Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Week 15 truly was the Pennsylvania State Championship; there’s no other phrase that would otherwise accurately cover it. It was a hard-fought battle on both sides of the ball between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles — the Steelers, without their star WR and an All-Pro Caliber safety — while Jalen Hurts & Co. entered this week on a nine-game winning streak, now having made it 10. The Eagles improved to 12-3, while the Steelers fell to 10-4 ranked second and third in their respective conferences.

Pittsburgh didn’t enter the matchup at 100%, dealing with several injuries to starters WR George Pickens, DT Larry Ogunjobi and S DeShon Elliott, and no doubt, those injuries were felt — hard. Early on, the absences of both Pickens and Elliott were felt in particular. In the first quarter, the offense netted just two total yards of offense without a single first down while allowing Philly a whopping seven first downs (10 points).

The black and gold did make it a bit of a game coming out of the second half, down a touchdown while driving on a short field thanks to a short punt. Unfortunately, the Steelers lost a fumble, technically credited to Russell Wilson though it was certainly on RB Najee Harris who didn’t reel in the toss at Philly’s 26-yard line. It was recovered by Eagles cornerback Darius Slay, and unfortunately, the Eagles capitalized on that play, scoring a touchdown after driving 74 yards in the other direction to make it a 14-point lead.

It was all downhill from there, unfortunately, and the Steelers never managed to again come within 14 points.

Pittsburgh always had an uphill battle in this contest; after all, the Steelers haven’t won in Philadelphia since 1965, a curse of sorts. However, despite being down a number of key playmakers, this team did show some grit on defense with their ability to generate turnovers, even if it wasn’t enough to make a difference in the end.

The Eagles milked their final possession for 10 minutes and 39 seconds — a 21-play drive that went for 88 yards before Philly kneeled it out.

Next up on the schedule, the Steelers will head to Baltimore for their second game of the season with the Ravens on Saturday, December 21 with kickoff at 4:30 p.m. ET. The biggest priorities ahead of this matchup will be healthy, including the three inactives dealing with injury ahead of this contest, as well as CB Donte Jackson and OLB T.J. Watt, who left late in the game with an ankle injury.