The Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles squared off at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, PA Thursday night. While this was the Eagles’ first preseason action of the 2021 season, it was the Steelers’ second such game after their Hall of Fame game victory over the Dallas Cowboys a week ago.
With it being the Steelers’ second go around in the preseason, there were players who didn’t play last week, who took the field this week in the eastern portion of Pennsylvania. Players like Devin Bush, Chuks Okorafor and Kevin Dotson, among others, returned to the lineup in hopes of proving their worth and preparing for the regular season.
The Eagles got the ball first as Chris Boswell kicks off inside the 5-yard line and after a small return the Eagles start their drive on their own 27-yard line. Two passes to tight ends later and Philadelphia was on the edge of field goal range. But with only three more yards, the Eagles settle for a 47-yard field goal and are first on the board.
A short kickoff from the Eagles has the Steelers starting at the 27-yard line. After a 5-yard gain by Najee Harris, a play-action pass gets the Steelers close to midfield. After getting a yeard deep in the backfield, Harris drags the defenders for a 6-yard gain and then catches a pass to get to the 41-yard line. A huge run by Harris gets called back on a Freiermuth hold and the Steelers’ dive stalls. Jordan Berry pins the Eagles at their own 2-yard line to start their next drive.
After one first down to another pass to the tight ends, the defense holds on 3rd & 5 when Devin Bush and Robert Spillane hold Jalen Hurts shy of the sticks on the scramble. A short punt with an Eagles bounce has the Steelers starting their second drive from their own 22-yard line.
After another hold on a nice run by Najee Harris, a big pass from Mason Rudolph hits a deep pass to Diontae Johnson and the Steelers are at midfield. A loss of two yards on first down on an end around to Chase Claypool was just enough to keep the Steelers from moving the chains and Jordan Berry puts another punt inside the ten.
Joe Flacco enters the game as the Eagles quarterback a starts the drive at their 7-yard line. After another first down to a tight end, the Eagles have their first completion to a wide receiver on a screen and it goes for 79 yards and the Eagles find the end zone on just three plays.
After a touchback, Mason Rudolph comes back on the field and hits a 4-yard pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster to end the first quarter.