PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The guy on the Philly sports talk radio station had something to say, and he started to vent about the perceived strained relationship between star quarterback Jalen Hurts and standout wide receiver A.J. Brown.
Why weren’t these two Pro Bowl Eagles on the same page? Why had their personal and professional relationship changed even with Philadelphia enjoying tremendous success?
It was football gossip usually ripe for a hot-take host or fed-up fan to stir up on the air — only in this instance, the temperature check came from inside the locker room.
Normally respected team leader Brandon Graham, who is sidelined with a triceps injury, noted in a radio appearance that “ things have changed ” between Hurts and Brown in the wake of a stale passing game in last week’s win over Carolina.
An apologetic Graham walked back his comments. Hurts and Brown both insisted their relationship was cool in front of media hordes more appropriate for the Super Bowl. As for the rest of the Eagles, they were ready to squash the so-called controversy.
“We are moving on,” offensive lineman and Christmas song crooner Jordan Mailata said. “It is the Pittsburgh Steelers this week. Not the A.J. Brown and Jalen Show. It is the Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s it.”
Oh yeah, the Steelers!
Lost in the brouhaha ignited in a Philly sports bar is the fact that sitting — and winning — on the western side of Pennsylvania are the Steelers (10-3).
Unlike most matchups in series history, this one Sunday at the Linc comes with the tantalizing appeal of a potential Super Bowl preview. The Steelers have won seven of eight, and the Eagles (11-2) have won nine straight and could clinch the NFC East with a win and a Washington loss or tie. It’s the first time the teams — among the original eight NFL teams — will play each other when they both have a double-digit win total.
Both teams are in strong position for a playoff run — the Eagles led by Saquon Barkley and his pursuit of Eric Dickerson’s NFL season rushing record; Russell Wilson and the soft-schedule Steelers atop the AFC North in large part thanks to six wins against teams that currently have losing records.
“I do like playing really good people, I think there’s growth in it,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “You’ve got to get the job done. But man, I think there’s significant growth in pitting your collective talents and skills versus big-time opponents and they’re certainly that.”
Will the drama out of Philly this week affect the Eagles? They certainly don’t think so and neither do the oddsmakers — the Eagles are 5 1/2-point favorites, per BetMGM.
“What I’ve noticed about this football team is they’re so locked in and determined to get better each day,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “We don’t really want anyone else talking to us about anything other than the Pittsburgh Steelers.”
Good luck with that, Coach.
Maybe playing the Steelers on Sunday at home can snap the Eagles out of their offensive malaise. Hurts threw three TD passes to Brown in a 35-13 win in 2022.
Barkley watch
Barkley leads the NFL in rushing with 1,623 yards, 216 yards ahead of Baltimore’s Derrick Henry.
He is averaging 124.8 yards per game. At that pace, and with one more game to play than Dickerson had, he would become the top single-season rusher in NFL history. He needs 483 yards over the final four games to top Dickerson’s 40-year-old record. Barkley is on pace for 2,122 yards, which would put him just 17 yards beyond Dickerson’s 2,105 in 1984.
Barkley doesn’t need much of a reminder from his 2020 performance when, while playing for the New York Giants, he ran into a Pittsburgh defense that seemed reminiscent of its famed Steel Curtain. The Steelers held Barkley to 6 yards on 15 carries.
Bye, George
The Steelers will have to find a way forward against the NFL’s toughest defense without wide receiver George Pickens, who will miss his second straight game with a hamstring injury.
Pittsburgh survived last week against Cleveland, with Mike Williams and Scotty Miller — afterthoughts of late — coming off the bench to make an impact.
While Tomlin believes “the strength of the pack is the pack,” the reality is the Steelers don’t have anyone who can stretch the field like Pickens, who leads the team in receptions (55) and yards (850) by a wide margin.
It’s a challenge, but considering the way Wilson has spread the ball around — eight players caught passes against the Browns — he won’t lack for options.
“Everybody in the receiver room has a different skill set, different strengths,” Calvin Austin III said. “The coaching staff knows that and they know how to put us in position to be able to show that.”
Playoff preview
The cross-state trip to Philadelphia, where the Steelers haven’t won in nearly 60 years, is the start of an 11-day stretch in which Pittsburgh faces three teams likely bound for the playoffs.
While Tomlin is leaning into the “nameless, gray faces” mantra he uses for every opponent, his players know facing the Eagles, Ravens and Chiefs in such a short period is a litmus test for what’s to come in January.
“That’s why I’m in the league, period,” linebacker Patrick Queen said. “When you sign up to play football, you want to play at the highest level. … I love to play the game the right way. I think these next few games is going to show that and it starts with the Eagles.”
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