How the Eagles’ stingy defense stopped Russell Wilson and the Steelers
Wilson was held to just 128 passing yards as the opportunistic Eagles limited explosive plays and came up with turnovers and key stops.
Darius Slay entered Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers hellbent on giving Russell Wilson, in more crude terms, a butt-whooping.
The 33-year-old cornerback still shudders at the thought of his matchup against DK Metcalf in 2020 when the Eagles faced the Wilson-led Seattle Seahawks in Week 12. Pass after pass, Wilson took his signature deep shots to Metcalf, who racked up 158 yards on eight receptions solely against Slay on his 177-yard day, according to Pro Football Focus.
Wilson may be on a different team now, but the seasoned Slay understood what the 36-year-old quarterback was capable of in the passing game.
“I’m making sure his [butt] don’t throw a deep ball on me no more this year,” Slay said after the game.
Slay was true to his word. In the Eagles’ 27-13 victory over the Steelers, Slay and the rest of the defense limited Wilson to just 107 net passing yards, his lowest total of the season. The Steelers only generated one explosive passing play on flea flicker to Calvin Austin for 31 yards with Zack Baun in coverage.
Going into the game, the Steelers lacked top receiver George Pickens for a second straight week due to a hamstring injury. Still, the Eagles made it a point of emphasis to take away those deep shots from Wilson, with the knowledge that he still had talented receivers at his disposal with whom he could connect on those plays.
“We were doing a good job disguising coverages,” Baun said. “Holding the safeties so they didn’t know what we were in or what we were doing. Obviously, he’s a veteran guy and he’s looking for all the tips that he can. I saw him try to ID me a couple times and try to get the coverage and I think we did a great job disguising.”
» READ MORE: Eagles grades: Nick Sirianni kept the team focused vs. Steelers amid drama, and the passing game thrived
Wilson failed to find a rhythm early in the contest. The Steelers offense went three-and-out on its first two possessions of the game, highlighted by Nolan Smith deflecting a pass at the line of scrimmage on third-and-8 on the second drive.
But the Steelers nabbed opportunities to shift the momentum by forcing a pair of fumbles late in the first quarter, first on Jalen Hurts and immediately afterwards on a Cooper DeJean punt return. The Eagles defense stood tall on the first Steelers fumble recovery and forced them to go three-and-out once more, underscored by another batted ball at the line of scrimmage by Milton Williams on second down and a sack from Josh Sweat on third down for his team-leading eighth of the year.
A fortunate break for the Eagles on the Steelers possession following the second fumble recovery helped limit Pittsburgh to a field goal. On the first play of the drive, a 7-yard run for Najee Harris from the Eagles’ 11-yard line, tight end Darnell Washington blocked Slay into the stands behind the end zone. Slay took a swing at Washington and a skirmish ensued.
The cornerback got away with it. The officials called a pair of unnecessary roughness penalties against Washington and Austin that backed the Steelers up from the 4-yard line to the 19, where they eventually settled for a 37-yard field goal.
“I thought it would be some kind of ejections coming there, boy, ‘cause it was getting hectic real quick,” Slay said. “So, thankful that we didn’t, though. They let us get a little hockey moment in.”
The Eagles clamped down on turnovers following the two fumbles and even forced one of their own late in the third quarter when the Steelers were trailing by a touchdown just outside of the red zone. Harris dropped a pitch from Wilson and Slay fell on the loose ball.
Despite the Steelers’ plus-1 turnover differential, the Eagles defense compensated with its stingy play.
“We just had that put-that-ball-down mentality,” Reed Blankenship said. “Wherever it is, we know we’ve got to do our job and not let them score. Who cares? You can’t go in with the mentality, ‘Oh, we’ve got to hold them at the 10-yard line.’ It don’t matter. If we had to go in and then hold them at the 1-yard line, we’ll do all we can.”
The Steelers nearly had one final opportunity to claw back late in the fourth quarter, but another break fell the Eagles’ way. On the fourth-and-7 Steelers punt, Jalen Carter swatted at tight end Connor Heyward’s head just before the ball came off of punter Chris Boswell’s foot.
Initially, the officials gave Carter a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty that would result in an automatic first down, bringing the Steelers offense back on the field. However, the officials decided that Carter’s infraction came after the punt, so the Eagles offense backed up half the distance to the goal line instead.
Nick Sirianni had an animated exchange with Carter on the sideline in the aftermath of the play that required some mediation from defensive line coach Clint Hurtt and chief security officer Dom DiSandro.
“He made a play that is not part of our standard,” Sirianni said of Carter, who wasn’t available for comment. “And so my job is to correct that, regardless of what it is.”
From the lucky breaks to the big plays, the Eagles defense held the Steelers to 163 total yards (107 passing and 56 rushing), which is its lowest output in a game since 2010 (127 yards against the Tennessee Titans). The game serves as another feather in the cap for Vic Fangio’s defense, which is the only group in the league to hold three opponents to under 175 total yards in a game this season (including 119 against the New York Giants and 146 agains the Dallas Cowboys).
Another game, another resounding effort from an Eagles defense that has yet to hit its ceiling, according to Blankenship.
“If we can be a dominant defense and do the right things right, then I feel like we’re unstoppable,” Blankenship said.