Inside The Eagles Tremendous 10 Minute Drive Vs The Steelers

The most impressive part of Sunday's was easily that final drive that ended the game. The Eagles got the ball with 10:29 left on the clock and never gave it back. It was pure dominance by the Eagles. But how did they pull it off? Let's break it down by the numbers.

The Eagles ran 21 plays. 7 passes, 3 Qb kneels, and 11 runs. 2 of those runs were Tush Pushes, including 1 on a 4th down when they were in FG range. Saquon carried it 7 times and gained only 10 yards surprisingly. Kenny Gainwell carried it 3 times for 10 yards.

They were not running it very effectively. Which is shocking for a drive that took up so much time. You usually think about long drives relying on the run. But they gained only 23 yards on the ground on 11 runs. 4 of those runs did go for a first down though, including the 2 Tush Pushes.

Yet it was still a great drive. We have wondered all season how the Eagles would handle it if someone stopped the run. The Steelers stopped the run, even on this drive, but they still were able to dominate a great Steelers defense that has baffled other QBs. Jalen Hurts handled it though.

Hurts threw only two incompletions. One was on the first play of the drive. But by the time he threw his 2nd incompletion, the clock had already wound down to 4:50.

His 5 completions went for 78 yards. They were picking up yards in large chunks through the air. Again not exactly what you think of when you think of long sustained drives. But the important thing was the clock kept moving.

It stopped because of something they did twice in the 21 plays. It stopped 3 more times because the Steelers used their timeouts. But pretty much every play resulted in 40+ seconds running off the clock.

They picked up 6 first downs. 4 on the ground, 2 through the air. They actually had two throws of over 10 yards that did not go for a 1st down, but then Jalen Hurts got the 1st on a Tush push the following play.

Simply put, they kept the sticks moving. They had some long conversions to. They had a 3rd and 13 that turned into a 4th and 1, and a tush push. They had a 2nd and 14 where Hurts hit Smith for 22 yards. They had a 2nd and 20 where AJ Brown picked up 19 yards, setting up another Tush Push.

It is important to note how great Hurts was on that drive. He was their best player on that drive. He kept getting the ball to Brown and Smith for chunks of yardage. This was not the run game taking over, it was Hurts and the 2 Star WRs taking over.

Last week was not easy for the Eagles. Between struggling to beat the Panthers, and then the drama that ensued based of what AJ Brown and Brandon Graham said, it was the most adversity this team has faced all season.

We saw them implode last year when they faced adversity. So how they responded this year was important. Well, what we learned was this is not last year's team. For one they are much more talented and better coached. We already knew that based on everything we saw this year. However, how they responded to the drama from last week showed us that they are also mentally tougher than they were last year.

Champions are born from adversity. Every team faces it at some point. It can make you stronger if you let it, and it seems it made this Eagles team stronger.

The Steelers are very good. They are 10-4, 1st in the AFC North, and 3rd in the AFC overall. They did not have George Pickens, but it is their defense that has been their strength. They are 1 of only 6 teams who give up under 20 points per game. The Eagles put 27 up on them and left 3 more points on the field in that final drive. They easily could have scored 30, or even 34, if they wanted to, but they opted to bleed the clock instead.

Related: Eagles Silence Their Critics In Impressive Win Over Steelers

The Passing Game was the lone question left about this team. The passing game looked as good as it has since 2022 on Sunday. Jalen Hurts had his best game of the season, and both AJ Brown and Devonta Smith showed why they are star WRS.

But just how impressive was the win? How great could the Eagles be? let's take a deeper dive into the numbers from this game.

For me, the most impressive part of the win was the 10-and-a-half-minute drive at the end of the game. The Steelers punted it away with 10:40 left on the clock. when the Eagles offense came onto the field, there was 10:29 left to go. They never gave the Steelers the ball back. They ran 21 plays, including 3 QB kneels, and bleed out the remainder of the 4th quarter, to hold onto the 14-point lead.

But honestly, it gets even more impressive. Because they controlled the clock in the 2nd half for 24 minutes and 10 seconds in the 2nd half. The Steelers only had the ball twice for the entire half. They fumbled, and then they punted. The Eagles opened the half with a 13-play drive that lasted 7:08, eventually settling for a FG. The next time they had the ball they took 13 plays and 6:33 to score a TD. After that, they had that never-ending drive.

