Eagles film breakdown: Jalen Hurts and Kellen Moore revive the passing game against the Steelers

Just as concerns about the Eagles passing game were increasing in volume, Jalen Hurts made sure to levy an even louder response.

One week removed from one of his worst performances of the season, Hurts authored one of his best in a 27-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Considering the strength of the opposing defense, one could argue it was one of Hurts’ best performances even dating back a season or two. He finished 25-for-32 for 290 passing yards and two touchdowns, with several timely completions in the pivotal moments.

How did Hurts and Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore turn things around so quickly? Let’s look at the film to find out:

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Whether you would call it “rhythm” or “synchronization,” the Eagles have lacked it in the passing game for some time. Sluggish starts had been a constant for the offense all season and the lack of timing throws from Hurts within the offense’s structure reached a low point against Carolina.

Hurts averaged a season-high 3.47-second average time to throw against the Panthers, but he did much better getting the ball out with anticipation against the Steelers on Sunday. His average time to throw dropped to 3.24 seconds, which might not seem like much, but was illustrative of an uptick in drop backs that saw Hurts get the ball out on time to balance out his scrambles.

It started with the Eagles opening the game in an empty formation with running back Saquon Barkley split out wide, something they utilized more often against Pittsburgh to good effect. Doing so forces defenses to tip their hand, either sending a linebacker out with Barkley, which often indicates man coverage, or leaving a cornerback across from him to suggest they’re in zone.

With Pittsburgh cornerback Joey Porter Jr. lined up across from Barkley and the Steelers maintaining a lone deep safety, Hurts starts his progression with tight end Grant Calcaterra working up the seam on a stick-and-nod route designed to take advantage of Pittsburgh’s zone coverage being vulnerable in that part of the field.

Moore called two more passing plays to open the game, with the second being one of the cornerstones of the team’s passing game this season: a slant route to A.J. Brown. Make note of the jam that Porter gets on Brown, who recovers quickly enough to get separation after initially getting knocked back. Brown got the better of Porter later on a similar meeting at the line.

The third consecutive passing play featured a middle field “hi-lo” route combination designed to put one of the Steelers linebackers in a bind. Pittsburgh sent linebacker Elandon Roberts on a blitz, leaving Patrick Queen to decide between Calcaterra on the deeper route or DeVonta Smith on a shallow crossing route. Queen stayed with Calcaterra long enough for Hurts to find Smith, who gained 22 yards with his run after the catch.

The three plays from execution to the variety to the anticipation and accuracy from Hurts stood in stark contrast to the week before and set the tone for his productive evening against a Steelers team that employs a heavy dose of man or zone coverages with a single deep safety.

That said, there were a few hiccups for Hurts and the offense.

The Eagles drive stalled when Hurts faced pressure on a third-and-7 from the Steelers’ 17-yard line. Smith was matched up one-on-one with Porter on a slot fade, but the slow-developing route didn’t flash quickly enough with T.J. Watt and the rest of the Steelers’ talented pass rush bearing down on Hurts.

Hurts’ fumble on the following drive was one of his lone poor moments. Facing third-and-4 near midfield, Hurts stepped up and out of the pocket to run for the first down, but he didn’t protect the ball as he broke toward the sideline.

It’s worth noting he’s dealing with a broken left ring finger, which might explain why he didn’t switch the ball to his outside arm near the sideline or cover it up with two hands with defenders closing in on him.

One week after Brown finished with just four targets against Carolina, the connection between him and Hurts was back to business as usual.

» READ MORE: Eagles stats: Time of possession, targets to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, and defensive dominance highlight win over Steelers

Hurts got back on track on the Eagles’ third drive primarily thanks to throws to Brown, even when the star wideout wasn’t necessarily generating separation downfield.

The first completion came against another single high look from the Steelers with the lone deep safety shaded away from Smith and Brown. The Eagles ran a stop-corner route combination with Hurts rolling toward the two receivers, leading to Brown getting open on the underneath route and working up the sideline.

The second completion was the type of throw we’ve come to expect from Hurts with either of his top two receivers operating against single coverage. But it was the type of throw he was sometimes too apprehensive to attempt against Carolina.

He threw a well-placed back shoulder pass to Brown, who didn’t need much space to make the catch against Porter.

The last completion took advantage of Barkley’s gravity in the red zone, holding the middle-field safety long enough for Brown to work behind him in the back of the end zone for the 5-yard touchdown catch. It’s worth noting Smith’s role as a blocker on Brown’s touchdown catch.

Watching the Eagles’ second touchdown drive of the first half, the pass protection stood out above anything else.

Pittsburgh has one of the most talented defensive fronts in the NFL, led by Watt and defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, but right tackle Lane Johnson did well despite being matched up one-on-one with one of the best edge rushers in the NFL for most of the game.

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It also stood out how much variety there was in the Eagles passing game compared to last week and the weeks before. Moore used a handful of man-beating concepts made possible by the stout protection (pun intended). It’s only fair to point out Hurts’ 38 drop backs compared to 28 last week likely contributed some to the noticeably higher diversity in calls, but the lack of repeated calls still stood out.

Smith’s touchdown catch came thanks to some creativity from Moore, who sent both Brown and receiver Jahan Dotson on out-breaking routes to create traffic for Smith to get free on an in-breaker.

Smith also did well to find soft spots in zones when deployed on stop routes a handful of times, one that resulted in a 20-yard gain in the third quarter and another that moved the chains during the Eagles’ pivotal 10-minute, 29-second final drive.

Overall, the performance showcased the ceiling of the Eagles’ passing game when Hurts is in rhythm with a variety of concepts. Especially if teams are going to sell out to stop Barkley the way Pittsburgh did, the Eagles showed they’re capable of punishing teams on the back end.

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