Cheat Sheet: Steelers vs. Eagles

SERIES HISTORY

Dating back to 1933, these cross-state rivals have met 81 times. There are three ties in this series. Philadelphia has won 49 of the remaining 78 matchups. There has been only one postseason meeting between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, an Eagles’ divisional playoff win. Before 1940, before Pittsburgh was even the Steelers, Philadelphia won six of those 13 meetings over the then-Pirates. The most recent six meetings have gone back in forth without winning streaks, but the Eagles did win the most recent meeting in 2022. Between 1964 and 2000, the Eagles won 13 of 17. And between a stretch starting in 1947 and finishing in 1954, the Eagles were 13-2. But during World War II when these two franchises combined forces in 1943, the Steagles were 5-4-1. That was that Philadelphia’s first winning season as a professional football team. The Eagles do have a 10-game winning streak at home against Pittsburgh, however. Mike Tomlin is 2-3 against the Eagles.

MATCHUP OVERVIEW

• Pittsburgh is 10-3 on a two-game winning streak and has won seven of its last eight. The Eagles are 11-2 and have won nine in a row, tying the longest streak in their history. Philadelphia is 5-1 at home. The Steelers are 2-1 out of conference and 5-2 on the road. The Eagles are 4-0 against the AFC. After this game against the Steelers, Philadelphia finishes the season with three-straight NFC East contests.
• The Eagles are 7-1 in one score games. Pittsburgh is 6-3.
• Russell Wilson is 6-1 as the Steelers’ starting quarterback. Over his career, including the postseason, Wilson is 6-0 against the Eagles and 4-0 in Philadelphia. He now has 73 career games with multiple touchdowns passes in a game without an interception. That ties him with Peyton Manning for fifth all-time.
• The Eagles have outscored their opponents by 108 points, while Pittsburgh has a plus-85 point differential. Detroit and Buffalo are the only teams with a better differential than the Eagles while the Steelers sit at fifth.
• Pittsburgh and the Bills are tied atop the league with a plus-17 turnover differential. The Eagles are at plus-4. Pittsburgh’s 28 takeaways lead the NFL, and their 15 interceptions is third-best. No team has more than the Steelers’ 13 fumble recoveries. The Eagles and Steelers have each turned the ball over 11 times. Only five offenses are better. Philadelphia has thrown five interceptions. The Steelers have thrown four. Only the Ravens (3) and Chargers (1) have fewer. The Steelers have a four-game streak going with three or more takeaways and were plus-2 last week. Philadelphia has caused 22 fumbles but has only recovered seven.
• The Steelers have allowed a league-low 10 points off turnovers. Pittsburgh has scored 85 points off opponents’ turnovers, third-highest.
• Pittsburgh possessed the ball for exactly 30 minutes last week, while the Eagles only had the football for 26:27. Still, the Steelers lead the NFL in time of possession at 32:29 and Philadelphia is fourth at 31:39. At home, that shoots up to 32:23 for the Eagles, but Pittsburgh averages a league-best 33:19 on the road.
• Since Week 6, the Steelers and Eagles both rank in the top four in wins/losses, point differential, turnover margin and average time of possession.
• Since Wilson took over as starting quarterback, the Steelers have averaged a league-high 5.6 plays per game resulting in 20-plus yards. Since its Week 5 bye, Philadelphia is allowing the fewest such plays (2.0) per game.
• The Eagles (43.5%) are the only team passing the ball at a lower clip than Pittsburgh (48.4%). Philadelphia is at 38.7% over its past three games and is 42.3% at home. The Steelers are at 46.9% on the road.
• Pittsburgh and Philadelphia each have 14 passing touchdowns. Only four teams have fewer.
• Philadelphia has scored 16 more touchdowns than it has given up and has 39 more first downs. The Eagles generate 1.8 more yards per pass attempt and have 1,101 more rushing yards than allowed, averaging .9 yards more per carry. They also have 16 more rushing touchdowns. The Eagles are plus-85.7 in total yards per game.
• The Steelers have 527 more rushing yards than they have allowed. They also have 147 more rushing attempts.
• The Steelers run 65.3 plays per game, third-most. Pittsburgh’s opponents average the 29^th most snaps per game.
• Since 1990, all 78 teams that have started the season 10-3 have made the playoffs.
• Per EPA, the Steelers have faced the easiest slate of offenses thus far. The Eagles have faced the easiest slate of defenses. Starting with this game, Pittsburgh will face the most difficult slate of offenses. Based off current records, only the Bears have a more difficult finish to the season than Pittsburgh.
• The Steelers clinch a playoff berth this week with a win in Philadelphia or losses by Miami and Indianapolis. The Eagles clinch their division with a win vs. Pittsburgh and a Commanders loss. Philadelphia has already clinched a playoff berth.
• The Eagles are the only team Pittsburgh has not beaten on the road during the Super Bowl era. The Steelers haven’t won in Philadelphia since 1965.

