After a Philadelphia fan disrespected the Terrible Towel, the Eagles were plagued by misfortune, reinforcing the Steelers’ infamous curse.
When will opposing teams’ fans learn to respect one rule about the Pittsburgh Steelers: never disrespect the Terrible Towel. For those who fail to heed this warning, a dreaded curse awaits.
The Terrible Towel curse struck down the now 3-12 Jacksonville Jaguars for over a season after S Andrew Wingard disrespected the tradition back in Week 8 of 2023.
Another curse is on the way, as footage from the Steelers-Eagles Week 15 contest showed a Philadelphia fan throwing a Steelers fan’s Terrible Towel out of the stadium.
The Curse of the Terrible Towel lives on. F with it at your own peril. Eagles fan paid the price. Hurts got hurt. Kenny had to play. And they lost. A cautionary tale for Steelers haters. pic.twitter.com/ERiju7HnIU
Following the incident, a series of misfortunes plagued the Eagles in Week 16. Not only did Eagles QB Jalen Hurts suffer a concussion and get ruled out—forcing the atrociously inconsistent backup QB Kenny Pickett to take his place—but the team also blew a 27-14 lead over the Commanders in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles had a chance to seal the game, but WR DeVonta Smith had one of the worst drops fans had ever seen—with two minutes remaining on third down.
The Washington Commanders scored a last-minute TD with less than 10 seconds remaining, further proving the age-old Pittsburgh adage: don’t mess with the Terrible Towel.
One of Georgia’s best players in the NFL, Jalen Carter, makes another awesome play showing off his football IQ
Georgia Bulldogs Jalen Carter was viewed as a can’t-miss prospect when he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles 9th overall in 2022. Ever since then, he’s lived up to the hype. It showed in the Eagles’ matchup against the Washington Commanders.
Jalen Carter has improved noticeably in his sophomore season with the Eagles. Despite only 4.5 sacks compared to 6.0 last year, Carter’s had more tackles for loss, more QB hits, and more passes deflected. He also has 48 pressures this season, according to PFF, ranking him eighth among interior defensive lineman.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DD798T1ym9w/
Nolan Smith Jr. has also improved noticeably in his second season in the league. Last year, in his first season with the Eagles, he was used more as a rotational piece, but this year he currently ranks second on the team in sacks behind former Florida State Seminole Josh Sweat. He has 24 pressures, triple the amount of his rookie season, and seven tackles for loss.
A day later, head coach Nick Sirianni offered no update on Hurts’s status for Week 17 against Dallas. However, Hurts is in the concussion protocol, so we’ll have to wait and see until Saturday at the latest.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni offered no updates on QBs Jalen Hurts (concussion) and Kenny Pickett (ribs).
Asked if Hurts would play if cleared but doesn’t practice this week, Sirianni said, “Every week is a different scenario. Jalen knows how to prepare, how to get himself ready.”
Hurts was 1-4 passing for 11 yards and had three carries for 41 yards before exiting for the blue medical tent.
In his first real game action this season, backup quarterback and former Steelers first-round pick Kenny Pickett was 14-24 for 143 yards (6.0 avg), one touchdown, and one interception with a 72.0 rating. His penchant for not pushing the football downfield was evident by his six yards per completion.
Eagles vs. Cowboys flexed to 1PM slot in Week 17, while the Packers vs. Vikings has been moved to the 4:25PM slot
The league announced that the Eagles will host the Cowboys on Sunday, with a chance to clinch the NFC East. With Dallas out of playoff contention, the game has been flexed to the 1:00 PM slot.
With two teams in the NFC North (Vikings and Lions) having 12-3 records and the Packers having a 10-4 record entering Monday night, the NFL chose a stacked division race over one of the league’s top rivalries.
The Eagles (12-3) will look to sweep the season series with the Cowboys (7-8) for the first time since 2011 and wrap up the division title. The Cowboys have been eliminated from playoff contention but want to play spoiler. Dallas has won four of its last five games and knocked the Buccaneers out of first place in the NFC South.
