Travis Fulgham shines for Eagles, but comeback falls short as Steelers rookie outshines him

In most situations, Travis Fulgham's performance Sunday would make for a great story.

He was a training camp afterthought, promoted from the practice squad nine days ago, then has a 42-yard TD reception in his first game and follows that up with 10 catches for 152 yards and another touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"I’m just trying to do what I can," Fulgham said. "If (quarterback) Carson (Wentz) throws me the ball, just come down with it, and make the play."

And yet, the Eagles lost 38-29 to the Steelers on Sunday because Fulgham was outshined by Steelers rookie wide receiver Chase Claypool, who had four touchdown receptions.

That included the game clincher, a 35-yard TD reception with 2:59 left after the Eagles had cut a 17-point deficit in the third quarter down to two points.

That dropped the Eagles to 1-3-1 on the season, but they're amazingly still in contention in the NFC East. Claypool's last touchdown came just 19 seconds after Jake Elliott missed a 57-yard field goal that would have given the Eagles their first lead of the game.

And it came, inexplicably, with Nate Gerry, a much slower linebacker, futilely trying to cover Claypool, who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds at the NFL combine last March.

Why was Gerry covering Claypool?

Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Claypool put a double-move on Gerry to get open. Pederson was asked again about having a linebacker on a wide receiver.

"Until I look at the tape, it’s hard to really comment," Pederson replied. "I can give you a better update (Monday)."

Safety Rodney McLeod was more succinct.

"It was a great call versus the coverage that we had," he said. "Ideally, would we like Nate to be on a receiver? No. We would prefer a defensive back. But that was a call that was made defensively, and they checked to a good play."

The Eagles made some good plays, too, just not enough of them to win. And critical mistakes once again plagued them.

In addition to Fulgham's performance, the Eagles got a 74-yard touchdown run from Miles Sanders in the first quarter. But Sanders' 10 other carries went for just 6 yards.

Wentz threw for 258 yards and 2 touchdowns. But he also threw 2 more interceptions, giving him 9 in 5 games. That's two more interceptions than Wentz had thrown all last season. His first interception, early in the third quarter while trying for tight end Zach Ertz, gave the Steelers the ball at the Eagles' 23. 

They scored a touchdown on that drive for a 31-14 lead with 10:23 left in the third quarter.

"Offensively, not the end result we wanted," Wentz said. "We left a handful of plays out there. I think offensively we did some good things. We got a good rhythm going. We converted a lot of third downs. Not how we want to finish, but some things we can definitely build on and getting into a rhythm."

That wasn't the case with tight end Zach Ertz, who continues to struggle. He had just 1 catch for 6 yards, giving him 5 catches for 15 in the last two games.

The Eagles didn't have many answers on defense, either.

In addition to not stopping Claypool, the defense allowed the Steelers to convert 11 of 15 third downs. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went 27 of 34 for 239 yards, 3 TDs and no interceptions. Claypool finished with 7 catches for 110 yards and 3 TDs. He also had a rushing touchdown.

Still, it would have been much worse for the Eagles without Fulgham, who was signed by the Eagles on Aug. 20 after he had been released that month by both the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers.

His 10 receptions Sunday matched that of J.J. Arcega-Whiteside's entire rookie season in 2019. Arcega-Whiteside was the Eagles' second-round pick that year. The 152 yards were the most receiving since Alshon Jeffery had 160 against the Rams in 2018.

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Fulgham was only playing because the Eagles' top three receivers of DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery and Jalen Reagor sat out with injuries.

Still, Fulgham nearly brought the Eagles back.

The Eagles made it 31-22 as Greg Ward caught an 8-yard TD pass with 5:58 left in the third quarter. Then Fulgham took over after the Steelers punted.

He caught back-to-back passes for 18 and 20 yards to get the Eagles into Steelers' territory to start the fourth quarter. He caught a pass for 13 yards later in the drive, down to the Steelers' 10. He then capped the drive with a 4-yard TD reception.

The Eagles were within 2 points with 11:27 left in the fourth quarter. They had a great chance to take the lead after linebacker Duke Riley forced a fumble by Steelers' tight end Eric Ebron that Cre'Von LeBlanc recovered at the Eagles' 45 with 6:19 left.

The Eagles faced a 3rd-and-5 at the Steelers' 39 when Wentz tried a slant to Fulgham, who couldn't hold the pass, leaving the Eagles to try a 57-yard field goal that missed to the right.

"That’s on me," Fulgham said. "I should’ve come up with that play to continue the drive and hopefully get the team to win."

Instead, Claypool did, again and again.

Sanders has Eagles' longest run in 20 years

Sanders' 74-yard TD run was the longest touchdown run by an Eagle since Oct. 1, 2000, when Brian Mitchell scored from 85 yards out against the Falcons. Mitchell also had an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown that day.

For Sanders, it was especially sweet. He grew up near Pittsburgh, and first played at Heinz Field as a freshman at Woodland Hills High School in the 2012 WPIAL championship game. He ran for 97 yards that day in a loss.

Lane Johnson, Darius Slay injured

Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson left the game in the third quarter with an injury, and reporters at the game saw him carted off the field. Also, cornerback Darius Slay left later in the third quarter and didn't return.

There was no update after the game about the severity of the injuries.

It's the second week in a row that Johnson has dealt with his troublesome ankle that required surgery in August. Rookie Jack Driscoll replaced him.

Slay was hurt trying to make a tackle. He hobbled off to the sideline. Craig James replaced him.

Hurts throws a pass

Rookie Jalen Hurts got in for a play midway through the third quarter, just as he has done on a few occasions each of the last three weeks.

This time, however, Hurts threw a pass, his first in the NFL. Hurts lined up in the shotgun and fired a pass to tight end Richard Rodgers for 18 yards down to the Steelers' 23 yard line.

Eagles inactives

The Eagles' inactives, in addition to Jackson and Jeffery, were CB Avonte Maddox, QB Nate Sudfeld, RB Jason Huntley, DE Casey Toohill and TE Hakeem Butler.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.