Eagles-Steelers: Birds beat Pittsburgh for their 10th win in a row; Jalen Hurts confirms he played with broken finger

Here is what referee Allen Eck had to say to pool reporter Zach Berman:

Question: In the first quarter, on the scuffle between the Eagles and the Steelers, why was it that two Steelers got penalized on that play?

Eck: “Because two Steelers were observed, number 80 and number 19, committing unsportsmanlike conduct after the play was over. That’s what it was. Two players after the fact, unsportsmanlike conduct.”

Quarterback: A

Jalen Hurts was excellent against one of the better defenses in the NFL and answered a lot of questions about his ability to carry the offense on his passing shoulders. He completed 25 of 32 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns and had a 125.3 passer rating.

Hurts went to his top receivers early and often and threw into a number of tight windows over the middle to DeVonta Smith and on the outside to A.J. Brown. But Hurts also sprinkled in throws to other ball catchers. He trusted his check downs and running back Kenneth Gainwell was twice able to convert third down in the first half.

The road back to respect for Jalen Hurts began with some of his first words after his worst game of this season. Inside the Eagles’ locker room a week ago, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Jordan Mailata, among others, had lamented a putrid performance from the team’s passing attack in a tight victory over the hapless Carolina Panthers, and a review of the game tape wasn’t necessary to know what the problem was. Anyone watching in real time could see it. Hurts was too hesitant. Hurts was too cautious. Hurts had receivers open and, for whatever reason, wouldn’t throw them the damn ball.

In such situations, when criticism is sure to come his way, Hurts can get his back up, can get defensive. He can start speaking in public not with the bluntness that a quarterback and leader sometimes has to wield but in nothing but vague aphorisms, as if his real full-time job were writing fortune-cookie messages. This time was different. This time, Hurts was direct and honest and left no doubt that he, too, understood what the problem with the Eagles was and who had to fix it.

“We did a bad job,” he said, “and it starts with me.”

Maybe next A.J. Brown will ask for world peace, an end to hunger, and the reversal of global warning.

It worked last time.

Brown last week complained that “passing” was the Eagles’ biggest issue; this, after they’d won their ninth game in a row. The Birds, fueled by Saquon Barkley’s MVP run, had just moved to 11-2, but Brown was on pace for the worst of his three seasons as an Eagle, and the Eagles ranked second-to-last in passing, and, for Brown, that would not stand.

Tyler Steen is in at left guard for Landon Dickerson, who began the second half sidelined with a knee injury.

The Eagles later announced that Dickerson is questionable to return.

Dickerson went to the medical tent before the Eagles' first series of the third quarter and was walking gingerly on the sideline with trainers afterward. Steen, a third-round pick in 2023, was charged with a holding penalty in his first few plays.

The Steelers are down, but not out.

While the Eagles have been largely dominant throughout the first half, particularly on defense, the Steelers pulled within four points on a late field goal going into halftime. The Eagles lead, 17-13, and will receive the ball to start the third quarter.

The Steelers started out shaky on offense, going three-and-out on their first five possessions. They managed just three points on a pair of Eagles turnovers, one Jalen Hurts fumble and one from Cooper DeJean on a punt return.

Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown are all right.

After the Steelers tied the score at three apiece, the Eagles needed just six plays and 2 minutes, 29 seconds to go 70 yards and score the go-ahead touchdown.

The drive started with completions of 16 and 20 yards to Brown. Hurts then scrambled for seven before handing off to Saquon Barkley for a 22-yard burst.

The Eagles gave the Steelers two consecutive short fields, but the game is tied, 3-3, thanks to the Eagles' defense and a kerfuffle that pushed the Steelers out of field goal range.

First, the bad: Jalen Hurts fumbled the football while scrambling. He held the ball with his inside arm (right) and not his left, which he has a glove on to help cover up a left finger injury.

The Eagles were defending from their own 45-yard line and got a stop, forcing a punt that Cooper DeJean caught and then fumbled when he got hit.

The Eagles can no longer clinch the NFC East Sunday after Washington survived a two-point conversion attempt at the end of its game in New Orleans.

A Commanders loss, plus an Eagles win or tie, would have sealed the division for the Eagles.

If the Eagles beat Pittsburgh, they will remain three games ahead of Washington with three to play. If they lose, that obviously drops two.

While there may have been a bitter rivalry that prevented the Steagles from sticking around for a second a season — oh, you didn't know the Steelers and Eagles were once the same team? — there isn't much of a rivalry any more between these two Pennsylvania teams. At least not on paper.

They play in difference conferences, only face each other once every couple of years, and feature fan bases that likely see a bit of themselves in the other.

That's why this week, ahead of the Eagles-Steelers game, we took a look at these two teams on opposite sides of the state — and how a shared love of football might be one of the things nearly all people in Pa., no matter where they're from, can agree on.

The Cowboys haven't had the best of luck this season with their high-priced players.

They signed Dak Prescott to a monster contract that made him the highest-paid quarterback annually in the NFL. His season was cut short in November by a hamstring injury. CeeDee Lamb also signed a massive contract extension to becoming one of the highest-paid receivers in the league, but his production has been limited without Prescott.

Offensive lineman Zack Martin, one of the top paid players at the guard position, is out for the year and might retire after the season. And Trevon Diggs, who signed his big extension last year, is likely done for the year and headed for knee surgery.

Almost exactly a year removed from letting his silence do the talking, A.J. Brown has taken the opposite approach this season.

The Eagles wide receiver’s frustrations with the team’s passing game following a shaky win against the Carolina Panthers spiraled into terse comments in the postgame locker room and ensuing speculation about his relationship with Jalen Hurts.

What remains a few days later is what Brown wants to remain.

With four games left to play, Saquon Barkley is closing in on the NFL single-season rushing record, set 40 years ago in 1984. Barkley also passed LeSean McCoy last week against the Panthers and set a new Eagles franchise record for rushing yards in a season.

Here's what you need to know about Barkley's quest for the record ...

How many rushing yards does Saquon Barkley have this season?

After securing a spot in the playoffs with a win over the Carolina Panthers last Sunday, the Eagles (11-2) turn their attention to the Pittsburgh Steelers as they aim to extend their nine-game win streak in an intrastate battle.

The Birds are 5.5-point favorites over the Steelers (10-3), who are coming off a 27-14 win over the Cleveland Browns, placing them two games above the Baltimore Ravens atop the AFC North. The Steelers are expected to be without their No. 1 receiver George Pickens, reportedly dealing with a hamstring strain after also missing last week’s game.

Meanwhile, the Eagles scraped out a victory over the three-win Panthers behind an impressive Saquon Barkley performance. The Steelers will no doubt focus on a way to stop the MVP candidate. Will the Steelers be able to limit Barkley and pull out a win in Philadelphia? Or will the Eagles continue their streak? Here’s what experts in the local and national media are saying …

The Philadelphia Eagles (11-2) face the Pittsburgh Steelers (10-3) Sunday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.

The game will air on Fox at 4:25 p.m. and will be the network's featured game this week — and for good reason with two division leaders from across the state facing off.

Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady will be in the booth for Fox, with Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi also joining in.