Cooper Rush will start as the Cowboys’ quarterback. He has a 9-2 career record as a starter in the NFL against teams other than the Eagles but is 0-2 against Philadelphia.
It just needed some help from teams like the Washington Commanders, who were playing the Philadelphia Eagles, a heavyweight squad nipping at the Lions’ heels in the standings.
As Campbell talked about the Lions’ latest win during his postgame press conference, cheers from the Detroit locker room could be heard in the background. It was clearly in reaction to Jayden Daniels’ game-winning, last-minute touchdown pass against Philadelphia, which was happening at the same time.
When reporters told Campbell the Commanders took the late lead, in turn giving the Lions breathing room for the No. 1 seed, Campbell seemed so happy at the news. He ended up jokingly encouraging everyone in the room to wait the last few seconds of the game out:
That should tell you everything about the Lions’ current state of mind.
Yes, they’ve been struck by an unfortunate bout of injury luck. Yes, it would’ve been very easy to assume they could no longer make a deep playoff run by virtue of the other NFC superpowers chasing them.
But this Detroit team hasn’t given up. It wants the NFC’s No. 1 seed. Badly.
If the NFL regular season ended today the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders would meet at Lincoln Financial Field in a wild card game
Philadelphia exited Northwest Stadium on Sunday with a nasty taste in their mouths after a 36-33 loss to the Commanders in Week 16.
The Eagles (12-3) likely lost out on the No. 1 seed in the NFC, but they’ll likely have a shot at gaining some revenge on the Commanders (10-5) in the postseason. If the season ended today, Philadelphia (2nd seed) and Washington (7th seed) would meet at Lincoln Financial Field in an NFC Wild Card Game.
Mike Sainristil mocking Eagles fans after Washington wins
The Washington Commanders improved to 10-5 on Sunday, defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 36-33 at Northwest Stadium.
It was Washington’s third consecutive win as it moved closer to clinching a playoff spot. Quarterback Jayden Daniels completed 24 of 39 passes for 258 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. Daniels also led Washington with 81 rushing yards.
The Commanders won the game despite turning the ball over five times. What’s more impressive is Washington did this against the NFL’s top-ranked defense.
Let’s review some of the best photos from the Commanders vs. Falcons.
Steelers fans turn to blaming Mike Tomlin as injuries and back-to-back losses spark frustration during a pivotal stretch of the season.
Well, the ‘Mike Tomlin for Coach of the Year’ party lasted longer than many assumed it would.
Fans of the Black and Gold are bewildered as the Pittsburgh Steelers have lost their past two contests to the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens, falling to 10-5 on the season. As Steelers fans understandably attempt to make sense of this frustrating situation, they have resorted to the familiar tactic of blaming Tomlin.
Although the Steelers head coach is currently dealing with a plethora of injured players—during one of the most difficult 10-day stretches any team has faced in the Super Bowl era—fans continue to point fingers in the wrong direction.
No, it isn’t Tomlin’s fault that the Steelers—who are missing arguably their biggest offensive threat in George Pickens and their best run defender in DeShon Elliott—lost two road games to two Super Bowl contenders. However, Tomlin’s playoff record and questionable decision-making have fans in a frenzy on social media.
Nevertheless, here are some of the most passionate reactions to HC Mike Tomlin and the Steelers’ struggles over the past two weeks.
There is a reason Mike Tomlin only has 3 playoff wins in the past 14 years and none since 2016. When he won a Super Bowl and got to another he had mostly Cowher’ players and coaching staff. Then Tomlin thought he was a genius and took everything over. Result? Mediocrity forever.
The #Steelers’ Mike Tomlin hasn’t been an even average coach for the last 8 seasons (and should have been fired about 4 years ago). He hasn’t been a “good” coach since probably losing in the Super Bowl. #fireTomlin#itsobvious
Also, Ben Johnson is running the Lions like a mad man, Michael Penix did what the Falcons needed and the curse of the Jets QB thickens
Week 16 presented some must-win games for teams across the NFL.