The ability to control the clock is vitally important. The Eagles are better at it than anyone. We have seen the Lions like to run up the score. But the Eagles don't need to do that. They would rather just protect their players, bleed the clock, and end it.

The punt by the Steelers was clearly a mistake. But it took the great play of the Eagles' offense to make them pay for that mistake.

How great the passing offense looked caused the defense to go under the radar a bit. But the Eagles defense was dominant. Obviously allowed just 13 points, even though they started 3 drives in Philadelphia territory. But more than that, they allowed only 2 drives all game to go for more than 30 yards. Only 1 went for more than 40. There was the TD in the 2nd Quarter where they drove 70 yards, and then there was their first drive of the 2nd half where they eventually fumbled.

They kicked two FGs, and both came on drives where they started either in FG range or within 10 yards of FG range. They held them to 163 yards total on 9 drives. That is 18 yards per drive.

It comes with the caveat that they were without George Pickens.  But given how well the defense has played this year, I can't put too much stock into that excuse. This is the 8th team they held under 20 points. The Jags only got to 20 points because of a bogus fumble return for a TD. The Rams only got there because of a garbage-time TD. The defense has been near perfect since the bye week.

Jalen Hurts had his best game of the season. 25 for 32, 290 yards, and 2 TDs. He was on the money all game long. He faced a ton of scrutiny after his bad game vs the Panthers. He did throw two Red Zone TDs in that game, but anyone who watched it will tell you it was not a good game by Hurts. But this week he was perfect. outside of a fumble where he was trying to fight for a 1st down, and TJ Watt made a great play, he was flawless. His QB rating was 125.3.

What makes it even more impressive is who they did it against. The Steelers have shut opposing QBs down all year. They came into the game allowing a passer rating of just 79.9. It was the 2nd lowest average QB Rating in the league. Lamar Jackson had a QB rating of 66.1 against them. They had given very good qbs fits this season. Hurts had no issue at all with them and went on to have his best game this season.

Jalen Hurts summed it up perfectly after the game when the spoke to Erin Andrews.

This is a negative stat, but I promise it is to make a positive point. We had asked all year what the Eagles do if someone took away the run game. The Steelers did that. They were stacking the box, and Saquon never got going. He averaged just 3.4 yards per carry. Him battling a minor injury certainly didn't help, but he was not the explosive force he usually is.

And yet, the Eagles still gained over 400 yards, and put up 27 points, against one of the best defenses in the league. Consider that question answered. If someone does sell out to stop the run, the passing game will pick you apart. They have not needed to do that, because the run game was working so well. But the 1st week in a while where they did need to do it, they did it with no problem.

You are picking your poison. Want to keep your safeties back to stop the pass? Saquon and its O-Line will bully you? Do you want to bring them up to stop Saquon? Good luck stopping AJ Brown and Devonta Smith.

Special shoutout to Nolan Smith. Coming into this year, he was not living up to the hype that came with him being a 1st round pick. He was ineffective as a rookie. Even in the preseason, he was not exactly flashing big-time talent. The start of the season was slow. But something has clicked, and he had his best game yet vs the Steelers.

A Sack, 2 pass deflections, and 5 pressures. He is up to 24 pressures and 5.5 sacks on the season. He also added a stop in the run game. Almost all of this production has come since the bye week. I am not sure what he did in that time off, but it worked. He went from being an afterthought to being a star coming off the EDGE.

The Eagles are very close to sealing the NFC East, and at least the 2 seed. This week they guaranteed they will have a better seed then the winner of the NFC West or South. The only thing left to do is seal their spot over the Commanders, and it will guarantee they have the 2 seed at worst.

To do that, all they need is 1 more win or 1 more Commander's loss. They play the Commanders this weekend, so a win would really seal the deal. But even if they lose this week, beating either the Cowboys or Giants at home, or the Commanders losing to the Falcons or Cowboys, would seal the deal for the Eagles.

Getting the 1 seed is a bit tougher. They will need to win out, and they will need both the Lions and the Vikings to lose. The Lions get the Bears, Niners, and the Vikings. The Vikings have the Bears, the Seahawks, the Packers, and The Lions. So 1 of them is guaranteed a loss, barring a tie. But they will need the team that goes on to win that game, to lose before the Final Week. It is possible though, mostly because the Eagles continue to handle their own business.