Monday marks the celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving.
But Chase Claypool started his celebration a little early.
The Steelers' top pick in this draft had his official coming out party on Sunday, catching seven passes for 110 yards and not one, not two, but three touchdowns while also scoring on an end around, setting the franchise rookie record for touchdowns in a game. The exceptional performance helped the Steelers improve to 4-0 for first time since 1979 with a 38-29 win over the Eagles at Heinz Field.
Claypool became the first Canadian-born player since Joe Rooney of the Duluth Eskimos in 1927 to have three receiving touchdowns in an NFL game. He also became just the fourth rookie since the 1970 NFL merger to have at least two receiving touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in the same game.
"We were texting on Friday as I was looking at film and sending him clips and talking about it with him through texts," said Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. "I forget if he said it or I said it, but we were talking about a specific play, and I told him, 'Hey, you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to have a big game. I'm glad it came to fruition."
In spades.
Heck, even when the Roethlisberger and Claypool didn't connect -- such as on this 33-yard play in the third quarter that was initially ruled a completion before being overturned via replay -- it was an exciting play:
It was a surprising game for the rookie, who was targeted 11 times in the game -- or two more than he had in the Steelers' first three games.
"Nothing to this magnitude," Claypool, who is nicknamed "Mapletron," said when asked if he felt this was coming. "Something like this, you can never predict. But you always go into the game thinking that you're going to have a really big day ... But I never would have predicted this outcome."
And the Steelers needed every one of those plays against a plucky Eagles team that has struggled with injuries, sending 15 players to injured reserve already this season.
But the Eagles (1-3-1) still have running back Miles Sanders and quarterback Carson Wentz. And for a while, it looked like that might just be enough to pull off the upset.
Though the Steelers sacked Wentz five times and hit him on 11 occasions behind a makeshift line, he stood in the pocket and delivered some great passes to a receiving corps so depleted that Travis Fulgham, who had been waived by both the Lions and Packers earlier this season, was getting plenty of snaps.
Fulgham had 10 catches for 152 yards, including a 4-yard touchdown that came in the fourth quarter and pulled the Eagles to within 31-29 after the Steelers had gone ahead 31-17 early in the third quarter.
"Who?" asked cornerback Steven Nelson when asked about what made Fulgham so difficult to cover.
When told he wore No. 13, Nelson replied the Steelers had spent time preparing for starters Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson, both of whom practiced during the week but did not play in this game.
That was no excuse, however, to allow the Eagles to convert 10 of 14 third downs, including 10 in a row after forcing Philadelphia to go three-and-out on its first two possessions.
"Their ability to convert third downs offensively I thought was a significant component of the game," said Mike Tomlin. "Some of it was self-inflicted by us in penalties and missed tackles and so forth. You've got to give their guys credit, they had a good plan, good execution of the plan, and that allowed them to keep possession of the ball and keep us at bay and stay in it."
They stayed in it until Claypool and Roethlisberger took the Eagles out of it.
Claypool had a touchdown catch negated by an iffy offensive pass interference penalty with 7:15 remaining, but Roethlisberger kept going to the rookie second-round draft pick. Though that possession ended with a punt, the Steelers defense finally got its first third-down stop since the first quarter when Joe Haden broke up a third-and-five pass intended for Fulgham. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson inexplicably sent placekicker Jake Elliott out to attempt a 57-yard field goal.
The kick was wide right and gave the Steelers the ball back at midfield with 3:18 remaining and a two-point lead. That's when Claypool put an exclamation point on his game.
With their conventional running game stifled by the Eagles' defensive front in the second half -- running backs gained 27 yards on 12 second-half carries -- Roethlisberger was throwing while trying to close out the game.
That appeared to be an issue when Eric Ebron, who had fumbled with the Eagles recovering on the Steelers' previous possession, went up to get a second-down pass from Roethlisberger and had the ball knocked loose by safety Marcus Epps. The ball was initially ruled to have been intercepted by linebacker Nathan Geary and returned to the 45.
But replay clearly showed the ball on the ground. Given a reprieve, the Steelers huddled up for a third-down play from the 35, needing a few yards to make it an easier field-goal attempt for Chris Boswell or eight yards for a first down.