The Arizona Cardinals saw their playoff hopes evaporate against Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers, marking their fourth loss in the last five weeks. The Los Angeles Rams firmed up their spot atop the NFC West with a comeback win over the increasingly hopeless New York Jets. The Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals all got victories that kept their slim playoff hopes alive.
So what can we glean from Week 16 as the postseason picture begins to come into focus? Well, Joe Burrow is having the best MVP season from a player with almost no chance to be MVP, the Detroit Lions are baffling in the best possible way and New York’s quarterback curse is taking root in other NFL franchises in unexpected ways.
What does that all mean? Let’s talk about Sunday’s action.
[Please bear with me for any Twitter embed issues. Our editing software has become a whole problem on that front the past couple weeks. Rest assured, if there’s a play alluded to in the text it’s worth clicking through to see if it didn’t make it into the article itself.]
1. The post Kirk Cousins Atlanta Falcons couldn’t have been clearer about their intentions
Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Michael Penix emerged from his first NFL start with a win. Granted, it was over the New York Giants so it barely counts. Still, his arm strength and mobility from the pocket are a boon for a Falcons offense that had been severely limited by Cousins’s fading athleticism.
The Falcons didn’t reinvent their playbook around Penix. The shotgun snaps remained. He wasn’t given a directive to cut and run when pressured like fellow rookie Caleb Williams was given after Thomas Brown took over as the Chicago Bears’ interim offensive coordinator. He stood in the pocket and delivered clean passes through static, zipping the ball downfield on his best reads.
Cousins’s lack of mobility led to less time in the pocket, even against defenses that blitzed him less than ever (because they knew they just needed one guy to breach the pocket to create a problem). But when third-and-long situations made it easy and obvious to bring an extra pass rusher or two, things fell apart.
Cousins’s expected points added (EPA) per dropback dropped from neutral to negative when blitzed. In the five-game stretch that effectively closed the books on his Atlanta tenure, the Falcons converted 23 of 67 third downs — a 34.3 percent conversion rate roughly on par with the New England Patriots’ woeful offense this fall (fourth-worst in the NFL).
Penix, on the other hand, showed more comfort in the face of pressure.
Granted, the lift was light. The opponent was Drew Lock and the New York Giants. Their 0.161 EPA/play allowed on dropbacks is fourth worst in the NFL. Ultimately, the box score will suggest Penix wasn’t much of an upgrade over the veteran he’s chasing out of Georgia. He finished with 18 completions on 27 attempts for 202 yards. He didn’t throw a single touchdown.
This fails to reflect his impact. Penix was stung by drops and pressure early — the kind of influence that could have derailed his debut. He didn’t panic. He ran when asked. He hung in the pocket when the play called for it. He threw an interception that aggressively was not his fault.
Juggled and picked off by the Giants at the goal line!
Penix made play action dropbacks look effortless instead of painful. He brought designed rollouts back to the playbook. He gave Atlanta an emotion other than anxiety on out-breaking routes to the sideline. He helped convert eight of 14 third down opportunities (57 percent).
He completed five of eight throws that traveled at least 10 yards downfield. Cousins, comparatively, had completed only 52 percent of such throws this season.
2. Jalen Hurts proved his value to the Philadelphia Eagles (by getting hurt)
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Jalen Hurts left Sunday’s showdown with the Washington Commanders in the first quarter with a head injury. At the time, it didn’t seem like it would have too dramatic an impact on the rest of the game.
Kenny Pickett slung a quick-slate touchdown pass to A.J. Brown soon after. After 10 minutes of game time, Philadelphia led 14-0 and outgained its division rival 106 yards to eight.
Then, the world got to see why the Pittsburgh Steelers were eager to get off Kenny Pickett’s dilapidated roller coaster after just two seasons in order to roll the dice on a faded Russell Wilson this offseason.
Pickett’s interception was an inflection point. The former first round pick hadn’t been magically fixed by backing up Hurts or playing behind one of the league’s best offensive lines. He remained a quarterback who struggles with reads and pressure. Behold as the third-year passer stares down his intended target on the left side of the field with such dedication that he completely blanks red death crashing down upon him to the right.
