Airing of Grievances: Tackling woes, failed conversion downs sink Steelers' latest attempt to win in Philadelphia

With the Pittsburgh Steelers failing to win in Philadelphia since 1965, let’s not be surprised by the club dropping another contest there again Sunday, 27-13.

Very few people, including myself, expected them to even cover the 5½-point spread against the (now) 12-2 Eagles. But, at 10-3 entering the game, there was at least reason to hope the Steelers could pull off a surprise.

They didn’t. They didn’t come particularly close, either.

It was sort of a wake-up call for where the Steelers might be in the pecking order when it comes to teams having to go on the road to face playoff competition.

If what we saw Sunday was any sort of a barometer, it wasn’t a good sign — especially when you consider the Chiefs won again to improve to 13-1. Plus, the Buffalo Bills (11-3) put up 48 points while winning at Detroit (12-2). And Lamar Jackson hung five touchdowns on the Giants as the Baltimore Ravens (9-5) won 35-14 in a walkover at New York.

Now, the Ravens are just a game behind the Steelers in the race for the AFC North, with the teams colliding Saturday afternoon in Maryland. Not to mention, the Steelers had to play this game without George Pickens, DeShon Elliott and Larry Ogunjobi. Then T.J. Watt (ankle), Donte Jackson (back) and Justin Fields (abdomen) got injured during the game.

Let’s see how “Hard Knocks” tries to scrub up this one for Mike Tomlin and the Steelers.

“Festivus” isn’t until Dec. 23. But it’s time for some “Airing of Grievances” in the wake of that stink show at the other end of the Pa. Turnpike right now.

Another slow start: The Eagles are a notoriously slow starting team — just 17 first-quarter points after the first 13 weeks. As noted by my co-host Matt Williamson on the WDVE pregame show, Philadelphia is scoring 1.3 offensive points in the first quarter of games this season. That ranks 792nd of 796 offenses since 2000.

However, the Steelers usually struggle mightily in the first quarter, too. And Sunday was no different. Arthur Smith’s offense managed a touchdown in just three of 13 first quarters entering this week’s game.

In Philly, that trend continued as the Steelers were able to post just one field goal over the first 15 minutes, despite the Eagles fumbling twice, including one by Cooper DeJean on a punt return that set up the Steelers offense at Philly’s 11-yard line.

BIG PLAY BY SPECIAL TEAMS ‼️

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That possession ended up with a three-and-out and a short Chris Boswell field goal.

The Steelers didn’t generate a first down until there were nine minutes left in the first half. Through their first 15 plays, the Steelers netted just 11 yards.

As it did last week early against Cleveland, the Steelers offense looked completely baffled in the passing game without Pickens in the rotation. Russell Wilson’s longest pass of the first half was 17 yards to Ben Skowronek.

Tackling trauma: The Steelers have been one of the better tackling teams in the NFL this season. Pro Football Focus had them rated second best in that category, behind only New England heading into this week.

But it was not a strong point against Philadelphia. Before leaving the game with a second-quarter injury, Jackson missed a tackle on A.J. Brown and was placed in the spin cycle by Kenneth Gainwell.

On Philly’s first touchdown drive in the first quarter, Watt and Patrick Queen missed tackles on the same play when quarterback Jalen Hurts kept the ball on an option read. Then, Minkah Fitzpatrick failed to bring down Saquon Barkley in the open field on the next snap.

Gainwell also split Queen and Porter in the flat on a crucial catch-and-run on a third down in the red zone.

“There were several possession downs on defense where we had opportunities to tackle ball carriers in the flat, and we missed those tackles,” coach Mike Tomlin said after the game.

“That produced extended drives and thus points.”

In all, Philadelphia put up 401 yards in total offense. The Steelers defense helped with some of that.

Ask, and you shall receive: After a week of hearing about how the Eagles passing game was struggling and the wide receivers needed to be more involved, there were no such problems against the Steelers defense. Hurts hit 12 of his first 13 passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns with one sack.

Brown ended up with eight catches and 110 yards with a touchdown. Devonta Smith notched 109 yards on 11 receptions with a touchdown.

The Steelers did better against the receivers when Barkley was out for a chunk of the game with an apparent injury, and they could focus more on the pass. But Hurts and his pass catchers were good enough, winding up with 290 yards through the air.

“We have to find ways to get off (the field),” Watt said via the “Steelers Xtra Point Show” on KDKA-plus. “We weren’t good enough today. There were a lot of long drives.”

Brown also made a huge third-down catch in the fourth quarter when the Eagles were pinned near their own goal line.

Massive mistake: The Steelers got within 17-13 at halftime. But they allowed a field goal on the third quarter’s first drive.

Arthur Smith’s offense had a good answer, though. Russell Wilson hit a 31-yard flea flicker to Calvin Austin on the team’s first snap of the third quarter.

Steelers pull off the flea flicker ????

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Unfortunately, three snaps later, the Steelers committed a rare turnover. They ran a pitch to Najee Harris, and he fumbled it. Darius Slay picked up the loose ball and killed the Steelers’ drive.

Eagles come up with the fumbled pitch

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The Steelers had just 11 turnovers coming into the game. Only five teams had fewer. However, that miscue was huge.

Not only did Slay’s recovery abort a threatening Steelers drive, but the Eagles kept it for the next 6 1/2 minutes. They marched 13 plays and 74 yards for a touchdown to make it 27-13.

Where was the run?: The run game didn’t help at all, totaling just 56 yards. Meanwhile, Philadelphia racked up 131 yards even though Barkley was limited to 19 carries.

Harris led the team in rushing with only 14 yards. That led to a significant disparity in time of possession. The Steelers held onto the ball for only 20 minutes, 8 seconds, as Philly went 10 for 17 on third downs and converted their only fourth down while the Steelers were just 3 for 10 on third downs. They were 1 for 12 in their last visit to Lincoln Financial Field two years ago.

“We had so many third-and-longs. We’ve got to be successful on first and second down to get positive plays,” Wilson said. “They did a good job. They are a good football team. We’ve got to tip our hats. They played way better than us. It’s unacceptable. We’ve got to be sharper.”

Another reason that time of possession stat was so skewed was that Tomlin made the decision to punt with 10:40 left, down 27-13, on the Eagles’ 46-yard line.

The Steelers never got the ball back, and the Eagles went on a painful 21-play drive that covered 88 yards and the final 10:29 of the game, taking a knee to end the game.