STEELERS DEFEAT EAGLES, 24-16, IN PRESEASON GAME
Former first-rounder leads big comeback against Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — For a fourseries sequence, Dwayne Haskins looked like a quarterback who was the 15th overall selection in the 2019 draft.
He completed throws out of the pocket, picked out secondary receivers and deftly executed playaction passes. Yes, it was only a preseason game, but Haskins did nothing to diminish whatever hope the Steelers have that he can rejuvenate a promising career that had flamed out in Washington.
“That was probably the most fun I’ve had since I came into the league,” Haskins said.
The Steelers might not have a battle to see who will be the top backup to Ben Roethlisberger, but Haskins certainly made a strong push to merit consideration in a 2416 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
Haskins engineered four consecutive scoring drives, beginning late in the first half, to bring the Steelers back from a 13-0 deficit and give them their second victory of the preseason. Haskins was 16 of 21 for 161 yards with a 113.4 passer rating on those four possessions.
“I really thought he was in command tonight,” Steelers coach
Mike Tomlin said. “He did a great job communicating, going through his progressions. He had a third down play where I saw him go through three or four reads and throw the ball in middle of the field and convert for us. That was just a snapshot of the type of night he had for us.”
Even though he did not produce a point, Mason Rudolph also looked good when he started the first three series, completing 8 of 9 passes for 77 yards, the longest a 33-yard completion to Diontae Johnson down the right sideline. He had a passer rating of 102.3.
But Rudolph had to deal with holding penalties by rookie tight end Pat Friermuth and guard Trai Turner on each of the first two drives that negated long runs by rookie running back Najee Harris. And, on his third series, tackle Chuks Ororafor had a false start that killed a third-and-2 chance.
“Run game holding calls, man, they kill drives,” Tomlin said. “We had holding calls on the first two drives, and on the third drive we had a thirdand-2 and we had a pre-snap penalty and we lost that possession down. Penalties were a component of our issues early on.”
Tomlin elected to use more of his regulars for the first time against the Eagles, including Okorafor, Turner, tight end Eric Ebron, guard Kevin Dotson and wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster on offense.
Tomlin said Roethlisberger will play in the next preseason game Aug. 21 against the Detroit Lions at Heinz Field.
On defense, inside linebacker Devin Bush made his first appearance since his season-ending ACL injury in October. Safety Terrell Edmunds played for the first time.
“It’s good to get out there, get a feel for playing football again in a live stadium, just being out there and being with different groups of guys,” Bush said. “It was a good experience.”
But it was Haskins who put together three consecutive touchdown drives, beginning when he followed a touchdown late in the first half with a 10-play 75-yard scoring drive on their first possession of the second half. That drive ended with Haskins rolling from the pocket and finding wide-open receiver Anthony Johnson in the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown.
Then, after an interception and 11-yard return by cornerback Justin Layne, the Steelers used 11 plays to go 50 yards and get a 1-yard touchdown run by Jaylen Samuels to give them a 21-16 lead with 2:59 remaining in the third quarter. Samuels carried four times for 14 yards and had a 17-yard catch-and-run to highlight the drive. He finished with 45 yards on 10 carries.
“There was a lot of energy with the fans in the stadium, guys gravitating toward me,” Haskins said. “It was a lot of fun being out there and putting points on the board and get a win.”
Haskins, though, wasn’t through. The Steelers went on another methodical scoring drive, going 76 yards in 14 plays to set up a 22-yard field goal by kicker Sam Sloman to make it 24-16 with 11:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
That capped a comeback that began when the Steelers scored with 1:51 remaining in the half on a 1-yard run by Anthony McFarland Jr. to cut the Eagles’ lead to 13-7.
The nine-play, 70-yard drive featured a nice mix of passing from Haskins, who was 5 for 5 for 43 yards, and runs of 12 and 7 yards by Samuels. McFarland’s touchdown was set up when Eagles cornerback Zech McPhearson was called for pass interference in the end zone on Rico Bussey, giving the Steelers possession at the 1.
But that left enough time for the Eagles to come right back and get a 50-yard field goal by kicker Jake Elliott with 17 seconds remaining to take a 16-7 halftime lead.
The Eagles had wasted little time taking a 3-0 lead, using a 34-yard pass-and-run from quarterback Jalen Hurts to tight end Dallas Goedert, who got behind Bush, to set up the first of three first-half field goals by Elliott, this one from 47 yards.
The Eagles hurt the Steelers secondary again when they made it 10-0 with 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter. This time it was backup quarterback Joe Flacco throwing his first pass — a wide receiver screen to Quez Watkins — that resulted in a 79-yard catch-and-run touchdown. Watkins got outside cornerback Cam Sutton, who appeared to be held, and outraced rookie safety Tre Norwood down the left sideline for the touchdown.
Flacco led the Eagles to another score on his next possession, completing 4 of 6 passes for 35 yards to set up a 47-yard field goal by Elliott to make it 13-0 with 9:37 remaining in the half.