Indeed, Pickett’s best plays came when he targeted A.J. Brown and hoped for the best. The veteran wideout was shadowed by former All-Pro Marshon Lattimore all afternoon. He went deep into his bag of tricks to ensure big gains on balls that vacillated between under- and over-thrown all afternoon.
AJ Brown has drawn THREE PASS INTERFERENCE penalties on Marshon Lattimore in ONE QUARTER
A 68-yard Saquon Barkley run made the score 21-7 with three minutes to play in the first quarter. That was the last time the Eagles saw the end zone in Landover.
Philly’s lack of confidence in its new quarterback wasn’t limited to the passing game. Twice the Eagles punted the ball on fourth-and-short where a Hurts Tush Push would have likely been the call. When they faked like they might go for it, it wasn’t a classic Nick Sirianni “try and stop us” call. It was this shotgun nonsense Sirianni of which eventually thought better.
via Fox
Hurts’ two drives lasted an average of eight plays each. Pickett’s 11 drives after lasted an average of 5.4, even with 14- and 12-play field goal treks in the second half. His inability to maintain possession put the onus on a defense that started hot and faded late. Early in the game, Jalen Carter was busy doing stuff like this:
Jalen Carter knew exactly what was coming on this run play, beat Tyler Biadasz with ease and forced the fumble. terrifying stuff for the rest of the NFC pic.twitter.com/bG6zNWMxSV
Later on, however, this unit had no recourse for Jayden Daniels. This manifested in a few different ways. There were multiple touchdown passes to Olamide Zaccheaus, certainly. There were also fourth-and-long pickups that made the rookie look like prime Barry Sanders by virtue of, uh, a slight change in direction.
This created the leverage needed to turn a 13-point fourth quarter deficit into a three-point win. While Washington still needed a bit of luck to keep its comeback alive (via a DeVonta Smith third down drop), this was a comeback made possible through a fading defense and, more importantly, a suddenly impotent offense.
In a season where Hurts had been outshined by his running game and a rising defense, Week 16 served as a reminder of the gravity he brings to the offense. Pickett only functioned in clean pockets with his first read open. His scrambles dissolved into the ether. His downfield strikes were poorly thrown pleas for pass interference penalties.
Hurts is several standard deviations better in every phase of the game. He serves as the blockade before the pit of each Eagles fan’s stomach, a reason to believe a comeback can be made rather than resignation to oblivion.
On Sunday, that value was on full display over the final 54 minutes of a 36-33 loss. Philadelphia cannot thrive without a fast processing, drive-extending quarterback no matter how good its skill players or blocking may be. Losing Hurts for an extended period of time could be the difference between a Super Bowl 59 run and another season spiraling out of control.
3. The Cincinnati Bengals probably won’t make the playoffs, but that isn’t Joe Burrow’s fault
USA Today Sports
Week 16 was the tune up the Bengals needed before a brutal stretch to end 2024. Dorian Thompson-Robinson’s Cleveland Browns played roughly as well as expected, finding the end zone only once in a 24-6 Cincinnati win. With games against the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers looming, this was badly needed proof the Bengals’ defense can devastate a shaky quarterback.
Joe Burrow needed no such reassurance. An MVP-caliber 2024 has only furthered his legend. He leads the league in passing yards and ranks in the top three when it comes to passing touchdowns and passer rating and top five in expected points added (EPA) per dropback.
Some of this is because he has Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on which to lean. Some of this is because Joe Burrow can occasionally bend the laws of physical nature to his will.
