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Your In-Depth Eagles vs. Steelers Week 3 Recap

Adrian Fedkiw|

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson had seen it before.

“Just put on his college film, just watch him. We exhausted his college tape and those are the plays he made at North Dakota State,” he said. “Those are the things that we know he can do. He just keeps gaining confidence each and every single week.”

It looked very Big Ben-esque, huh?

Carson Wentz effortlessly side-stepped Stephon Tuitt in the pocket and then came the improv routine. Wentz rolled to his right and kept his eyes downfield before flipping the ball to Darren Sproles, who darted up the right sideline.

That’s 73 yards in a blink, beep beep!

Wentz continued his eye-popping start to the season, throwing for 301 yards with a pair of touchdowns as the Eagles dismantled the Steelers 34-3 at Lincoln Financial Field late Sunday afternoon.

Philly out-gained Pittsburgh 426-251 and completely shut down the high-potent Pittsburgh attack in the second half. Fletcher Cox had two of the Eagles’ four sacks, including one that forced a fumble. The Eagles also held the Steelers to just 29 yards rushing on 10 attempts.

But back to Wentz.

Rarely do you see rookie quarterbacks developed this quickly, and an FCS one no less. He’s in complete command at the line of scrimmage and is cool as a cucumber in the pocket. I can’t remember a rookie starter look this impressive. He has five touchdowns and still no turnovers on the season. His mind is lightning quick and he just out-dueled Ben Roethlisberger. He’s completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 769 yards for a quarterback rating of 103.8.

The Eagles head into the bye week 3-0 and lead the NFL in point differential at plus-65.

This is surreal.

“By no means have we accomplished anything yet, the season is still extremely young, what we did tonight just proves that they’re coming together as a football team,” Pederson said.

Sproles and Brent Celek stepped up in the passing game. Sproles also added a 40-yard reception and finished with 128 yards on six catches, while Celek hauled in three balls for 61 yards.

Rodney McLeod continues to impress as well. His read-and-react skills have been superb and this interception late in the game was spectacular.

Malcolm Jenkins was all over the field in coverage and had a solid game as well.

Roethlisberger finished 24-of-44 for 257 yards with an interception, while Antonio Brown was held in check for the most part, although he still caught 12 balls for 140 yards. Philadelphia’s secondary was swarming the Pittsburgh receivers in the second half.

The Eagles had already led 13-3 at the half, but broke the game open with 21 points in the third quarter.

Sproles long touchdown came on the first touch of the frame and the Eagles’ defense stopped the Steelers on 4th-and-5 on their next possession. Wendell Smallwood then ran the ball four times for 27 yards and a score on Philly’s ensuing sequence, showing off some quick, one-cut running.

After Cox’s strip-sack, Kenjon Barner scored from eight yards out for a 34-3 Eagles margin. Right guard Brandon Brooks had a nice block on the play.

The Birds cruised to the easy win in the fourth.

Earlier, Bennie Logan blocked this field goal attempt on Pittsburgh’s opening series.

The Eagles answered with a field goal and then marched 82 yards in 12 plays once they got the ball again to open up a 10-0 cushion late in the first. Wentz fired this 19-yard strike to Dorial Green-Beckham on a deep-in route on a 3rd-and-12. DGB was involved a bit more and recorded three receptions for 33 yards.

Jordan Matthews burned William Gay from the slot on an in-breaking route for the score to cap off the lengthy drive.

Both teams then traded field goals to make it 13-3 in favor of Philadelphia.

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