WHEN PITTSBURGH HAS THE BALL

• Pittsburgh averages 5.2 yards per play, but over their past three games that number jumps to 5.9. Philadelphia’s defense leads the league at 4.7. The Steelers created 4.3 yards per play last week, while Philadelphia gave up just 4.4.
• Philadelphia’s defense allows 284.2 yards per game, best in the league.
• Since their Week 5 bye, the Eagles defense is allowing a league-low 1.29 points per drive.
• The Steelers have put points on the board in 32 of their last 34 quarters.
• The Eagles defense allows a set of downs to turn into a new set of downs or a touchdown at a 68% rate. Only the Texans and Browns defenses are better.
• Pittsburgh uses 13 Personnel at the league’s highest rate (16.6%) and is 26^th in usage of 11 Personnel (47.0%). However, opposing offenses are attacking the Eagles with 11 Personnel at the league’s highest rate (72.6%). Philadelphia’s defense sees 12 Personnel (14.6%) and 13 Personnel (.7%) at the 25^th-highest rate.
• The Eagles allow 178.5 passing yards per game. Only the Titans allow less, and their 5.0 yards per play allowed is best in the league by half a yard over the second-best defense.
• Of the 41 passers with at least 100 pass attempts, Wilson ranks sixth in passing yards per game (254.9), fifth in yards per attempt (8.4), and fourth in deep throw percentage (15.0%).
• Wilson’s 2.64 average time to throw against the Browns was the quickest of his time in Pittsburgh. That is the second-straight week that Wilson has made that claim as the week before in Cincinnati the ball came out in 2.68 seconds.
• With George Pickens sidelined, eight different Steelers receivers caught a pass (nine were targeted) in Week 14, a week after 10 made a catch against Cincinnati. The wide receiver snap count (65 possible) was as follows: Van Jefferson (48), Scotty Miller (34), Calvin Austin (23), Ben Skowronek (20) and Mike Williams (19). Against Cleveland, no Steelers pass catcher had a better than 72% route share.
• Pat Freiermuth now has touchdown receptions in back-to-back games. Over his past three games, Freiermuth has been targeted 14 times, catching 13 of them for 175 yards for 13.5 yards per reception.
• Philadelphia gives up 5.9 yards per target to tight ends (fifth best), but has allowed a touchdown to a tight end in three of the past four games.
• The Eagles have given up 1,313 yards after the catch. Only the Commanders and Jets have given up fewer.
• Najee Harris has touched the ball 16 or more times in every game Wilson has started, touching it 16 times (all rushes) last week – his lowest during that stretch.
• Jaylen Warren has a streak of seven games in a row with 55 or more scrimmage yards. As a receiver, he is averaging 8.2 yards per catch, 1.52 yards per route run, and 9.1 yards after the catch this year – all career highs. Last week, Warren received a season-high 15.4% target share and went over a 50% snap share for the second time in the last three games.
• The Eagles only recorded one sack against Carolina. Philadelphia blitzes on 18.8% of opposing dropbacks. Only three defenses blitz at a lower rate. But since Week 6, the Eagles defense has 31 sacks, the most in the league.
• Pittsburgh is 26^th in pressure rate allowed. The Eagles defense is 26^th in pressure rate created.
• Zack Baun had three of the Eagles’ six tackles for loss last week. Jalen Carter had two.
• Pittsburgh utilizes play action on 28.7% of its dropbacks, the fourth-highest percentage in the league.
• The Eagles are allowing a third down conversion rate of 34.4%, fourth-best in the NFL.
• The Steelers no-huddle rate ranks fifth overall and third over the past four weeks.
• Cornerback Quinyon Mitchell has played 97% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps in his rookie season.

