Welp, the Jalen Hurts-A.J. Brown feud fizzled fast. It came at the culmination of a strange week in Philadelphia, when Brandon Graham stated the Eagles quarterback and star receiver "were friends, but things have changed," and Hurts and Brown had to collectively clear the air before their enormous Pennsylvania battle against the Steelers.
After a dismal performance from the Eagles passing offense in a narrow victory over the Panthers that sparked the controversy, Philadelphia had one of its finest, most efficient days through the air against an elite-level defense in a game with plenty at stake.
Hurts went 25 of 32 (78.1%) for 290 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in the convincing win over the Steelers. His 125.3 rating was his first over 120 since Nov. 3 against a shoddy Jaguars defense. Brown had eight snags for 110 yards and a score.
The Eagles passing attack was night and day compared to the offense that took the field against the Panthers the week prior. In Week 14, Philadelphia mustered 0.033 EPA per dropback with a 37.9% success rate. Against the Steelers, Hurts' EPA per dropback was a seismic 0.369 with a 55% success rate.
And they flipped the script by not overcomplicating. Hurts had easy reads all afternoon, particularly against zone coverage.
And, of course, with the Steelers, there's going to be ample blitzing. They sent at least one extra rusher toward Hurts on 39% of his dropbacks, and the Eagles almost always had an answer, mostly by way of in-breaking routes, where Brown and Devonta Smith shine. They're so efficient beating press at the line, and Brown's big body has always shielded defenders once he wins to the inside.
On those blitzed dropbacks, Hurts was 8 of 11 for 98 yards with two touchdowns. That equates to a 139.4 passer rating, and, frankly, was the difference in this contest.
Check these in-breaking wins from Brown and Smith against the blitz in Week 15:
And these aren't abnormal for Brown and the Eagles offense. In fact, Brown has the most catches (15) and receiving yards (198) on slants this season. If we start in 2022, when he landed in Philadelphia, Brown is still the leader in those categories on slants, and it's by a wide margin.
Brown has 64 catches on slants for 869 yards. CeeDee Lamb is second in both stats with 48 catches and 583 receiving yards.
It's the Brown staple in this offense, and it worked close to perfection in the win over the Steelers.
That's the key for the Eagles. Keep it straightforward for Hurts. He has a legitimate superstar receiver in Brown, who routinely destroys press coverage and has always been a elite-level YAC weapon. Then there's Smith, one of the slipperiest No. 2 receivers in football at his disposal. Oh yeah, and his offensive line is high-caliber blocking for MVP candidate Saquon Barkley.
Following a downturn in productivity, that featured three-consecutive games without 200 yards passing, Hurts, Brown and Co. got back on track in a big way in the 27-13 victory over the Steelers by going back to staples of what has made them one of the most difficult offenses to stop the past three years.