Eagles Vs Steelers Review

Suffice to say, after what happened in week two, the pass defense and special teams both had a lot of explaining to do. And, on top of that, they also had to reinvent themselves in the matter of five days (since the Monday Night Game nearly lasted until way early Tuesday Morning, for us on the East Coast at any rate) and get ready for a team who was storming in at 2-0, that being the Pittsburgh Steelers. In fact, the situation kind of reminded me one of them old Looney Tunes cartoons, featuring Wily E. Coyote and the Roadrunner, wherein, the Eagles after week two looked like Wily E. would, flying down into the pit and blowing up. But in a rather unusual paradox, the collective units dusted themselves into a dust pan and went back to the Acme Factory to be turned into a machine.

And at this point, it was Big Ben who became Wily E.

All cartoon kidding aside, both special teams and the defense showed up to bail out the offense, which struggled as the game went on after losing three players to injury (although one would return) and both the D and teams stepped up to the plate as the Eagles defeated the Steelers 15-6 at the Linc, dealing not only the Steelers their first loss of the season, but also the first loss in our new(er) stadium (built in 2003, we played at Heinz Field in our last season game with Pittsburgh in 2004). One would almost have to feel for Ben Roethlisberger (who will be referred to as Big Ben from here on out, because trying to copy his name from this game book to spell it is infuriating to my simple mind) who seemingly was in the scope of 11 hunters as if he was nothing more then a deer on the first day of hunting season. And going into this game, all I heard from the local Pittsburgh media was how GREAT the offensive line looked as opposed to 2007...uh, are you SERIOUS? Oh, I know, maybe it was because they are used to stopping 3-4 defenses who play base, and not 4-3 defenses that incorporate more blitzes then you have chances to throw a clean pass? Oh, and the antics of Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Big Ben after what happened when he was in the end zone have caused me to contemplate a new award for my column, which I might use when I see fit…THE CRYBABY OF THE GAME AWARD! Seriously, was there THAT much of a need to put on THAT kind of spectacle over the call when Walt Anderson made it? It was the right call: I know it and you two sordid kids know it too! Now then, on to the review!

Quarterbacks: Let me start this section my saying that I have never been afraid of the future. I embrace this change over from TV to digital TV programming on February 24th, 2009, I look forward to seeing who becomes the new President of the United States, and yes, I want to see if the conspiracy theorists who said the world was going to end in 2000 are right when they say it will NOW be 2012. But one thing scares me about the future, and that is Kevin Kolb playing in the present! I know he looked pretty good against St. Louis in the last nine minutes in week one, but damn it, that was the Rams, and this is the Steelers! That pass he forced to Hank Baskett, and the mega-hard pass he tossed that hit LJ Smith in the hands and ended up with Troy Polamalu was too awkward to see as well. If you are wondering why I am talking about this now, reason is Donovan McNabb got hurt and missed a few plays to start the third quarter, as Kevin hit two of three for 18 yards and the pick off, while McNabb, who appeared to hurt his shoulder on a duo sack on the last play of the 1st quarter but remained in the game until the half, was 24 of 35 for 68.6% with 196 yards and a touchdown and an interception for an 80.2 QB rating. Honestly, when McNabb returned in the third quarter, I was singing Halleluiah praises! Although, the only question I have for McNabb was, “What were you looking off when you hit Bryant McFadden on the numbers?” That isn’t a pass Donovan is very often known to throw as he missed Jackson by about 10 yards over his head.
McNabb Grade: B (85%)
Kolb Grade: C- (70%)

Running and Full Backs: You could tell it was going to be one of them days where nothing was going to go right here. On the final play of the first drive, Tony Hunt was put out of the game with what appeared to be a concussion after Steelers End Orpheus Roye CLEARLY led with his helmet to hit Hunt in the helmet, forcing a “fumble” but more importantly injuring him. And after the final play of the 1st quarter when McNabb landed oddly, the first play of the second quarter saw Brian Westbrook land hard after he tried to jump over tackle Tra Thomas so he didn’t tramp on him, and in effect hurt his ankle landing. Now according to Westwood One Radio and NBC, the GOOD news is that he didn’t break his ankle according to the MRI he had taken after the incident, but I am not sure just how long he will miss. In his place, Correll “General” Buckhalter carried the ball ten times for 43 yards on the ground, but his most valuable hand came in catching the ball (sound familiar at all?) as he caught six passes, good for second best on the team, with 44 yards and the game’s only touchdown, a nifty little leaping move where he did a Rob Van Dam like single kick motion to the head of a Steelers safety. Westbrook had five carries for 12 yards before his injury with no catches, while Lorenzo Booker ran the ball five times for 11 yards and grabbed two passes as well as Hunt did before he hurt his head as well.
Unit Grade: B- (80%)

