How the Eagles made the Steelers run out of time originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

It was one of the greatest drives you’ve ever seen, and the Eagles didn’t even score.

The Eagles capped off Sunday’s 27-13 win over the Steelers with an incredible 21-play, 10½-minute drive that started at their own 2-yard line, ended at the Steelers’ 9-yard line and, what most importantly, with all ended zeros on the clock.

This single drive took up 18 percent of the entire game.

“We’ve been able to do that a few times this year,” Jalen Hurts said. “It was crucial. Kudos to Saquon for making these moments possible all year long. Kenny (Gainwell) comes on and plays some of the tunes he did tonight, which is no stranger to him at all. And just put it all together.”

The Eagles took a 27-13 lead against the Hurts goalie 43 seconds into the fourth quarter, then the defense forced a Steelers punt with 10:40 left. The Steelers failed at the 6-yard line, and a personal foul on Jalen Carter brought the Eagles back to the 3-yard line. A penalty on AJ Brown brought the ball back to the 2-yard line.

And that’s where the Eagles started with 10:29 left and 98 yards of field to go.

“At the end of the game we had 10 minutes,” Kenny Gainwell said. “So we just play situational ball and say, ‘Let’s go out there and finish the game.'”

The ride was a masterpiece.

The Eagles converted four of five third downs and the one they didn’t convert, they got a first down on fourth down.

Hurts was brilliant on the drive, completing five of seven passes for 79 yards, but the biggest play came on a crucial 3^approx-and-6 from the Eagles’ 7-yard line when he fired a 21-yard completion to AJ Brown to get the Eagles out of the soup.

He also had completions of 12 and 22 yards to DeVonta Smith and 19 yards to Brown on just that one possession.

Barkley went just 6 of 9 against a stacked box on the drive, but he had a seven-yard run for a first down, and with Barkley banged up, Gainwell took over at the end of the drive and converted the game-tying final short After the two-minute warning, it was the third deficit that secured the win.

“I remember games ending that way, I can’t really say (I remember) one that matched it,” Lane Johnson said. “I know it started at the damn 6-yard line (at the time) at the 3-yard line and it wasn’t pretty, but in the end we made plays and kept the drive alive. But yeah, I mean, I’m exhausted.”

The NFL has only been tracking drive information since 2001, but over that 24-year period, the longest game-ending drive without a score was 17 plays, which came against the Lions in 2002 by the Patriots and against the Falcons in 2022.

Officially, it was an 88-yard drive because it technically started at the 3 and ended at the Steelers’ 9 after three Hurts kneel downs. This makes it the 5th^Th-In terms of yards, this is the longest drive without a score by an NFL team since 2001.

But the Eagles racked up 99 yards of offense on the drive, the most since they somehow gained 120 yards on a touchdown drive in the 2015 season opener in Atlanta. Their longest record-breaking final streak without a score was a 75-yard contest at Green Bay in 2013, where they won by the same score, 27-13.

And the 21 games? That’s the most plays the Eagles have had in a drive since at least 2001. The only drive with more plays by an NFL team since 2001 was the Saints’ 24-yard drive against the Panthers in 2007, which ended with Julius Peppers blocking an Olindo Mare field goal.

You know something special is happening when the Eagles make history on a drive where they didn’t even try to score.

Subscribe to Eagle Eye wherever you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | stapler | Simplecast | RSS | Watch on YouTube