WHEN PHILADELPHIA HAS THE BALL

• The Eagles average 5.8 yards per play this season. Only eight offenses are better. Pittsburgh’s defense is at 5.3. Only seven defenses are better. The Steelers gave up 4.3 yards per play last week, while Philadelphia produced 5.2.
• The Eagles are scoring 1.3 offensive points in the first quarter of games this season. That ranks 792^nd of 796 offenses since 2000. But Philadelphia averages 9.4 points scored in the second quarter, fourth-most. In the third quarter, the Eagles average 6.7 which is seventh-most. They average 8.9 in the fourth, only behind Indianapolis. The Steelers are fifth-best in the second quarter (4.9) and best in league in the third quarter (1.2). Only the Lions (27.4) produce more points after the first quarter than Philadelphia (25.0), but the Steelers allow a league low 12.8 points in quarters two through four.
• Pittsburgh’s opponents are running the ball on 38% of their snaps. Only three defenses see a lower percentage of run plays.
• Only five offenses have scored more touchdowns than the Eagles (41).
• The Eagles convert a set of downs into a new set of downs or touchdowns at a 75% rate. Only six offenses are better. The Steelers allow a rate of 68%. Only the Texans and Browns are better.
• Philadelphia’s offense has gone six straight games with more rushing than receiving yardage. This is the only team in the league with more rushing than passing yards this season.
• Only the Patriots average fewer passing yards per game than Philadelphia (180.6), but their 190.5 rushing yards per game leads the NFL by over 11 yards.
• The Eagles use 12 Personnel at the NFL’s fourth-highest rate (31.9%). Pittsburgh’s defense sees 11 Personnel at the 10^th-highest rate (63.4%).
• Of the 41 passers with at least 100 pass attempts, Hurts ranks ninth in completion percentage (68.3%), seventh in yards per attempt (8.01), third in scramble yards (325) and has the highest average time to throw (2.90 seconds).
• Hurts averages 205.5 passing yards per game in the Eagles’ 11 wins, the fewest yards per game of any quarterback with six or more wins, and has averaged 135.0 yards per game over his past three games (all wins). He has three wins this year in games in which he has thrown for under 120 yards. Hurts averages just 7.2 pass attempts in the second half of games over his past nine games, by far the fewest in the league. That is only 65 second half pass attempts in Hurts’ last nine games.
• Hurts threw for a season-low 108 yards against Carolina, attempting just 21 passes. His average time to throw in that game was 3.47 seconds, his highest of the year. His 5.1 yards per attempt was also the lowest of the season, as was Hurts’ 5.6 air yards per attempt last week. The Panthers blitzed Hurts on 57% of his dropbacks and he finished six of 10 for 40 yards and four sacks when blitzed.
• Hurts hasn’t attempted 30 passes in a game since Week 4. From Week 1 to 4, he averaged 33 pass attempts per game. Since then, he averages 21.4.
• Since Week 6, Hurts has produced 23 touchdowns against just two giveaways.
• AJ Brown led the Eagles with only 43 receiving yards in Week 14. He hasn’t received double digit targets since Week 1, despite producing 3.15 yards per route run, which is only behind Puka Nacua and Nico Collins among wide receivers with 50-plus targets. Despite only appearing in 10 games, Brown has accounted for 32% of the Eagles’ receiving yards. Brown only averages 26.1 routes run per game, 66^th among wide receiivers. He has just 15 second-half targets in his last nine games. The Eagles are 10-0 in the games in which Brown has appeared.
• DeVonta Smith missed the past two games but returned against the Panthers. He played 100 percent of the Eagles passing plays. His 6.2 targets per game is the lowest of Smith’s career and has just 80 receiving yards over his past three games.
• Brown and Smith are the only two Eagles wide receivers with 125-plus receiving yards.
• With tight end Dallas Goedert out of the lineup, Grant Calcaterra played 53 of a possible 58 offensive snaps and ran 25 of a possible 27 routes. Goedert has missed four full games this season and was injured and left another very early. In those five contests, Calcaterra has route shares of 89%, 83%, 86%, 91%, and 89%. He has a 16% target share in those five games.
• The Steelers allow 6.3 yards per target to tight end, seventh-best in the NFL.
• Hurts threw four interceptions in the Eagles’ first two games of the season. He has thrown just one since.
• Hurts was sacked four times last week. His sack rate of 9.9% is the worst of his career and only better than DeShaun Watson, Will Levis and Caleb Williams.
• Hurts has been strip-sacked five times this season, second-most among all quarterbacks. TJ Watt and Nick Herbig (along with Myles Garrett) lead the NFL with three strip sacks apiece.
• Watt leads in the NFL in forced fumbles (5) and tackles for loss (17) and is second in quarterback hits (25).
• Only the Ravens average more yards per carry than Philadelphia (5.2) and the Eagles’ 25 rushing touchdowns leads the NFL, as does their runs of 10-plus yards (64). Their 2.41 rushing yards before first contact is only behind Baltimore. The Steelers allow 91.5 rushing yards per game, fourth-best, and 4.1 yards per carry, tied for sixth-best. Pittsburgh’s defense has allowed 32 runs of 10-plus yards, the fifth-fewest.
• Philadelphia ran for 209 yards last week (6.7 yards per carry), 124 from Saquon Barkley, who averaged 6.2. Barkley (1,623) passed LeSean McCoy for most rushing yards in a season in Eagles history. Barkley is on pace for a single-season record 2,122 rushing yards. He has a four-game streak going with 100-plus rushing yards and has a league-leading nine such games this season. Barkley has received 20-plus carries in six of his last nine games. His 6.1 yards per carry leads the NFL. Barkley has been tackled on the 1-yard line 11 times this season.
• The Steelers allow 4.0 yards per carry against the running back position, eighth-best and has only allowed one 100-yard rusher this season.
• Hurts is averaging 10 yards per scramble, the highest of his career, and picking up first downs on 56% of his scrambles (also the best of his career). His 13 rushing touchdowns is tied with Derrick Henry for the league lead. Hurts is the first quarterback in history with multiple seasons with 13 or more rushing touchdowns.
• Opposing run games are attacking the Steelers between the tackles at the league’s highest rate (54.6%).
• The Eagles’ 43.4% third-down conversion rate is eighth-best, and they are converting 51.2% over the past three games. Pittsburgh held the Browns to 2 of 13 on third downs in Week 14, which brings them to 32.5% for the season – second-best behind the Lions.

