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In one of two games this Sunday between teams with at least ten wins, the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers will take the field in the City of Brotherly Love in what should be one of the most competitive matchups in the Battle for Pennsylvania, a seldom-seen in-state rival game that dates back to 1933. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh both lead their divisions, and both teams are still in the hunt for the top seed in their respective conferences.
Of all of the X's and O's matchups there are to get excited about in this one, watching how Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts performs against the star-studded defense of the Steelers will perhaps be the most telling in regards to the outcome of the game. Hurts, who threw for a career-high 3,858 yards last season, is 26 yards per game below his 2023 average this year, and he hasn't thrown for over 250 yards in a game since October 13th.
In the eight games since that last game with over 250 yards, Hurts has thrown for just 176 yards per game. Perhaps it's not a coincidence that in those eight games, MVP candidate Saquon Barkley is averaging 142.6 rushing yards per game, and has topped 100 yards in all but one of those eight games.
However, against a Steelers defense that is 4th in the league in rush yards allowed, Philadelphia can't afford to be one-dimensional. That means Jalen Hurts is going to have to find his form early and often, and according to ESPN's NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, that's exactly what the gameplan is.
“Expect the Eagles to establish a rhythm for quarterback Jalen Hurts early in their game against the Steelers, possibly with some quick-game throws and easily defined reads,” Fowler wrote on Saturday morning. “The Steelers will be loosely prepared for that, while still expecting a rather large workload for running back Saquon Barkley and the league's best rushing attack.”
Getting Jalen Hurts in a rhythm isn't just crucial for Philadelphia's upcoming in-state showdown with the Steelers… it may be necessary for the Eagles to make a deep postseason run.
“You have to be able to pass the ball effectively in December and January,” an NFL coordinator told Fowler. “[The Eagles] will always be a run-first team, but they will need that from [Hurts] moving forward.”
Despite the fact that Hurts hasn't shown much of it yet this season, there's still a belief around the league that he's ready to turn things around.
“I know what he's capable of. He has played better than he is now, he can still hurt you in a lot of ways, and I think he'll improve down the stretch,” says an NFC executive.
