PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts absorbed the shots as the Eagles’ recent anemic passing attack was blocked by his own star wide receivers. Hurts and AJ Brown — one of those receivers who brought the grievances to a boil — then had their relationship dissected and scrutinized by a teammate, the kind of locker room criticism that can ruin a franchise.

Or perhaps the delicate internal evaluation was just the incentive Philadelphia needed to assert its superiority in an in-state showdown with a playoff opponent.

“You take every opportunity to get better,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “I’m not saying for a minute that all the outside turmoil was a good thing. We want to make sure we’re focused on what we’re doing, and that’s exactly what I felt.”

Hurts threw touchdown passes to Brown and DeVonta Smith to stifle scrutiny of the Eagles’ offense, and Philadelphia won its franchise-record 10th straight game 27-13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

“So this is what you all wanted to see?” said Hurts, who confirmed he was playing with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand.

The recent clashes in Philly weren’t fan or media driven at all – like a horror movie, the noises came from inside the house.

Hurts and the Eagles’ offense made the big plays a week after both Smith and Brown complained about a lack of catches in a win over Carolina. Later in the week, injured defensive end Brandon Graham appeared on a Philadelphia sports radio station and suggested that personal issues were at play between Hurts and Brown.

Hurts, who threw for 290 yards and had not topped 200 yards in any of the last three games, tried to quell any perceived internal dissension on the first drive. He hit Smith twice and Brown once, leading to Jake Elliott’s 34-yard field goal.

“The control never ends. This is nothing new,” Hurts said. “This is something that excites me. I appreciate being told that I can’t do it and that we can’t do it. I know that I lead this team and it requires a lot from him. It demands a lot from you.”

Brown, who ran cautiously on the sideline late in the game, had eight catches for 110 yards and Smith had 11 for 109 yards on the week after they combined for just eight catches and 80 yards.

“We talked about it behind closed doors,” Brown said. “We called each other. It was very uncomfortable because we didn’t want to feel like we were being attacked.”

Hurts hit Brown for a 5-yard TD late in the first quarter – the pair celebrated with the Kid ‘N Play dance – and connected with Smith for a 2-yard score in the second quarter for a 17-3 lead.

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

Eagles running back Saquon Barkey’s pursuit of the NFL single-season rushing record was slowed as he rushed for just 65 yards on 19 carries. Barkley, who still leads the NFL with 1,688 yards, took a low hit from Pittsburgh’s Minkah Fitzpatrick and missed most of the second quarter. Barkley said his right knee was fine and he was not injured by Fitzpatrick’s hit.

Hurts also had a rushing touchdown on a tush push for the Eagles (12-2), who were denied a shot to clinch the NFC East when Washington beat New Orleans earlier in the day. AFC North leader Pittsburgh (10-4) lost for the second time in nine games but secured a playoff spot thanks to losses to Miami and Indianapolis.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said the playoff spot isn’t that important under the circumstances.

“Not the way I’m standing here today. We had a game to play today. We wanted to win it, but we couldn’t,” he said. “Some of these other things are less relevant to us.”

The Steelers lost star linebacker TJ Watt to an ankle injury after he chased Hurts in the fourth quarter. Watt, who leads the Steelers with 11 1/2 sacks, said he is in “wait and see” mode for next week’s divisional showdown in Baltimore. The 30-year-old former Defensive Player of the Year suffered a sprained ankle that he didn’t necessarily think was a serious injury.

Pittsburgh’s Russell Wilson was stymied by the Eagles’ defense and threw for a season-low 128 yards. He threw a 9-yard TD pass to Pat Freiermuth in a 6-1 lifetime loss to the Eagles.

It was clear that the Steelers were missing wide receiver George Pickens, who leads the team in receptions (55) and yards receiving (850) by a wide margin. He missed the second game in a row due to a hamstring injury.

The Steelers haven’t won in Philadelphia since October 24, 1965.

Wilson botched a pitch to Najee Harris in the third quarter and the Eagles recovered. That led to Hurts scoring a 1-yard tush push for a 27-13 lead.

It was the first time the teams – among the original eight in the NFL – played each other, with both posting double-digit win totals. But this meet wasn’t that competitive.

Chris Boswell made field goals of 37 and 49 yards and was Pittsburgh’s season best with 38 field goals.

Barkley update

Barkley needs 418 yards in the final three games to surpass Eric Dickerson’s 40-year-old NFL record. Dickerson ran for 2,105 yards for the Los Angeles Rams in 1984. His rushing total was his second-worst of the season.

Injuries

Steelers: CB Donte Jackson suffered a back injury. … Backup QB Justin Fields had an abdominal injury.

Eagles: S Sydney Brown suffered a concussion when hit in the opener. … LG Landon Dickerson suffered a knee injury.

Next

Steelers: At Baltimore on Saturday in an important AFC North game.

Eagles: Next Sunday at Washington.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL