The Pittsburgh Steelers could not break their winless steak in Philadelphia against the Eagles as they fell 27-13 on Sunday. The Steelers offense as about as inept as it could be in the first quarter, and the defense could not get off the field in the second half. Despite these enormous problems, the Steelers were on the cusp of tying the game in the third quarter.

So without further ado, here are some of the numbers involved in the Steelers Week 15 loss to the Eagles.

+1

The Philadelphia Eagles had only turned the ball over three times in their previous nine games heading into their matchup with the Steelers. Getting one turnover at all for the Steelers was going to be a pretty big task, and the Steelers managed to get two. Unfortunately, it took stacking those takeaways one right after the other to squeeze out three points. What ultimately did them in was their one turnover which took at least 3 points off the board as the Steelers were in field goal range, and the Eagles turned it into 7 points. So although the Steelers came out +1 on the turnover margin, they finished -4 on points off turnovers.

2

The Steelers first quarter offensive production was such a slow start it was embarrassing even for a team that would be last place in the NFL. The Steelers managed only 2 net yards in the entire first quarter on 13 offensive plays. The Steelers had 5 rushing yards and -3 net passing yards based on giving up an 11-yard sack. The Steelers had more points (3) and penalties (3) in the first quarter then they did yards, and an equal number of takeaways.

2

As much as the Steelers first quarter is to blame, so is there offensive production in the second half. But for this case, it was an entire team effort. The Steelers only had two possessions in the entire second half. Although the Steelers averaged 7.5 yards per play and 4 first down from their 11 plays in the final 30 minutes, a turnover on the first drive and a questionable 15-yard penalty on the second killed their chances to put points on the board. Unfortunately, the defense could not get the necessary stops which allowed the Eagles to possess the ball for 24:10 in the second half.

131

Despite the Eagles running 77 offensive plays on Sunday, the Steelers did slow down the NFL’s best rushing attack. The Eagles rushed the ball 42 times for 131 yards which came to a 3.1 yards per carry average. With the Eagles averaging over 190 yards rushing per game, the Steelers held them to their third lowest total of the season. Unfortunately, it was still enough to constantly continue drives. Additionally, some will point out that Saquon Barkley was banged up in the game and missed some time, he still had 19 carries which was only one less than what he had the previous week and just behind his 20.5 average coming into the game and was his second fewest yards (65) of the season.

219

A big reason the Eagles were able to sustain drives despite having a lower output rushing than normal is because they had two receivers go over 100 receiving yards in the game. A.J. Brown had 110 receiving yards on 8 receptions and a touchdown while DeVonta Smith had 109 yards on 11 receptions and a touchdown. With the players combining for 219 yards, the Eagles finished with 270 net passing yards which was their second highest of the 2024 season.

21:01

Although it was already noted before with the Steelers first quarter yardage total, it took them entirely too long to get going in this game. In fact, it was more than 21 minutes into the game before the Steelers had their first first down which came with 8:59 remaining in the second quarter. It wasn’t until the Steelers sixth drive of the game and their 16th offensive play (not including their field goal) that they had a first down. So the Steelers had already completed more than 50% of their drives in the game before achieving a first down.

10:29

While the Steelers offense couldn’t do anything for the first 20 minutes, the Steelers defense couldn’t do anything for the last 10. When the Eagles received the ball with 10:29 remaining in the game, they never relinquished possession as the defense simply could not get a stop to get off the field. The “bend but don’t break“ defense when trailing by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter ultimately did the Steelers in because the Eagles did not finish the drive with points because they did not need to. Instead, the Eagles ran 21 plays and they converted 4 third downs and a fourth down along three players of 19 yards or more.

1

The Steelers only forced one punt in the entire game when they held the Eagles to a three and out inside the final two minutes of the first half. Of the Eagles nine drives in the game, one ended in a turnover, one in a punt, two either ended the half or the game, and the rest ended in scores.

5-60

Seeing a stat line for the Steelers of 5 penalties for 60 yards does not look to be a big issue. And while a number of these penalties were highly questionable, they also came at key moments which cost the Steelers greatly. Despite two players from Philadelphia throwing punches in the fracas in the end zone, the Steelers were the only team penalized and it took them from being 2nd & 3 at the Eagles 4-yard line back to 2nd & 18 from the 19-yard line. Additionally, the questionable tripping call (I have yet to see a replay that he actively moved in a motion to intentionally trip the defender) on Zach Frazier in the second half set the Steelers back 15 yards and ultimately did in another promising drive.

0

There are a number of Steelers fans did not expect to win this game, yet are very frustrated by the outcome. Personally, I was looking more for the Steelers to play on a similar level to their opponents in a close game that may or may not go their way. Although with 6:00 left in the third quarter it looked as if the Steelers were on their way to tie the game, ultimately the game got out of hand as the Steelers suffered their most lopsided defeat of the season and did not get another tally in the wind column. Even though they qualified for the postseason, the Steelers now sit at 10–4 with extremely important games on the horizon to ultimately determine their playoff position.

So there are some numbers to help put the Steelers Week 15 loss in perspective. Even though the Steelers locked in a playoff spot, they did not have what it took on Sunday to win on the road against one of the top teams in the NFL.

So what numbers from Sunday’s game stand out to you? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.