It was more of the same for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon. A limited offense coupled with a defense guilty of giving up big plays resulted in a 35-13 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
With the win, the Eagles improved to a perfect 7-0 on the season, while the Steelers enter their bye week with a putrid 2-6 record.
As expected, the Steelers’ defense couldn’t stop the Philadelphia offense, and it was apparent from the onset. The Eagles capped a 10 play, 68 yard opening drive with a 39 yard touchdown connection between Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown to make it 7-0. After Pittsburgh responded with a 19 play, 84 yard drive of their own, including a one yard touchdown pass from Chase Claypool to Derek Watt, Philadelphia marched down the field again for another long scoring drive. Hurts connected with Brown again, this time from 27 yards out, to make it 14-7.
The duo’s third connection of the day, Hurts to Brown, came in the second quarter, from 29 yards out to make it a 21-7 Eagles’ lead. A late field goal brought the Steelers within 21-10 at halftime, but that is as close as they would get on the day.
Philadelphia broke the game wide open in the second half, with an opening scoring drive of 75 yards on 7 plays. Hurts’ fourth touchdown pass of the game, a 34 yard strike to Zach Pascal, made it 28-10. After a Steelers’ field goal, Miles Sanders’ 11 yard touchdown ended the scoring, as the Eagles coasted the rest of the way for the easy victory.
Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, this game played out exactly the way everyone thought it would. The Eagles are the far superior team on paper and essentially dominated the game from start to finish. The Steelers are limited on offense and the defense is incapable of stopping any offense at this point, much less one of the very best in the entire league.
After a much-needed bye week, Pittsburgh will next face the New Orleans Saints on November 13th at Acrisure Stadium. This will represent one of the few times remaining in the season when the Steelers may actually have a realistic chance to win.
Overall Record: 2-6
