Through eight defensive snaps Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers could not have been more pleased with how well it was shutting down the Philadelphia Eagles. The defense forced a pair of “three-and-outs,” and the Eagles were at minus-2 yards of offense and facing the specter of a third consecutive drive without a first down to start the game.
Then, Miles Sanders burst for a 74-yard touchdown. From there, the Steelers couldn’t stop the Eagles. Philadelphia converted 10 consecutive third downs and did not punt the remainder of the game.
“Their ability to convert third downs offensively, I thought was a significant component of the game,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “Some of it was self-inflicted by us in penalties and missed tackles and so forth. You’ve got to give their guys credit. They had a good plan, good execution of the plan, and that allowed them to maintain possession of the ball and keep us at bay and stay in it.”
10 in a row by the Eagles
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) October 11, 2020
TEN! in a row! https://t.co/aMlubQdbiS
To the Steelers’ credit, they intercepted Carson Wentz twice in the second half, and they made a stand inside their 40 yard-line with less than 4 minutes to go, forcing a missed 57-yard field goal by Jake Elliott. The end result was a 38-29 Steelers victory.
But between stuffing the Eagles on their first two and their last two third-down plays Sunday, Philadelphia ran off 10 in a row. The first downs were converted by five players on rushes or passes ranging in yards-to-go from 1 (twice) to nine or more yards (four times). Two resulted in touchdowns. Five of the 10 conversions were completed passes to Travis Fulgham that totaled 82 yards and a touchdown.
“It was a hodge-podge of things,” Tomlin said.
“They had guys like (Fulgham) stepping up and making combat catches. We had guys in position. They made some plays. They made some plays on the football. Carson (Wentz) made some throws. He stood in there in the face of adversity and made some throws. I don’t want to discredit them entirely.
“Could we be better? Certainly. We had a roughing the passer. We gave up the ball down the middle on a long yardage situation. We had things we need to focus on and do better, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t compliment them for their plan and also execution of the plan in some of the areas that I mentioned.”
The Steelers entered Sunday with one of the NFL’s highest-rated defenses. It allowed the most points it had over any of their past 18 games since the 2019 season opener, a 33-3 loss to the New England Patriots.
“We’ll clean it up, watch the film later,” cornerback Steven Nelson said. “We got the win. That’s all that matters.”
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