Burrow connected on 23 of 30 passes, bolstering his career 68.1 percent completion rate — best in NFL history. He threw three touchdown passes without a turnover, getting one each to Higgins and Chase and saving one for young wideout Andrei Iosivas, who could be primed for a bigger role in 2025 if Higgins leaves in free agency. He generated magic from his place in the backfield:
The greatest trick he could deliver is getting Cincinnati back over .500. The playoffs are almost certainly out of the question. The Athletic pegs the Bengals’ postseason odds at six percent even with Sunday’s win. They’ve been the anti-Chiefs thanks to a 2-7 record in one-score games. The culprit is a suddenly glitchy defense with no real pass rushing threat behind Trey Hendrickson and a leaky secondary that’s been a bottom-eight unit when it comes to EPA allowed. Only one team in the league has given up more points than Cincinnati.
As a result, Burrow can’t gain meaningful ground on Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson in the MVP race. He can extend the Bengals’ string of winning seasons to four, which would be the franchise’s longest since the Marvin Lewis era. Doing that would at least keep a twinkle of hope alive for Cincinnati fans who saw last year’s late playoff push derailed by Burrow’s thumb injury.
4. The Indianapolis Colts should build the whole plane out of Jonathan Taylor
Grace Hollars/USA Today Network via Imagn Images
In Week 15, Jonathan Taylor, five-year NFL veteran and former rushing leader, made an error so basic calling it a “rookie mistake” would have been gross understatement. He dropped the ball at the goal line, taking what should have been an easy touchdown off the board in a blowout loss to the Denver Broncos.
Taylor didn’t make the same mistake in Week 16. With head coach Shane Steichen entrusting him with Indianapolis’s slim playoff hopes, Taylor answered the bell.
The former All-Pro tailback out-touched quarterback Anthony Richardson 29 to 21 despite not having a single target in the passing game. His 218 rushing yards were the second-most in his career and biggest performance since the end of the 2020 campaign.
The reasons for this explosion are multiple. On one hand, his blocking was clean, leading to untouched long runs like this.
This all helped the Colts hang on despite giving up 23 unanswered points to end this game. Taylor was the foundation that allowed Anthony Richardson to have a very Anthony Richardson game. He kept his eyes downfield and threw clutch passes for big gains.
His seven of 11 performance led to 131 passing yards and a touchdown — his second game of 2024 in which he’s thrown at least five passes and completed more than half of them. He added 70 more yards and a touchdown on the ground.
This is the best case scenario for the 2024 Colts. Richardson is a frustrating and flawed passer. The former case is heightened by the fact he can occasionally spin truly special plays out of thin air. He’s early stage Josh Allen, a quarterback who never looked like he’d quite put things together in the NFL until he suddenly did.
Indianapolis tried to bring out his best like the Bills did with Allen, only instead of one All-Pro wideout they gave him a cache of valuable wideouts with lower ceilings in more defined roles. Throwing to Michael Pittman, A.D. Mitchell and Josh Downs hasn’t led to a revolution, but leaning on a revived Taylor could create the runway the dynamic young passer needs for takeoff. It’s happened before with worse players than Richardson.
It’s what happened Sunday as well. While it also created a late scoring drought that nearly gave way to an epic Mason Rudolph Titans comeback (a truly cursed five-word string), it was a viable strategy against an average Tennessee run defense.
The Colts aren’t fixed, and that 23-0 run from Rudolph was proof. But with a 17 percent shot to make the postseason, they may have landed on a strategy that clears a path to a winning record and possibly more. One that doesn’t rely on Richardson having to do too much on any given week.
5. Geno Smith and Sam Darnold had a heavyweight fight while the New York Jets languished in bantamweight hell
Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Smith came into Week 16’s Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota Vikings showdown hurt thanks to a tweaked knee. Sam Darnold eventually joined him there with finger and ankle injuries. This should have made this game a slog, instead, it was remarkable.
Smith and Darnold exchanged the lead four times in the second half. Each through three touchdown passes, the last coming with under four minutes to play on an absolutely beautiful throw from an about-to-be-crushed Darnold.
Darnold finished his day with 246 yards and three touchdowns without a turnover. Smith had 314 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, one of which came on a last-gasp deep heave trailing by three with no timeouts remaining in the final seconds. On a day where neither rushing attack averaged better than 3.9 yards per carry, this 27-24 showdown was a quarterback battle all the way.
