As we’ve been doing for many years now, we’ll break down the Pittsburgh Steelers’ opponent each week, telling you what to expect from a scheme and individual player standpoint. Like last year, Josh Carney and I will cover the opposing team’s offense. I will focus on the scheme, Josh on the players. Today, our scouting report on the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense.
Alex’s Scheme Report
Eagles’ Pass Game
The Eagles’ offense is arguably the best in football, even better than the Baltimore Ravens. They’re the No. 1 rushing offense in yards per game at a whopping 190.5. The next-closest team sits at 179.1 yards, more than 10 yards behind. If the Eagles’ number holds, it’ll be the best since the 2020 Ravens.
Running the ball is their theme. Early and often. On the year, they have 473 rushing attempts, most in football. Pittsburgh is second with 438. Philadelphia’s yards also pace the league at 2,476 for the season while its 5.2 YPC are second best and its 25 rushing touchdowns lead the NFL.
As a team, the Eagles’ 64 runs gaining 10-plus yards are the NFL’s most. Their 19 runs of 20-plus yards are second to Baltimore while their six runs of 40-plus yards lead the league.
Of course, the lead back is Saquon Barkley. Authoring an incredible season, he could be a triple-crown winner. He leads the NFL with 265 carries and 1,623 yards while also leading the league at 6.1 yards per carry. The only category he’s shy in is rushing touchdowns with 11, trailing teammate and QB Jalen Hurts.
If Barkley can win the triple crown in rushes, yards, and touchdowns, he’ll be one of three players to do so since 1995. Derrick Henry did it in 2019 and 2020 while Emmitt Smith did so in 1995. Barkley has 37 runs of 10-plus yards, six more than anyone else in football (the Detroit Lions’ Jahmyr Gibbs is second with 31).
Barkley is on the field 74 percent of the time. He has eight games with 20 or more carries, the most in football.
Don’t forget about Hurts, either, in the run game. He has 113 carries for 544 yards and 13 touchdowns on the season. He’s had seven or more attempts in every game this season and double digits in seven contests. He’s best-known for short yardage and the Tush Push the team still uses in crucial moments. Hurts has 34 rushes on plays needing 1 yard this year, tied with the Los Angeles Rams’ Kyren Williams for the most in the NFL. No one else has more than 24.
The Eagles run a ton. They have toted the rock on 63.8 percent of their plays across the first three quarters (eliminating the fourth quarter to avoid garbage time). That’s the highest rate in football. For comparison, the run-heavy Steelers have done so 58 percent of the time over the same span.
Talking scheme. Like to use pistol, especially early. Opened with it the last two weeks and ran gap/power with two pullers in both instances.
They pair that well with their BASH concept. Standing for “back away,” the back runs opposite the pullers or the quarterback can keep and run behind them. Those come on 1st and 10 or 2nd and long.
They like using jet motion on their split-zone scheme, sending a man in motion up the hole on the snap. It’s become a popular concept across the league this season.
Of course, in short-yardage moments, they’ll use the Tush Push and jam Hurts over the marker. Nothing new there. Alert QB draw and designed runs on 3rd 1-5. Draw and power are core calls.
Some other stats. The Eagles are eight in scoring with 26.3 PPG. They’ve scored at least 20 points in nine straight games and for the season, they have put up 30-plus four times. They’re seventh in yards per game at 371.1. Philadelphia has a positive turnover differential at plus-four (tied for ninth best) and has turned it over just 11 times this season (tied for sixth best). They have just three turnovers in their last nine games, concentrated to two games, and have a clean sheet in four-straight.
On first down, the Eagles are excellent. Generating 6.7 yards per play, second in the league only behind the Ravens. The Steelers are in last at 4.3 yards. In more situational ball, they are the No. 8 third-down offense (43.4 percent) and ninth in the red zone (59.2 percent).
Eagles’ Pass Game
Hurts is having a career-year in a couple categories: 68.3-percent completion rate, 4.9-percent touchdown rate, 8.0 YPA (tied for best) while he’s second-best in 1.5-percent interception rate and his 6.8 ANY/A. He’s been clutch, too. Hurts has three fourth-quarter comebacks and four game-winning drives. He has 16 touchdowns to five picks.
If you’re wondering, ex-Steeler Kenny Pickett has three pass attempts this season.
WR A.J. Brown is the team’s top receiver. He has just 48 receptions in this run-heavy attack that’s easily last in passing attempts with 328. But he’s averaging 17.5 yards per catch with 836 total yards with four touchdowns. Targeted just four times in the Eagles’ narrow win over the Carolina Panthers last Sunday, Brown wasn’t happy with his involvement, and I’d expect him to be used a ton in this game. He has just one touchdown since Week 4.
DeVonta Smith has 45 receptions for 553 yards and five touchdowns. Only four healthy players have at least 20 receptions and the team will be without top TE Dallas Goedert, out due to injury. That made the Eagles more of an 11 personnel team than 12 personnel team they were before.
Heavy RPO game with some examples below. Favorite concept is the Glance/Flat off a run call, hitting Brown on the slant. He’s a guy who can house it as he did in 2020 with the Tennessee Titans against the Steelers (coached by Steelers OC Arthur Smith at the time, by the way).
And alert bubbles to No. 3/No. 4, sometimes run as a swing lead.
They also like using Brown on 15-yard digs. Lots of schematics to get him the football when they do decide to throw. Heavy first-read player.
In a two-minute drill at the end of the first half against the Carolina Panthers, they used lots of in-breaking routes and mirrored concepts. They like working out of 2×2 formations to create balanced looks. Lots of smash/corner concepts, too.
