Philadelphia Eagles v Steelers: 3 key numbers worth paying attention to
By David Esser
Three key numbers to the Philadelphia Eagles matchup with the Steelers this Sunday.
Coming off a gutsy 25-20 victory in Week 4, the Philadelphia Eagles now get to travel back home to the state of Pennsylvania as they are set for a showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers are currently undefeated and coming off an impromptu bye week, while the Eagles have been struggling to field a full 53-man roster the last couple of games due to an exuberant amount of injuries.
On paper, it’s a game that the Steelers should run away with. However, Doug Pederson and the Eagles have made a name for themselves the last couple of seasons for battling the hardest when they are viewed as the “underdog”.
The Steelers are currently favored by an entire seven points, and that number could even rise a bit as some of the Eagles “starters” get ruled out closer to game day (potentially DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery). With the odds in mind, I decided to take a little deeper look into why this Sunday is set to be such a tough matchup for Philly:
An elite defense vs a very bad offense.
In terms of yards per game allowed, the Steelers defense currently ranks as the second best in the entire NFL, as they allow just 290 yards per game. They also allow the least amount of rushing yards per game, have the second most sacks in the NFL (despite playing one less game than every other team), and rank third in terms of DVOA.
Needless to say, Pittsburgh’s defense is prettyyy good.
The Philadelphia Eagles on the other hand have one of the worst offenses in the entire NFL, ranking as the fifth-worst in terms of total yards per game (319). They have the sixth fewest passing yards per game and have the seventh fewest points per game through four games as well.
Needless to say, Philadelphia’s offense is prettyyy bad.
The Eagles started to find some life during Week 4 by leaning on Carson Wentz’ running ability, but the team’s overall lack of weapons still shone through for the majority of the evening. It’d be tough to rely on the run game regardless (considering the Steelers’ elite run defense), but a *fatigued* Miles Sanders doesn’t help the situation either.
Finding a way to get a struggling offense going against one of the best defenses in all of football doesn’t appear to be a battle that Philly can win, but ya never know.