PHILADELPHIA – Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts said he is dealing with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand and that it affected him Sunday against the Steelers – but he still did enough to improve a struggling passing game and bringing the team past a week of drama for their franchise-record tenth straight win.

“So that’s what you all wanted to see, right?” Hurts asked as he sat down for his postgame press conference after Philadelphia’s 27-13 win.

It was definitely what receivers AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith wanted to see. Both expressed frustration with the passing game after last week’s narrow win over the Carolina Panthers, in which Hurts finished with just 108 yards through the air – the third straight week he was under 180 yards.

Brown’s comments that the offense was about “passing” and that there had been little sideline communication with Hurts to patch things up led to Brandon Graham’s claim that Hurts and Brown were no longer as close like in old times. That set off a media storm that took up much of the week.

Brown said he and Hurts “let the team know that we were on the same page and there was nothing wrong or anything like that.”

Many “hard” and “uncomfortable” conversations took place inside the Eagles’ practice facility, Smith said. Brown spoke of additional meetings between players and coaches focused on improving details and communication in the passing game.

All of this contributed to an extremely efficient passing performance that saw Hurts go 25 of 32 for 290 yards with two touchdowns.

Brown and Smith each managed more than 100 yards. This was the fourth time they achieved this feat and they set a new record for the most such games by a duo in Eagles history.

“The approach was a little different this week. The grass will be green where you water it and we decided to water it (the passing game) and you kind of saw the fruits of our labor in that,” Hurts said.

Hurts and Brown scored on a 5-yard touchdown pass late in the first quarter that gave Philadelphia a 10-3 lead. They then began a choreographed dance celebration.

“This was our moment to tell everyone to shut up,” Brown said.

Hurts injured the ring finger on his left hand last Sunday against the Panthers and was listed as a full participant on the injury report all week. Against the Steelers, he wore a glove on his left hand, which is not his usual practice.

Hurts lost a fumble when TJ Watt knocked the ball down in a scramble in the first quarter, but otherwise played a clean game.

“I can say that I don’t think it got any worse today,” Hurts said of the finger. “If it’s broken, it’s broken. It is what it is.”

The Eagles improved to 12-2 and were effectively in a duel with Detroit for the top spot in the NFC after the Lions lost to the Buffalo Bills.

The defense continued to exceed expectations while the offense showed it was capable of getting the job done in a variety of ways on a night where Saquon Barkley (19 carries, 65 yards) was largely held under control.

“We know what the end goal is, especially me, DeVonta and Jalen… We’re trying to get to the end and we’re trying to finish it,” Brown said. “It’s good that we won ten games, but to be honest we’re not happy with it. In our eyes we have done nothing. That is our way of thinking. It’s easy for us to have these difficult conversations to confront each other because we know what we want in the end. It makes it easier when we’re close.