Josh’s Individual Report
It’s Eagles week, Steelers fans!
Time for a state title game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Outside of the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals, the Philadelphia Eagles will be the best offense the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense will face all season. Led by star quarterback Jalen Hurts, and MVP candidate RB Saquon Barkley, the Eagles’ offense is rolling as the Eagles are 11-2 and have won nine straight games.
While Barkley is getting all of the attention — and rightfully so — Hurts is playing smart, mistake-free football. Though he’s under fire with some negative attention due to the A.J. Brown situation, Hurts is a great quarterback who operates very well within the Eagles’ offense.
He’s very good at RPOs and can use his legs well when plays break down, making the Eagles very, very difficult to defend.
He’s so smooth with his ball handling, and he makes quick, accurate throws that hit receivers in stride, allowing guys like Brown to create splash plays after the catch.
It’s not asking him to do much as far as throwing down the field, but timing and accuracy are massive in the RPO, and Hurts is very good at it.
The Eagles aren’t pushing the ball down the field all that much in the passing game, as everything seems rather quick, asking receivers like Browns and DeVonta Smith to create after the catch.
To their credit, they tend to do that at a high level.
With that, the Eagles’ pass protection is very good, but what makes Hurts so dangerous is he can extend plays with his legs, stressing coverage. When he’s on the move, he throws with great accuracy, too.
Hurts reads the field very well when on the move. He never drops his eyes and he’s always calm and collected when scanning while on the move, finding open guys and firing strikes for big plays.
While Hurts is a very good quarterback, this offense goes as Barkley goes.
Fortunately for Philadelphia, Barkley is on a serious roll this season. He’s a superstar and is the best running back in football, well above everyone else.
He has elite speed, his vision is top-notch, he runs hard behind his pads and can either run through defenders or around them. It’s so impressive to watch. Oh, and he has home-run ability.
Bottling up Barkley and keeping a lid on him will be key. Of course, every other opponent this season has tried to do just that, and Barkley has crushed it.
His vision and feel for timing and gaps in the run game are next level. He’s always working his way into daylight.
It certainly helps that Barkley has a great offensive line in front of him, but he is what makes this Eagles offense, particularly in the run game, arguably the best in football.
While Barkley is the straw that stirs the drink, the Eagles have two gamebreakers on the outside in Brown and Smith.
Brown is the big, physical specimen teams largely have no answer for. He’s having a down year based on limited targets — just over five targets per game — but he remains a gamebreaker who is making the most of his limited opportunities.
He’s a YAC monster, and he can win contested-catch situations at a high level. His work after the catch is remarkable, so the Steelers will have to be very sound tackling.
Smith, though smaller in stature than Brown and less physical, is sneaky good after the catch too, due to his speed.
He’s a savvy route runner who creates good separation and can win quickly in routes, leading to easy pitch and catches from Hurts.
The Eagles are limited behind Brown and Smith, though. Jahan Dotson is the next closest in receptions on the season at receiver with just 12, which is well behind the 48 and 45 from Brown and Smith, respectively.
Don’t expect much at receiver on Sunday behind the duo.
Tight end is a real concern for the Eagles with Dallas Goedert on IR. Grant Calcaterra has had a nice season but he’s more of a move TE who doesn’t provide the solid in-line blocking like Goedert did.
Fortunately for the Eagles, they have an elite OL, arguably the best in the game, one that controls the point of attack in the run game and is incredibly sound in pass protection.
Here’s how I expect them to line up left to right on Sunday:
LT — Jordan Mailata
LG — Landon Dickerson
C — Cam Jurgens
RG — Mekhi Becton
RT — Lane Johnson
That’s the best bookend tackle duo in football in Mailata and Johnson. Mailata should get All-Pro buzz this season. It’s a surprise he hasn’t in recent years because he’s been darn good. Johnson, when healthy, remains the best right tackle in football and is one of the best athletes to ever play along the OL.
On the interior, Dickerson is the tone-setter for Philadelphia while Becton has successfully transitioned to guard and has revitalized his career. That’s not a surprise as he’s working with Eagles OL coach Jeff Stoutland, who is the best OL coach in the business.
Jurgens has been great since taking over for Jason Kelce, who retired after the 2023 season. Hard to replace a future Hall of Famer, but the Eagles haven’t missed a beat.
Special teams are a concern for the Eagles, which could factor in on Sunday.
Kicker Jake Elliott has had his issues this season, missing a handful of kicks, which is unexpected because he’s been so steady over the years. Elliott has missed six kicks and is at a career-worst 75% FG conversion rate. He’s 0-for-5 from 50+ yards, which could affect how the Eagles call plays on third downs from that distance. We could see Philadelphia be more aggressive and go for it on fourth down in those situations.
Punter Braden Mann, a onetime Steeler, has had a great year, averaging 50.1 yards per punt on the season. He’s had 15 punts downed inside the 20-yard line but has had one punt blocked and has seen the Eagles’ coverage units give up 7.1 yards per return.
In the return game, Kenneth Gainwell, Will Shipley and Isaiah Rodgers split duties on kickoff returns. Gainwell handles the majority of the work there and has a 34-yard return on the season. He’s a shifty player with great speed, so the Steelers’ kickoff coverage unit will need to be sharp after allowing a 56-yard return to the Browns last Sunday.
Rookie Cooper DeJean is the Eagles’ punt returner. He was the most dangerous punt returner in college over the last two years at Iowa and has been solid for the Eagles so far this season, averaging 11.1 yards per punt return.