Wide Outs: Yeah, notice I DIDN’T add tight ends here (wonder why). One little thing about us spreading the ball around is that someone is always going to have the “big” game: where as we had three receivers top 100 yards in week one and DeSean Jackson did it again in week two, Hank Baskett took the lead this week, as he roped in eight passes for 85 yards, finally getting more opportunities to stretch the field and use his size to his advantage. Now, all we need to do is get that working in the red zone now! Speaking of Jackson, he caught five passes for 40 yards and had a receiver reverse which COULD have done some damage, but instead only went for one yards on the run. Jason Avant had two receptions for 24 yards, including 19 of them on a 3rd and 17 situation in the second quarter, and Greg Lewis had one grab for four yards. Oh, and that playmaking tight end of ours that is eating up 4.5 million with the franchise tag was good enough to drop a pass which was in his hands in the end zone: guess he was afraid of getting hit, but he did anyway. And on top of THAT even, it says Reggie Brown played today, but it is funny, I only remember him staying inside on a pass route when Donny threw it outside.
Receivers Grade: B- (80%)

Offensive line: Going into the game, I was pretty sure that facing yet another 3-4 defense would bear a pretty similar result as the Dallas game did last week, but to my surprise, with the exception of Jon Runyan not being able to slow down Lamar Woodley, that wasn’t what I saw. In fact, out of the Steelers three total sacks, only one half of a sack was obtained by a defensive lineman as Travis Kirschke split one with linebacker Larry Foote. And yeah, the team only managed 65 yards rushing for the game, but you have to factor in that we only ran the ball 23 times as opposed to passing it 38 times as well. And you also must consider that the team also didn’t get in any practices with Jamaal Jackson, who’s brother was killed by a drunk driver, and Shawn Andrews missed the game with an injury, putting Max Jean-Giles in at right guard, and they didn’t miss a beat at all. Impressive, considering they form a 1-2 punch inside at C-RG.
Unit Grade: A- (90%)

Defensive Line: Now THIS Ladies (Uh, I don’t think we have any here on the board however) and gentlemen was the force we ALL had envisioned when we kept who we did to rotate and cycle linemen in and out. Out of the defense’s nine total sacks, the defensive line pushed out 6.5 of them and out of the 11 quarterback hurries, they accounted for nine of them. Creating mismatches with the “improved” Steelers offensive line at large was Juqua Parker, who threw Right Tackle Willie Colon aside like he was thin air as he collected five tackles to co-led the line and also 2.5 of the sacks and also posted four hurries, two tackles for a loss, a pass defense, and a forced fumble while Trent Cole posted up five with him and a sack and QB hurry, although his was at the expense of face masking Big Ben (I dare say, his head on a swivel was pretty good looking though). Darren Howard, who has become the 3rd end of sorts for us, posted two tackles, a sack and a half, two quarterback hurries, and a tackle for a loss while Broderick Bunkley had one tackle for a solo sack and a hurry while he also recovered Parker’s forced fumble on Big Ben, while Dan Klecko had two tackles, a hurry, and split a sack, and Mike Patterson had one assist tackle. Oh, and on top of the sacks and hurry contributions, I would also say that holding the Steelers ground game to ONLY 33 yards rushing and forcing six total tackles for a loss in the run department is huge as well, considering Willie Parker ran for 100 or more yards in weeks one and two.
Unit Grade: A+ (100%)

Linebackers: Moving back to WILL linebacker probably meant that Omar Gaither would have less of an overall impact on the game, except for when you run across a team that makes a living out of running to the outside with guys like Willie Parker, and sending their tight ends like Heath Miller weak. Pittsburgh would be that team, and Gaither played like he was at MIKE in 2007 again, dishing out seven tackles, two quarterback hurries, two pass defenses, one and a half sacks, and one tackle for a loss while Stewart Bradley had six tackles (all solo) but also included three tackles for a loss, mostly VIA putting a hurting on Silly Willie. And of the one most irrelevant, Chris Gocong contributed one tackle to the game: either teams are afraid to run anything at him, or Bradley and Gaither just still everything from him!
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Secondary: Now then, just WHO is washed up again? If you tell me Brian Dawkins is washed up one more time, I swear I will hit you in the head with my pretty yellow and red colored two-sided fiberglass hammer! I got to think that Parker, Big Ben, Miller, and Nate Washington would ALL agree that Dawkins is anything BUT freaking washed up on Sunday as he collected seven tackles, a sack which also forced fumble and as an added bonus, he ALSO picked his own up, and he also collected two tackles for a loss as well. Quintin Mikell, who joins him as his fellow head pounding safety in crime, actually lead the team with eight tackles while Asante Samuel had five tackles on the game with two pass defenses and collected his second interception in as many games, covering Washington like a blanket and reading Big Ben like a book (nothing new, go back and look at them Patriots-Steelers games). Lito Sheppard had three tackles while both Joselio Hanson and Sheldon Brown were limited to only one tackle, a testament to how well they covered, but on the other hand I am upset because I REALLY wanted to see Brown rack Hines Ward like he did Jackson and Bush (Evil Grin)!
Unit Grade: A+ (98%)

