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Now, it's
Philly's turn
There’s only one undefeated team left in the NFL and, unfortunately for them, they have to show up in Heinz Field on Sunday.
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Super Bowl Preview?
Steelers look to end Philly streak
Article by Johna Klym (aka, "Hootie")
Ever since I was a little kid, I hated Halloween. I hated dressing up. I didn’t care that you got candy by going to the neighbor’s houses. I preferred to stay home and help my mom pass out candy. So Halloween was never an exciting time of the year for me.
Until this year.
As a present, the Steelers made me like Halloween by beating the ever-loving snot out of the streaking Patriots.
Now it’s the Eagles turn. We’ve ended the streaks of undefeated teams in the past. Remember the Jets of ’99? Everyone thought they were unbeatable. Until we trampled them on their home turf.
They thought that the ’04 Patriots might be the ’72 Dolphins and have a perfect season. We squashed that one, too.
There’s only one undefeated team left in the NFL and, unfortunately for them, they have to show up in Heinz Field on Sunday. We already beat them once this year in the pre-season on their turf. This time they have much more to contend with.
Obviously, they now have to worry about Ben Roethlisberger. Although I mean no disrespect to Tommy, there’s no way he could accomplish what Ben is doing right now. Ben is on fire and the scary thing is that he will only get better. His stellar game with no interceptions against the Patriots proved that. This kid cannot be rattled. The O-line is gelling, giving our QB the time he needs to assess the field and find his receivers. If not, we have the luxury of allowing him to scramble. Now that Duce is one of the offensive stars of a high-caliber team, look for him to shove the ball down the throat of his former teammates. For a team that is undefeated, the Eagles let the anemic offense of the Ravens score 10 points on them and make it a close game last week. I think we should be able to run all over their defense.
What turned into a bleeding defense in Pittsburgh last season has been shored up by the return of Dick LeBeau. In the game against the Patriots, I doubt anyone had seen that much blitzing since the German Blitzkrieg in World War II. I had hoped that we would fill in that cleft on Brady’s chin and we came pretty darn close. This week, we’ll be up against Donovan McNabb. Although he has fast feet, a strong arm, and a can’t miss receiver in T.O., I think our front line will apply enough pressure to McNabb to make his aim be totally off. Joey Porter turned up his game just in time last week. I hope this is the beginning of things to come. Though not vastly improved, our secondary is better. I see a lot of double coverage on T.O., and rightly so. I certainly don’t want to see him whipping a Sharpie out of his sock in the Heinz Field end zone. With the absence of Brian Westbrook – and Duce on our side – I also see us stopping any semblance of a running game that they might try to put together.
For the second week in a row, I am predicting the Steelers will take away another undefeated streak. I also am going way out on a limb and predicting that SB XXXIX will be a Keystone Bowl, with these two same-state rivals lining up against each other in Jacksonville.
Johna Klym
Mac & Wife is Hosted and Sponsored by Pittsburgh's Finest!
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Fan Smak & Analysis
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Leave YOUR Writing on the Wall! Sound off on our message board with your postgame critiques, analysis, ranting and raving about the last game as well as your predictions, smak, & insults about our upcoming opponent. Whether your message is a simple "Go Steelers" or detailed, in-depth analysis, tell us what you think! Note: Your comments will not show up on this page immediately.
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Author: Trigger
Comment: Re: Eagles Pre-Game
Hootie, EXCELLENT commentary! I Totally agree!!!
I'm think I'll take a trip to Jacksonville in a few months. Maybe the weekend of Feb. 6. wonder if there is anything going on down there that time of year?
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Author: rkind
Comment: Re: Eagles Pre-Game
Duce is going to have a monster game. The Eagles can not stop the run. Plus the motivation of being a former Eagle...
Many Eagle fans (on other boards) believe the Eagle blitz will rattle Big Ben. Well NE's blitz didn't. And when I have watched the Eagles this year they seem to blitz all or nothing. Ben will pick them apart.
On O the Eagles are good. Don't let TO get behind the secondary. Contain McNabb and knock him around a bit...
Steelers 27 Eagles 17
By the way nice Eagle pre-game article
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Author: EagleRob
Comment: ...that aenimic Ravens offense???
Yes, we allowed the Ravens to put up a ten spot on us. I fail to see why that should be held against us. If we hold every team to 10 points, we should finish the season undefeated. Oh yeah, btw, how many points did you allow the ravens to have? Hmmmm.....
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Author: Will
Comment: Re: ...Eagle Rob
IMO the Ravens are waaaaaayyyyyy overrated but keep in mind that when you guys played them they were without Ogden (thier best blocker), Lewis (thier best runner) and Heap (thier best receiver) on offense, they don't have much after that. Not that they really had anything to start with.
When we played them I think Ogden was out, but Maddox played poorly and we turned the ball over what? 4 times? It was ugly but we came out on top because we have Ben on the field due to that game. Can't wait to play those lamers again, it will not be pretty for the Ravens.
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Author: Will
Comment: Re: ...Eagle Prediction
The real key here is can the Steelers D contain McNabb and TO, If we can hold them in check it could be a long day for the Eagles.
31-17 Steelers
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Author: rkind
Comment: Re: ...Eagle Prediction
The Ravens did have ogden when they Played the Steelers.
BTW good call on your prediction, Will.
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Author: NOYFB
Comment: Re: ...Eagle Prediction
Based on Aikman’s Efficiency Rating (AER) only three NFL teams rank in the top-10 offensively and defensively; The Steelers, Eagles and the Patriots. The Steelers rank 8th offensively, 6th defensively the Eagles are 7th and 10th and the Patriots are 10th and 8th.
While looking for an angle in which to write about this week, I became frustrated with a lack of standout information that sets the Steelers apart from the Eagles. The Eagles are a very, very good team. But in my wanderings, I found a gem I feel the Steelers will use to their advantage on Sunday.
The Eagles are ranked 20th in rushing offense and only 17th in stopping the run. Of course this means the Steelers should pound the ball and run the clock right? Right. Run the clock as much as you can, because Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens (TO) can score fast and often.
The Eagles have scored 78 of their total points this year from beyond the red-zone. This is not to say the don’t operate well in the zone, they’ve scored a total of 186 points this year on 36-scoring drives for an 11.7 point average margin of victory. Point? They can score fast and often. Run the ball and the clock…get it?
McNabb has thrown 14 TD’s this season, 9 going to Terrell Owens and the rest to L.J. Smith and their TE Lewis. They have only 4 rushing TD’s, 2 of which actually came from their running backs, the other half are McNabb’s. They score a lot, but mostly through the air, and they do it fast and often. Run the ball Bill Cowher, and run it often.
Since 2000, the Eagles are 16-2 in road games and that, combined with their new addition Terrell Owens, means the Steelers will definitely have their hands full keeping the Eagles out of the end zone. One way they can do this is by running the ball and controlling the clock.
See, if they run the ball, it runs time off of the clock a lot faster, meaning a quicker game and less chance for McNabb and Owens to hook up. It’s a good, solid plan…Run the Ball. Control the Clock and win the game. Run, run, run. What a gem, eh?
Whitey
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Author: Tommy
Comment: Where Eagles Dare
Steelers ****45
Philly Cream Cheese O
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Author: Your name here
Comment: Coming soon
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