21 plays. 88 yards. Ten minutes and twenty-nine seconds. That is how the Steelers-Eagles game ended yesterday evening after the Steelers opted to punt the ball to the Eagles on a 4th-and-7 from their own 46. Philadelphia, starting from their own three, would utilize the entire clock, never to relinquish the ball back to Pittsburgh, and the Steelers would drop to a 10-4 record after a 27-13 defeat in the southeastern corner of Pennsylvania. 

Going into the game, I did not have much optimism that the contest would even be competitive. George Pickens would miss his second-straight week of action, and the offense struggled enough the previous week against a much less oppressive defense than the Eagles’. DeShon Elliott, the extremely underrated and highly impactful strong safety that Omar Khan signed in the offseason, would miss his first game of the year, as would defensive lineman Larry Ogunjobi. 

The two defensive absences, one would imagine, would prove to be deadly against a Philadelphia offense that sports an MVP candidate in running back Saquon Barkley, an all-world receiver in A.J. Brown, and a very talented (and well-compensated) dual-threat quarterback in Jalen Hurts. To me, the Eagles entered the week as the best team in football, and it would be difficult enough to beat them at full strength.

To be perfectly honest—and this may be a controversial opinion—I thought the defense played admirably yesterday. While they did concede 27 points and 401 total yards, they were on the field for almost two-thirds of the game (39 minutes and 52 seconds) and limited the best running back in football to 65 yards rushing on 3.4 yards per carry. They also sacked Jalen Hurts three times, forced two fumbles (one of which came on special teams, but I will attribute it to the defense here), and forced two field goals on drives that reached the red zone. TJ Watt was stellar, recording seven total tackles (five solo), one tackle for loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble. 

The main issue in the game (besides the referees, who were absolutely atrocious), was the offense. Whether it was the play-calling or the execution of Arthur Smith’s plays, there was very little positive yardage to be gained. The Steelers only accumulated 163 total yards. Russell Wilson attempted 22 passes, completing 14 of them for 128 yards (and one touchdown). The Eagles also only allowed just over 50 yards on the ground, as Najee Harris, Wilson, Jaylen Warren, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Justin Fields combined for a meager 56 rushing yards on 17 carries (3.29 average). 

The first quarter was, for lack of a better word, terrorism. The Steelers had the same number of fumbles forced and recovered as total yards (two) as they were down 10-3, gave up 148 yards, and only possessed the ball on offense for 5:45 of the opening quarter-hour. The play-calling was extremely predictable. On their first series, the first down play was a run for two yards. The same was true of the first play of the second series. The first play of the third series was an incompletion. Their first “good” play was a seven-yard pass to Najee Harris after forcing a fumble on a punt return, which got them down to the Eagles’ four yard-line. However, a skirmish ensued after the play when Darnell Washington blocked Darius Slay out of the end zone. Punches were thrown by Slay, and a scrum broke out. 

Naturally, the referees only observed infractions on the Steelers, and the team wearing white was the only team penalized. Instead of second-and-three from the four, it was second-and-eighteen from the nineteen. The punches thrown by Slay were clear as day on replay, and the replay center in New York completely ignored them. This was not the only incident where Alan Eck and his crew of blind stooges screwed over the Steelers, but it is not as though they were going to win anyways.

The first play on their ensuing drive? A one-yard rush with Jaylen Warren. It took until the 9:07 mark in the second quarter for the Steelers to get their first first-down of the game, after which they were already down 17-3. Overall, the second quarter was much better for Pittsburgh, as they went into halftime down just four, with 13 points on the board.

The first drive of the second half saw another incident wherein the referees exerted influence. The Eagles had a fourth-and-two from the Steelers’ 30 and elected to kick a field goal. A personal foul was called on Montravious Adams for making contact with the center. Upon watching the replay, however, one can clearly see that Adams made contact with another offensive lineman first, and was subsequently blocked into the center, thus negating the penalty. The outcome of the drive ultimately did not change, as the Eagles ended up kicking a field goal regardless, but it was still quite frustrating.

A huge pass from Wilson to Calvin Austin started off the Steelers’ next drive, and a few plays later, the Steelers were on the Philadelphia 26, looking to tie the game. Then, Arthur Smith called my absolute least favorite play in his playbook: the halfback pitch. The play probably has a 10% success rate at best with the current personnel, and eschewing a handoff in lieu of tossing the football to a player is risky.

That risk came to fruition, as the toss bounced off Najee Harris and hit the Lincoln Financial Field turf, where Darius Slay pounced on it. Instead of potentially tying the game, the Eagles would get the ball back and eventually score a touchdown, making it a 14-point swing.

The Steelers would get the ball back, run six plays, and elect to punt the ball back to Philadelphia on a 4th-and-7 near midfield…down two scores…with under eleven minutes left. I was furious. What made Tomlin think that the Steelers would get the ball back with enough time to score twice???

The punt was a good one, being downed at the 7, with a flag coming in. Eagles’ defensive lineman Jalen Carter decided to punch a Steelers’ punt protection member in the helmet before the ball was punted, which would grant Pittsburgh an automatic first down…right? Wrong! Despite every angle showing that the infraction occurred before Corliss Waitman’s foot made contact with the ball, the officiating crew determined that the foul would be enforced from the end of the kick, making it a three-yard penalty instead of another chance for the Steelers, who would never see the ball again.

On the Eagles’ odyssey-length final drive, TJ Watt suffered a painful-looking ankle injury. As of now, there is no official status. However, the x-rays came back negative, and it was not a high-ankle injury, which is probably the best news. The Steelers without TJ Watt are a junior varsity team, so any games that he misses down the stretch are almost automatic losses.

There were plenty of incredulous things borne out of the game yesterday. For one, the Steelers only ran eleven plays in the second half. Eleven! The Eagles almost doubled that on their final drive of the game! Further, they had the ball for less than six minutes in the second half…that’s under 20% of the time.

I did not like much of what I saw. What I did like, though, was TJ Watt accumulating more stats. He is now the third player in NFL history to have at least four seasons with ten or more sacks and five or more fumbles forced. He was effective against one of the league’s premier right tackles in Lane Johnson, who is potentially an eternal resident in Canton, Ohio one day.

The game was ugly. It was worse than ugly, actually—it was humiliating. I know that I lamented the referees (who should be ashamed of themselves, by the way), but the performance of the team—especially on the offensive side of the ball—was disgusting, embarrassing, and stomach-churning. 

Am I overreacting? Absolutely! Of course I am overreacting! It is what Yinzers do! We were without our best offensive player and going up against arguably the best team in the NFL. However, I have reason to be worried. Saturday’s game against the Ravens likely determines who wins the division (unless the Steelers can somehow elude Patrick Mahomes’ voodoo magic on Christmas and beat Cincinnati on the final day of the regular season), and it is possible that the team will still be without key pieces for a road divisional game.

On the bright side, Miami and Indianapolis both losing yesterday clinched the Steelers a playoff berth. How about winning a postseason game this year for once?

Have a good week. Screw Philly.