Special Teams: Another unit that got chewed up and spit out by the writer last week did FAR better this week then it did last week, most notably in coverage of Steelers punt and kick returns. David Akers hit two field goal tries both conveniently from 31-yards away while Sav Rocca used his new found accuracy as well as his booming foot, punting five times (all in the second half) averaging 44.4 yards a kick while netting only one yard less a punt, putting three of them inside the twenty, and uncorking a 64-yarder when we were pinned inside our own 15-yard line. In fact, only ONE of them punts were returned by Santonio Holmes for five yards: two were fair caught, one sailed out at the six yard line, and another was downed at the Steelers 10-yard line. Quintin Demps had two kick returns averaging 29 yards per clip while Jackson had two punt returns of his own, averaging 5.5 yards a return while fair catching three of them.
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Coaching: I am not sure what Jim Johnson and Rory Seagrest did or said to their respective units (with Jim, I am sure it was colorful) but whatever they did or said worked for this week. The blitzes were aplenty on defense, and the pressure from the front seven was what we should come to expect, almost like a “Gang Green” type dominance. And Rashard Mendenhall only averaged 24 yards a kick return, as did Carey Davis on one, and you already know Holmes’ numbers. Just a far better job today by the staff, I really applaud them two coaches in particular.
Unit Grade: A (95%)

Ripper’s Three Game Balls:
3. Donovan McNabb: The interception put a damper on his day in which he overthrew Jackson, but he pitched the only touchdown in the process and also returned from a pretty hard fall he took.
2. Sav Rocca: One thing (and probably the only thing) that Phil Simms said that I agreed with was, “Sometimes, your punter can be your team MVP.” And two times when the game was still close in the fourth quarter prior to that safety and the field goal did Rocca walk into this moniker: his 63-yarder was a thing of beauty, as was the one which sailed out right by Holmes at the Steelers six yard line.
1. The ENTIRE Defense: Nothing was weak: when you pressure the quarterback from the front four, the linebackers can free lance, and the secondary can cover and read plays easier. A truly and simply amazing domino effect!
Honorable Mention: The Steelers line (for sucking) and Correll Buckhalter

Numbers and Stats of Interest:
-With his touchdown pass to Correll Buckhalter in the second quarter, Donovan passed Ron “JAWS” Jaworski for first place on the Eagles franchise list for most touchdowns in his career here: the completion gave him his 177th TD pass.
-McNabb started the game off completing his first 15 passes. Also, his passes without an interception streak was snapped at 122 straight passes.
-The Eagles first safety of the year came under dubious but well called circumstances: Big Ben was pressured by Cole in the end zone, throwing the ball away and still inside the pocket with no receiver in sight. Since he was in the end zone already, the penalty has to be enforced from where he was, thus giving the Eagles the safety and, at that point, a 12-6 lead.
-It was a rough first drive to open the 3rd quarter for Pittsburgh: on a drive which only lasted 1:05, the Steelers were flagged FOUR times on three plays, two penalties in a row on second down (delay of game and false start), and two at the same time on third down (illegal forward pass and holding). Funny thing is on the holding and false start, left guard Chris Kemoeatu was the guilty party. Yeah, you know, the guy they BANKED on replacing an 8-time pro bowler in Alan Faneca.
-Parker’s 20 yards rushing was his worst such total as a starter since week seven in 2006 against the Baltimore Ravens, when he ran for 28 yards.

Well, that does it for this column, as we leave this game behind and look forward to our Sunday Night Football game at Solider with the Chicago Bears. Yep, you know what this means…TV on for the action, muted, Field Pass on for Merrill Reese and Mike Quick for audio because my IQ drops when I hear John Madden and Al Michaels announce a game.