Five things we learned from Eagles 27 and Steelers 13:

1. Historical horror story

The Steelers entered the game leading the NFL in time of possession, but at the end of their offense they stayed on the field for about as long as the average hockey shift.

How bad was it? The Steelers had two drives and had the ball for 5 minutes and 50 seconds after halftime, and their total time of possession was 20 minutes and 8 seconds. This from a team that averaged 32 minutes and 29 seconds through its first 13 games.

The last time the Steelers had the ball for any length of time in a game was a 33-21 home loss to the St. Louis Rams in 2000, when they held it for exactly 20 minutes.

By comparison, it took the Steelers 19 years to achieve such an anemic record. In the 2019 finale in Baltimore, the final game of the Duck-Hodges era, they held the ball for just 20 minutes and 33 seconds. Two years later, the Steelers had 20:52 time of possession in a win against Tennessee. Those were the only times in the Mike Tomlin era when the Steelers had the ball for less than 21 minutes — until Sunday.

Worse, the Steelers played just 41 games, their lowest total in 33 years. You’d have to dig through the archives going back to October 27, 1991, in a 27-7 loss to Seattle, to find the last time the Steelers had 41 offensive snaps in a game.

In terms of yardage, the 163 yards the offense gained, including just 1 yard after the first quarter, may have seemed like a holdover from the Matt Canada era. In fact, it was their worst performance since a 19-11 win over Tennessee in 2010 when Bruce Arians was in charge.

2. Turn side over

Having the offense on the field for such a short amount of time is also an indictment of the defense for not finding a way to get off the field.

With the Steelers playing without Larry Ogunjobi and DeShon Elliott and losing Donte Jackson to an injury in the first half, they were helpless to keep the Eagles and quarterback Jalen Hurts off the field. The Eagles converted 10 of 17 third-down attempts and managed a fourth-down tush-push play.

The Eagles only had three possessions after halftime. At the end of a 13-play, 52-yard drive, they scored a field goal that extended their lead to 20-13. After Najee Harris failed to handle a pitch from Russell Wilson, the Eagles converted the turnover into a touchdown, capping a 13-play, 74-yard march.

For one final insult, the Eagles burned the final out with 10:29 to play after Tomlin punted on fourth-and-7 from the Philadelphia 46.

Aside from the lopsided time of possession, there was nothing historic about the way the Eagles dominated the Steelers. The 401 yards allowed by the defense were the second-most this season and it was the fourth time an opponent scored at least 27 points.

3. No bite from Barkley

With the Eagles rushing for over 400 yards and recording 26 first downs, one would expect NFL scoring leader Saquon Barkley to play a big role in the outcome.

By his standards, however, Barkley was calm, although questions arose after the game about an injury that kept him off the field for much of the second quarter. Barkley managed 65 rushing yards on 19 carries as a pedestrian, averaging 3.4 yards per attempt.

Simply put, the Eagles didn’t need to rely on Barkley, not with quarterback Jalen Hurts efficiently moving his offense down the field with a series of short passes into the open field. Some poor tackling by the Steelers was also a factor.

Barkley entered the season with nine 100-yard rushing games and 13 carries of 20 yards, as well as an NFL-high 37 carries of at least 10 yards. Barkley had a long gain of 22 yards and no other carries reached double figures.

If you take that burst out of the equation, the Steelers held him to 43 yards on 18 attempts.

4. Automatic three

Chris Boswell continued his assault on the record book and showed that he is the team’s most valuable offensive weapon.

Boswell made two more field goals – from 37 and 49 yards – and broke two of his team records. He has 38 field goals, surpassing the 36 he made in 2021, and his 144 points represent a new standard, surpassing his 142 from 2017. And there are still three games left in the season.

Boswell also remained perfect on extra points at 30-30, although he needed some help from the right post after the Steelers’ only touchdown to maintain that streak.

5. Missing George

George Pickens’ hamstring injury can’t heal fast enough for the Steelers, who will need his playing ability on the field Saturday in Baltimore when the division title is on the line.

Unlike the previous week, when the Steelers were without Pickens in a win against the bottom-placed Cleveland Browns, his absence could not be made up against a rise in the competition.

The Steelers needed a flea strike to score their biggest play of the game, a 31-yard completion to Calvin Austin III. It was just one of three pass plays that gained more than 14 yards. The others were a 17-yard pass to Ben Skowronek and a 15-yard pass to Mike Williams, who was on the field for just 15 plays — or 35% of the offensive snaps.

Austin was the only receiver with more than one catch against the Eagles; He finished the game with five for 65 yards. The rest of the position contributed three catches and 32 yards, including one for zero yards by starter Van Jefferson.