This was a great win for the Vikings, a tough loss for the Seahawks and yet again more lemon juice in the never-closing wounds of the New York Jets. Both Darnold and Smith were supposed to be New York’s franchise quarterbacks in the 2010s. Both left after embarrassing stints in green and white. Both needed several years to wash the Jets stink from their games.
In one game, two former New York quarterbacks had as many three-touchdown performances as the Jets have had, total, in the last two years. Hours earlier, the latest link in a poorly-pasted chain of Dollar Tree construction paper loops, Aaron Rodgers, led New York to a touchdown drive on his first possession and zero more after that. His offense turned the ball over on downs three times, all of which happened before the final eight minutes of the game.
Rodgers dropped back to pass on third down 13 times. He picked up enough yards for a first down only five times. One of these failures was a baffling display of poor awareness that would have been shocking in the 2010s.
Aaron Rodgers, fully committing to making “no self awareness” his entire brand
The Jets thought they were getting greatness and were forced, again, to settle for mediocrity. The Seahawks and Vikings bought low on former Jets quarterbacks in backup roles, expecting mediocrity. They’ve gotten performances ranging from “acceptable” to “legitimately great” since their New York castoffs were elevated to starting roles by unexpected circumstances.
Neither Smith nor Darnold played even close to this level as Jets. Since leaving, they’ve flourished in glorious, occasionally baffling ways. I don’t know what that means overall, but it does suggest Zach Wilson is gonna have one hell of a 2028 for the Miami Dolphins.
6. Ben Johnson is a mad man
Detroit Free Press
We already broke this into its own post. But I am going to repeat it because it bears repeating; this is lunatic behavior.
The Detroit Lions do not need trick plays to beat the Chicago Bears. But offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s playbook is so thick with skullduggery he can afford to cast a few gadget plays out every week without ever giving up the plot to the NFL spy novel he writes on the field each Sunday. Sometimes that means Jared Goff has to pretend to fall down just to make a touchdown throw 15 percent easier. Other times it means the Lions’ swing tackle is able to become a red zone threat.
This makes the Lions an inscrutable team. They can beat you with a 1940s offense after averaging better than 4.6 yards per carry this fall. They can beat you with Goff, currently playing like a top-four quarterback. Or they can devise a play where each member of the offensive line laterals the ball backward, Sam LaPorta fakes a free kick and Jahmyr Gibbs, hidden under a trench coat and glasses, quietly walks into the end zone for six points.
Crap, I think I just gave away the ending to Super Bowl 59.
7. Fantasy team you absolutely didn’t want to field in Week 16
Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
QB: Matthew Stafford, Rams (110 passing yards, one touchdown, one interception, -4 rushing yards, 9.8 fantasy points)
RB: Brian Robinson Jr., Commanders (24 rushing yards, two catches, 17 receiving yards, two fumbles lost, 2.1 fantasy points)
RB: Isiah Pacheco, Chiefs (26 rushing yards, one catch, -1 receiving yards, 3.5 fantasy points)
WR: Jerry Jeudy, Browns (two catches, 20 yards, 4.0 fantasy points)
While both of these teams boasted high-powered offenses, the Steelers’ defense has recently showcased a loss of identity. The Lamar Jackson-led Ravens offense produced over 400 yards in the Steelers’ loss, and the Eagles accomplished the same the previous week.
Back in November, the Steelers held the Ravens to 16 total points compared to the 34-17 blowout loss in Week 16. What truly changed—and should fans begin to panic?
It is understandable that exhaustion has set in for the Black and Gold, as the team is currently in the midst of playing three games against Super Bowl contenders in just a 10-day span.
Injuries are also a likely cause, with the team missing CB Joey Porter Jr., CB Donte Jackson, DT Larry Ogunjobi, and SS DeShon Elliott. Their absences impact all facets of the defensive side of the ball.
With the Steelers’ playoff spot clinched, keeping the team healthy should be the primary concern rather than forcing players who are less than 100% to play injured.
Don’t worry, Steelers fans—this defense will reign supreme once again!
