Pittsburgh Steelers tight ends Eric Ebron and Vance McDonald have been fairly productive in the team’s first three games as they have combined to catch 14 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown. On Sunday at Heinz Field against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Steelers tight end duo figure to add to those statistical totals, and possibly quite considerably.
The Eagles defense has struggled against tight ends so far this season and with the unit losing starting linebacker T.J. Edwards to Reserve/Injured this past week with a hamstring injury, we could see quite a few favorable matchups for Ebron or McDonald or even both on Sunday at Heinz Field and especially on early run downs.
Linebacker Alex Singleton, a former undrafted free agent out of Montana State, is likely to be the player asked to fill in for Edwards in the Eagles defense against the Steelers on Sunday. While Singleton did have a pick-6 against the San Francisco 49ers after taking over for an injured Edwards in that contest, it was very much a gift.
The two Eagles linebackers most likely to be on the field on passing downs on Sunday are Nathan Gerry and Duke Riley. Those two, according to Pro Football Focus, have already been targeted 30 times this season and they have allowed a combined 26 receptions for 310 yards and 3 touchdowns. While not all those receptions allowed by Gerry and Riley were to tight ends, quite a few of them were.
Collectively, the Eagles defense has allowed opposing tight ends to 26 passes for 276 yards and 5 touchdowns in the team’s first four games. In their Week 4 road game, the Eagles defense allowed San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle to catch 15 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown. Against the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the season, the Eagle defense gave up 5 receptions for 54 yards and 3 touchdowns to tight end Tyler Higbee and you can see all three below.
The Eagles will likely play quite a bit of man-coverage on Sunday to closely guard the Steelers talented wide receivers. When they do that, that should present some favorable matchups for the Ebron or McDonald or both against either a linebacker or a safety. Ebon is essentially a wide receiver that plays tight end so he specifically could wind up feasting on the Eagles defense on Sunday and especially when the Steelers offense gets inside the red zone.
Ebron had his best game as a Steeler in Week 3 against the Houston Texans as the former first-round draft pick out of North Carolina had 5 receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown in the team’s 28-21 home win.
