PITTSBURGH, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — It could have been a game which changed the course of the season. It turned out to be another frustrating defeat.
Trailing by 17 points in the second half, the Eagles nearly pulled off an incredible comeback in Pittsburgh but fell short in a 38-29 loss. The Eagles had pulled to within two points, but Jake Elliott's 57-yard field goal attempt late in the fourth quarter sailed wide to the right.
The Steelers answered with another touchdown as Doug Pederson's squad fell to 1-3-1 on the season. Pederson said he was willing to have Elliott try the long field goal rather than risk a fourth down conversion.
"I felt comfortable where we were on the field," said Pederson. "It was a tough situation to be in that fourth and long. It was well within Jake's range to kick the field goal."
The offense did it's part, but the defense struggled throughout the afternoon. The last touchdown which sealed the game for Pittsburgh came on a broken coverage which left Chase Claypool wide open for his fourth touchdown of the game. Fletcher Cox and his teammates said letting the game slip away was more difficult to take than the mistakes made defensively.
"Winning is the most important stat when you get down with it," Cox said. "I'd rather give up how ever many points and still come up with a win but obviously, we didn't take care of business today. To give up 38 points and still get a win? I'd be okay with that."
But the Eagles did not win despite scoring 15 straight points in the second half. Carson Wentz threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns. One of those scoring strikes went to Travis Fulgham as the former practice squad player finished with ten receptions for 152 yards.
Related
Despite the defeat, it was another step forward for the offense, and Wentz is hoping they can build on the positives from their loss in Pittsburgh.
"There's some things to be encouraged about," said Wentz. "We're so close. We're so close. We're right there and we're playing against some good football teams. We can turn this thing around, and I'm confident that we will."
However, winning is the bottom line in the NFL. Some days, the Eagles offense has struggled. On this day in Pittsburgh, the defense made the most mistakes. Brandon Graham knows he and his teammates need to clean up their mistakes if they want to get back on track this season.
"We've got to stay consistent," Graham said. "We've shown what we can do. When it's right, it's right. When it's wrong, it's one misstep here, one bad read here. We've got to make sure we stay consistent as a group, and that's just the bottom line."