5 Steelers surprises in Sunday’s loss against the Eagles
Our SCU staff and contributors pick the “surprises” from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ latest matchup each week. Check out more below to see which plays and situations surprised us the most!
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their fourth game of the 2024 season, 27-13, to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. The loss reduced the Steelers to a one-game lead in the AFC North over the Baltimore Ravens. However, Pittsburgh clinched a playoff berth due to losses by the Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins.
Here are some surprises from that game.
The Curse Continues
The Pittsburgh Steelers are 29-49-3 versus the Eagles all-time. The Steelers have a record of 9-30-2 against the Eagles on the road all-time, as their curse in Philadelphia continues.
They haven’t won a road game in the City of Brotherly Love since 1965.
Low Offensive Output
The Steelers offense was historically bad on Sunday, running a total of 41 plays for 163 net yards.
According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette it was their fewest yards since they had 127 in a 19-11 win against the Tennessee Titans in September 2010. Also according to Dulac, their 10 first downs were the fewest since December 2019 against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Elias Sports Bureau reports that the 11 plays the Steelers ran in the second half are the fewest by any NFL team since the Seattle Seahawks (10) in a 41-7 loss to the New York Giants in November 2010.
Pittsburgh also went 3-of-10 on third down and had a 20:08 time of possession.
Defensive Collapse
Likewise the Steelers defense struggled to get off of the field, allowing the Eagles to convert on 59% of their third downs (10-of-17) while gaining 26 first downs total. The Eagles held the ball for 39:52 and ran 77 plays for a total of 401 yards.
Sunday was the second time this season that a team gained 400 or more yards on the Steelers defense. (The Cowboy had 445 in a Week 5 loss.) The Steelers have lost four of six games this season when they’ve given up 20 or more points to their opponent:
- Colts (27)
- Eagles (27)
- Browns (24)
- Cowboys (20)
It’s also the third game they’ve lost when forcing multiple turnovers this year.
The defense also allowed Eagles receivers A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith to have season-highs in both receptions and yards. Brown had 8 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown while Smith had 11 receptions for 109 yards and a score. Oddly, Pittsburgh only gave up 270 yards passing in this game and have only relinquished more than 270 to two teams this season: the Cowboys (336) and Bengals (282).
Officiating
With the type of offensive and defensive play noted above, officiating is far down the list of reasons why the Steelers lost on Sunday. However, it’s worth noting several bad calls that handicapped the ailing offense, which was unable to play complimentary football to give the defense a break.
The first of those plays followed a fumble punt return by Eagles returner Cooper DeJean, which gave the Steelers the ball on the Philadelphia 11-yard line. On the first play of that series, Russell Wilson hit Najee Harris with a short pass that would’ve given Pittsburgh the ball on the four. However, a fight broke out in the endzone after Steelers TE Darnell Washington blocked Eagles CB Darius Slay through the endzone and off of the field.
Still can’t get over this. Might be the best play I ever saw. pic.twitter.com/OK8WzpFDMp
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) December 16, 2024
That resulted in two penalties, but it turns out both flags were on the Steelers as the referees missed Slay throwing multiple punches at Washington, which should’ve offset and allowed the Steelers to replay first down from the eleven. Instead the Steelers lost the down and began with a 2nd-and-18 from the Philly 19. They would settle for a field goal, tying the game 3-3 with 3:46 remaining in the first quarter.
The next call was an unnecessary roughness penalty on 4th-and-2 by Montravius Adams, who went into an Eagles interior lineman on a field goal attempt but was blocked into the long snapper. The officiating botch would result in 15 yards and give the Eagles a 1st-and-10 from the Steelers 15 because it occurred before the kick. Philadelphia would still settle for a field goal.
Similarly, Eagles DL Jalen Carter would smack Connor Heyward in the face during a Corliss Waitman punt in the fourth quarter. The referees would deem the foul occurred after the kick and only resulted in giving the Steelers three additional yards as the punt landed on the Eagles six-yard line. Had the crew correctly determined the ball was not in flight, the Steelers offense should’ve retaken the field with a first down on the Eagles 31.
The aftermath was the Steelers offense would never get the ball back with 10:29 to go in the ballgame.
T.J. Watt Injury
When T.J. Watt went down clutching his ankle with a little over four minutes left in the fourth quarter, Steelers fans held a collective gasp.
The odds-on favorite to win the NFL Defensive Player of the Year at this time had a great game, collecting two sacks and forcing a fumble.
It’s the thought of a Steelers team without Watt that is the bad prospect, as the team is 1-10 without the outside linebacker since he joined them in 2017.
