Eagles the Phillies and referred to Elliott as David Akers. Great work!

20) The Najee Harris fumble was a gift from the football gods. That drive was moving after the flea flicker and it looked like Pittsburgh was gonna respond. It really changed the course of the game and was the turning point for the win.

21) I thought Hurts did a nice job making some easy pitch-and-catch type throws to hit guys underneath. Simple stuff, just five-yard curls and comebacks to keep the chains moving and continue with rhythm.

22) This was the difference between three points and seven points. The Steelers couldn’t make this tackle and Kenny G moved the chains:

23) No issues running the tush push in this game. Hurts did have a finger injury but it affected absolutely nothing in the passing or running game.

24) I don’t think Brady necessarily stinks in the booth, but he doesn’t bring much to the game. You’re the greatest QB of all time. Give us some Tony Romo stuff. Describe what you’re seeing out there, the stuff that we aren’t seeing. He just doesn’t come off as any different than any other color commentator. The observations feel like they’re surface level.

25) Really stupid penalty on Jalen Carter on that fourth quarter punt. You could see some jawing on the sidelines afterward involving Clint Hurtt, Nick Sirianni, and Big Dom. The Eagles needed – what else – an A.J. Brown slant to move the sticks on third down and keep that drive moving. It went more than ten minutes and ended the game.

26) Jalen Hurts: 25 for 32, 290 yards and two touchdowns, 15 carries for 45 yards and a score. You can win a Super Bowl with him.