They got 35, as Claypool, playing in the slot, was matched up on Geary. He ran by him at the snap, then shot past the deep safety for an easy 35-yard touchdown catch that sealed the deal for the Steelers:
Having never lined up in the slot out of this particular formation, Claypool doubled checked with the veteran quarterback.
"I had one thing in mind, but I wanted to be sure because it was a crucial point in the game," Claypool said. "He just told me, and he kind of told the whole defense, which was my fault, but it worked out."
Roethlisberger was pleased with the rookie's progress.
"That last touchdown is a perfect example," the quarterback said. "(We) changed the play and he makes it happen. I just have to give him a little bit of a cue on it, and it's awesome. I'm really proud of the way he's playing."
Earlier in the season, the two hooked up on an 84-yard touchdown pass in a Week 2 win over the Broncos. But this game was all Claypool, all the time.
"It was a great route, double move with a receiver on a linebacker," said Pederson. "They caught us, I think, in a two-deep look at that point, and just a double move on Nate. It was a tough call there, well executed by them for the score."
There was a lot of that in this game. While Steelers fans might lament the fact the Eagles were so good on third downs, they should realize the Steelers offense matched the Eagles third-down conversion for third-down conversion.
Roethlisberger, who was 27 of 34 for 239 yards and three touchdowns, didn't have an incompletion on third down in the game as the Steelers went 11 of 15 on possession downs.
"I'm still missing the deep ball too much," Roethlisberger said in a critique of his game. "Still overthrowing. I know last week I talked about it and said I'd rather overthrow it than underthrow it. But I've got to figure it out."
One thing he finally figured out was to get the ball to Claypool.
With Dionate Johnson leaving in the first half with a back injury, Claypool became the Steelers' go-to receiver.
He scored on a 2-yard jet sweep on the Steelers' second possession for a 7-0 lead and it looked like that might be good enough to hold up considering the Eagles had gone three-and-out on their first two possessions, posting negative yardage.
But on third-and-nine on their third possession, the Eagles ran a draw to Sanders, who sidestepped a tackle attempt by Mike Hilton in the backfield, then bolted 74 yards through the secondary for a touchdown.
The Steelers were in man coverage in the secondary and Steven Nelson and Terrell Edmunds couldn't get off blocks 30 yards downfield to get the speedy Sanders on the ground:
"We had an overload five-man blitz from the strong side," said Vince Williams. "That was a great game plan by them. We've got to get them on the ground. Miles Sanders did a great job."
That seemed to spur the Eagles to life.
Though Roethlisberger answered with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Claypool -- who else? -- the Eagles answered with a score of their own, getting a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Sanders on a drive that was kept alive when Bud Dupree missed a third-down sack of Wentz and not only hit a 9-yard pass to Fulgham, but drew a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on Williams.
But the Steelers regained the lead, as Boswell booted a 41-yard field goal just after the two-minute warning for a 17-14 lead.
Roethlisberger then directed a 75-yard scoring drive to open the second half, getting a 58-yard run on a jet sweep from Ray-Ray McCloud, who also saw more snaps with Johnson sidelined.
McCloud was tackled at the 5 and after a first-down pass to Claypool was batted down, the Steelers lined the rookie up in the backfield, then motioned him out to Roethlisberger's left, where he joined a bunch formation that already included tight end Vance McDonald and running backs James Conner and Trey Edmunds.
Roethlisberger made a quick toss to Claypool, who bolted into the end zone for a 24-14 lead that was extended even more when Nelson recorded the first of his two interceptions on the Eagles' next possession. That turnover set up a 1-yard Conner run that made it 31-14. The Steelers seemed ready to cruise to a win, especially when Hilton sacked Wentz on first down to open the following possession.
But Wentz connected with Fulgham for a 31-yard gain on third-and-12, then picked up a 26-yard pass interference penalty on Haden to set up an 8-yard touchdown pass to Greg Ward.
The Eagles went for a two-point conversion and Wentz found John Hightower in the back of the end zone to make it 31-22. The Eagles quarterback finished with 258 yards passing, two touchdowns and two interceptions despite being sacked five times and hit on 11 occasions.
It wasn't the most pretty of victories, but it was a win nonetheless and it sets up a key matchup between the Steelers and Browns (4-1) next week at Heinz Field that will complete the Steelers' forced four-game home stand because of COVID-19 cancellations.
"We won the game, that's all that matters," Roethlisberger said. "That's the most important thing."