SPECIAL TEAMS

• Jake Elliott is now 0 for 5 on field goal attempts of 50-plus yards, including a miss of 52 last week. He also missed an extra point in that game but a Carolina penalty on the play allowed the Eagles to go for a two-point conversion.
• Chris Boswell has made 11 field goals of 50-plus yards, tied for second-most in a season in NFL history. Boswell is now the third kicker in NFL history with 35-plus made field goals in three or more seasons. He leads the NFL with 36 field goals and 137 points scored.

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

Nov. 12, 2000: Eagles 26, Steelers 23, Three Rivers Stadium

This isn’t an easy series to find the most memorable moment-mostly because so many of the matchups took place so very long ago. This was probably the most painful Steelers loss in the series. The Eagles were down 23-13 in the fourth quarter with first year full-time starting quarterback Donovan McNabb at the helm. Philadelphia had under 100 yards of offense at the point and McNabb was struggling. McNabb caught fire and the Eagles recovered an onside kick to complete the comeback in a game that Jerome Bettis dominated with 134 yards on the ground. The Steelers’ 141 yards of penalties didn’t help their cause. The Steelers went on to miss the playoffs that year by a single win.

KEY MATCHUPS

Eagles RB Saquon Barkley vs. Steelers LB Patrick Queen – Barkley has had a remarkable season and is one of the best offseason free agent additions in the NFL. He could win Offensive Player of the Year or even League MVP. Barkley has fantastic balance and power, but his explosiveness and long speed are what can change a game on any given play. And he is an excellent receiving back. Of course, it will fall on all 11 Steelers defenders to slow him down, but Queen is a player that never leaves the field and has the great athletic traits on combat Barkley.

Steelers RG Mason McCormick vs. Eagles DT Jalen Carter – In just his second NFL season, Carter is already one of the league’s best interior defensive linemen. He has had a dominant sophomore season and is the straw that stirs the drink for Philadelphia’s excellent defense. A true 3-Technique in terms of skillset, Carter predominantly aligns on the outside shoulder of the right guard, but the Eagles will move him around. Wherever Carter lines up, getting two big bodies on him must be the goal for the Steelers. Carter has played 50-plus snaps in four-straight games, after one such game in the first nine games of the season. He had two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits last week.