The Philadelphia Eagles have now won nine straight games, though they are coming off of an unconvincing win over the Carolina Panthers. In Week 15 they'll face the AFC North-leading 10-3 Pittsburgh Steelers, who haven't had a losing season since 2003. Here are our five things to watch.
1) Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson vs. T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, Nick Herbig, and Preston Smith
The Eagles have the best offensive tackle duo in the NFL, and the Steelers have the best set of edge rushers in the NFL. This is the marquee matchup.
Watt is one of the best pass rushers... ever. He is only in his eighth season, and he is already up over 100 sacks for his career. He has been a First-Team All-Pro four times, and finished in the top three in Defensive Player of the Year voting four times, winning the award once, in 2021, when he had 22.5 sacks.
Watt is extremely athletic:
I mean, of course he's extremely athletic. He has 106 sacks in under 8 seasons! But he is also relentless:
Watt can rush from everywhere, but most commonly he rushes against opposing right tackles. Of course, Lane Johnson has consistently shut down elite edge rushers over the course of his career, and he's having one of his best seasons, even at the age of 34. Johnson is a rare player who can match Watt's athleticism:
Back in the NFC Championship Game following the 2022 season, I wondered if the 49ers would waste Nick Bosa by having him rush opposite Johnson all day. They did, and Bosa did nothing. Conversely, the Cowboys, for example, tend to move Micah Parsons around a little more against the Eagles, trying to get him more favorable matchups, a smarter approach.
It will be interesting to see if Watt will primarily line up against Johnson, or will the Steelers allow him to try to beat someone else? I imagine Watt is a prideful player and will relish the challenge of facing the best offensive tackle in the NFL, but, you know, that would be a dumb, in my opinion.
Otherwise, the Steelers have Highsmith, Herbig, and Smith, a trio of supporting edge rushers that a lot of teams would love to have as their top three guys. Those guys have combined for 12 sacks this season.
Oh, and then there's Cameron Heyward on the interior, who is still a beast in 2024 at 35 years of age, with 8 sacks. He'll be a big test for the interior guys.
2) A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith vs. the Steelers' cornerbacks
The Steelers have the No. 4 run defense in the NFL. They are allowing just 91.5 rushing yards per game. The Eagles are certainly capable of running the ball well against good run defenses, as they have consistently done in the past, and even very recently against the Ravens. They have leaned on their rushing attack, and for good reason, but it's also alarming that Jalen Hurts is averaging 135 passing yards per game over his last three games.
If the Steelers are able to slow down Saquon Barkley, the Eagles' passing offense is going to have to wake up. The Steelers are a middle of the pack passing defense, at least in terms of yards allowed per game (218.6), which ranks 17th. However, they lead the NFL in takeaways, with 28, because their stellar pass rush forces fumbles and pressures opposing quarterbacks into mistakes (and INTs).
Jalen Hurts is holding onto the ball for an eternity this season.
He cannot do that against this Steelers defense. If he gets the ball out on time, however, the Eagles should have matchup advantages on the outside with Brown and Smith against Joey Porter Jr. and Donte Jackson.
Porter is particularly vulnerable, as he is the grabbiest cornerback in the NFL. In 2023, he committed 12 penalties, 7 of which were either pass interference or defensive holding. In 2024, he has already committed 15 (!) penalties, 11 of which were either pass interference of defensive holding. His 15 penalties lead the league among defensive players. Lions CB Terrion Arnold (11 penalties) is the next-closest player.
Porter has also gone on a bit of a penalty spree of late, as he has committed a staggering 11 penalties since Week 10. He was flagged for pass interference or defensive holding five times against the Bengals Week 13.
It's notable that the officiating crew (Alan Eck's crew) assigned to Eagles-Steelers calls pass interference penalties at a low frequency relative to other crews.
3) The Eagles' run defense vs. the Steelers' rushing attack
Russell Wilson will likely be without his top target, George Pickens, who Mike Tomlin said is "doubtful" for this matchup. Pickens has 55 catches for 850 yards (15.5 YPC) and 3 TDs on the season. The next-closest player to Pickens in receiving yards is TE Pat Freiermuth, with 470.
If indeed Pickens is out, the Steelers will lean heavily on their rushing attack, which they already do anyway:
Team Run percentage
Eagles 56.5%
Steelers 51.6%
Packers 50.8%
Ravens 50.5%
Lions 50.3%
Najee Harris is the Steelers' lead back, and he's a load at a listed height and weight of 6'1, 242. However, his numbers aren't super impressive. He has carried 223 times for 877 yards (3.9 YPC) and 5 TDs. By comparison, he has just 43 fewer carries than Saquon Barkley, but 746 fewer yards.
The Eagles' defense held another big (and much more talented) back in the Ravens' Derrick Henry to 82 yards on 19 carries.
4) Where might the Eagles go Feastin'™️ 🍗
The Steelers' offensive line currently looks like this:
LT LG C RG RT
Dan Moore Jr. Isaac Seumalo Zach Frazier Mason McCormick Broderick Jones
The left side is solid, and Frazier, a second-round rookie, is having a good initial season at center. The weakness of this line is on the right side.
• Troy Fautanu was the Steelers' first-round pick (20th overall) in 2024, and their Week 1 starter at RT. He dislocated his kneecap in his first professional game and will likely miss the rest of the season. Jones, also a first-round pick (14th overall, 2023) has filled in. PFF has Jones down for 8 sacks allowed this season. He also has 9 penalties.
• James Daniels began the season as the Steelers' starting RG. He is a solid veteran player. His season is over with an Achilles tear. McCormick, a fourth-round rookie out of South Dakota State, has filled in. He'll have to deal with Jalen Carter all day.
FeastinMeter™️: 6/10 turkey legs 🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗🍗
MORE: Zack Baun's All-Pro case, A.J. Brown's target share, more Eagles thoughts
5) Special teams
In recent years, the Eagles have had one of the best kickers in the NFL in Jake Elliott, and crappy punters. In 2024, Braden Mann has been a really good punter, and Elliott is having a down year. I don't know that there's much to analyze here other then that Eagles fans just have to hope Elliott starts making his kicks again. Maybe they should figure out a way to get Jason Peters back on the roster.
The Steelers, meanwhile, have the No. 2 ranked special teams units in the NFL, led by Danny Smith, who you have no doubt seen chewing like 8 pieces of gum whenever the Steelers are on TV.
"Yeah, Danny Smith, been in the league for a long time," Michael Clay said on Tuesday. "I think this is his 12th year with Pittsburgh. You see they play hard for him. They rush extremely hard. You've got Miles Killebrew, who's been doing it for a long time, Nick Herbig. They rush really hard and they play hard for Danny. They do a great job in terms of their scheme and their rushing, and believing they can change the course of a game. This is going to be a very, very good test for us going forward."
Killebrew has three blocked punts since signing with the Steelers in 2021:
"They've got great players," Clay said. "Calvin Austin is a great punt returner. They've got Cordarrelle Patterson, Killebrew. The list could go on. They’ve always done a great job. It's going to test us this week to be prepared and be on our Ps and Qs. It's going to be a physical game, and it's going to be one of those very similar to Baltimore where it's going to be coming down to maybe special teams having a huge impact on the game."
Austin housed a punt return against the Giants earlier this season.
Not mentioned was kicker Chris Boswell, who has made 65 of 70 (92.9%) field goal attempts the last two seasons, including 17 of 20 (85%) from 50+ while playing in one of the hardest stadiums on kickers in the NFL.
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