Stingy Eagles defense presents nightmare matchup for struggling Steelers

The lead-up to the rare all-Pennsylvania NFL matchup began strangely, with Philadelphia’s coach extolling the praises of Pittsburgh while the Steelers quarterback referenced how excited he is to see Philadelphia’s baseball team in the World Series.

“My dad was a huge Philly guy,” the Steelers’ Kenny Pickett said Wednesday, “so he passed it down to me.”

Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, meanwhile, has parents who grew up in the western half of Pennsylvania. He still regularly visits family in the area, but if that didn’t prove his “yinzer” bona fides enough, Sirianni reeled off the early-1990s Pirates lineup almost in its entirety.

“I can’t say enough good things about the people of Pittsburgh and the city of Pittsburgh,” said Sirianni, who was an assistant coach at IUP from 2006-08.

That included Pickett, whom Sirianni praised for his accuracy, quick feet and decision-making.

Left out of Sirianni’s lovefest for all things Pittsburgh were platitudes about the Steelers offense. It has been struggling to score points, and in the four games under Pickett’s stewardship has yet to hit on a passing play that gained more than 30 yards.

“The ‘splash’ plays shorten drives up and give us better opportunities,” Pickett said. “Guys are fresh. Overall, I think you see more production out of the offense when you have splash plays, and points are going to be put up on the board. It’s something that we need to get right.”

More on the Steelers:

• Rookie WR Calvin Austin to miss entire season after deadline passes for activation
• Ahkello Witherspoon practices fully, Levi Wallace does not for Steelers
• Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt returns to practice
• Mark Madden: Accept objective evaluation of Kenny Pickett

Getting it right won’t be easy task against an Eagles defense that has been a primary reason Philadelphia is the NFL’s lone remaining unbeaten. The Eagles lead the league in opponent passer rating (66.0) and rank second in opponent completion percentage (56.8%) and yards per play (4.7), fifth in passing yardage allowed (188.0) as well as fourth each in total yards (281.5) and scoring (17.7 points per game).

Opposing quarterbacks are averaging just 4.6 net yards per passing attempt, second-best in the league and a concerning number for a Steelers offense that is last in the NFL in yards per play (4.8).

“It’s tough because nothing is going our way,” receiver Diontae Johnson said. “We are missing plays that we should make. We have those little moments, shoulda, coulda, this or that, but it starts with practice, and the harder you work in practice, it shows in a game. … That’s all we got to do is just continue to work.”

The Steelers have nine offensive touchdowns in seven games and have managed a total of 33 points over their past three games combined.

Still, Johnson says “he can’t be frustrated.”

“Kenny is still learning, and everybody is still trying to get a feel for each other and still trying to get the rhythm going,” Johnson said. “Not using that as an excuse, but we are just trying to do whatever we can to turn this around.

“I try to keep a positive mindset through the whole season right now. But it’s tough.”

More from Tim Benz:

• U mad bro?: Matt Canada and Kenny Pickett shouldn't worry — Steelers fans are sinking their teeth into other folks instead
• First Call: Steelers allegedly 'shot down' trade inquiry about Cameron Heyward; Eagles add piece before Steelers game
• Tim Benz: Steelers need to get over fear of change at offensive coordinator

It won’t get any easier against the Eagles, who have not allowed more than 17 offensive points against since Week 1. Over their past five games combined, the Eagles’ opponents have managed just two plays that netted more than 28 yards and only nine plays of 20 or more yards.

In other words, the Philadelphia defense’s strength in limiting big plays matches up well with the Steelers offense’s weakness in hitting them. If there’s a tonic to cure the Steelers offense, it wouldn’t figure to be found in Philly.

“Explosive plays are a huge point of emphasis on being a successful offense,” Steelers guard James Daniels said. “Usually successful offenses, they have explosive runs. They have explosive pass plays. We need to get better at getting those kinds of plays.”

Daniels suggested that even the offensive line can aid in that end: holding blocks a fraction of a second longer might be all that’s needed to spring a big gain.

Johnson acknowledged the receivers share in the blame. Pickett said he needs to be better himself. Fans pin the failures on coordinator Matt Canada. There’s plenty of culpability to go around.

“We can’t press about it. We have to let it happen,” Pickett said. “We have to get it in the right coverage and hit the shots when they’re there. If they’re not there, we have to check it down or hit some underneath and let those guys go do their thing.

“You can’t play pressed as a player. Bad things happen. We’ll take it as we see it. If they’re there, we’ll obviously take them, and if not, we’ll move on to the next play.”

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.