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Week 3 Game Recap: Pittsburgh Steelers 6, Philadelphia Eagles 15
What you need to know
| Pittsburgh Steelers |
QB Ben Roethlisberger was under intense pressure for the entire game, being sacked six times in the first half alone. Game situations forced the Steelers to pass often early, evidenced by just six rushing attempts in the first half. The second half, limited by poor field position, Roethlisberger could not get any time to make any downfield throws, and was held to just 131 yards. QB Byron Leftwich threw for 60 yards in mop up duty after Roethlisberger left with a hand issue (x-rays were negative). Pittsburgh will undoubtedly see more blitz calls by future defenses until they show they can handle it better.
RB Willie Parker had a very quiet game and was not a priority in the offense. Pittsburgh was not able to get him the ball in space and normally productive stretch play runs were snuffed out by the quickness of the Eagles' Defensive line. Backup RB Rashard Mendenhall was not a major factor either, with no carries and only two targets.
WR Hines Ward was unable to jump start Steelers' passing game early. Press coverage by the Eagles' secondary held the normally productive receiver to just four receptions and well under ten yards a catch. Pittsburgh receivers in general lacked aggressiveness and were often seen looking back into the backfield to see if their quarterback was in trouble. This caused them to break off routes and limited run after the catch yards.
| Philadelphia Eagles |
QB Donovan McNabb was extremely accurate, connecting on his first 15 passing attempts. However, turnovers were costly, denying the Eagles early scoring attempts. McNabb was injured in the first half on a sack and did not come out for the start of the second half. He eventually did return but looked somewhat limited physically. Also, given the Eagles played with the lead for mostly the entire game, he did not have to go deep down the field and had only two plays of 20 yards or more.
WR Hank Baskett led all Eagles pass catchers with nine targets. However, McNabb stayed true to form and spread the ball around to seven receivers. He did come up with some clutch catches over the middle and kept drives alive.
Starting RB Brian Westbrook left the game early in the first half with an apparent ankle injury and did not return. He had only five carries for 12 yards and did not catch a pass. Backup RB Correll Buckhalter proved to be an effective replacement, especially in the passing game. He took a swing pass up the sidelines in the second quarter for the game's only touchdown. He ended up with over 80 total yards.
What you ought to know
| QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pass: 13 - 25 - 131 - 0 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 4 - 6 - 0 |
The Pittsburgh game plan looked to establish the passing game early and Ben Roethlisberger was able to connect on five short passes on the opening drive which eventually turned into a field goal. After that, he only had eight completions over the rest of the game, despite numerous attempts. Eagles blitzers made Roethlisberger bring the ball down numerous times and he was basically running for his life. He was not able to make any plays when the pocket broke down, something he has done often in his career. Press coverage on the outside made big plays hard to come by, with the longest gain just 16 yards. On one rare deep ball, Roethlisberger forced a pass into double coverage and the result was a CB Asante Samuel interception. The Steelers' offensive line was porous and had numerous false start and holding penalties. Poor play calling was also in evidence with few screens and draws called to slow down the Eagle attack.
| RB Willie Parker, Rush: 13 - 20 - 0 |
Willie Parker was hemmed in all day by the Eagles defense. He was unable to get anything going and had no space to run. His longest gain was just eight yards and often he was hit in the backfield. Blitzing linebackers took away his speed and he could not get to the outside. RB Rashard Mendenhall had no carries and was targeted twice, catching one ball. He made an obvious mistake in pass protection leading to a hit on Roethlisberger. After that, he was not in the game very much. RB Mewelde Moore and FB Kerry Davis, each had one carry and the Steelers' running backs were not involved in the passing game.
| WR Nate Washington, Rec: 5 - 51 - 0 (8 targets) |
Washington did most of his damage on the final drive when Leftwich was in the game. He did get a few deep looks during the game, including the interception mentioned earlier.
| WR Hines Ward, Rec: 4 - 34 - 0 (9 targets) |
Hines Ward had several balls thrown his way, but a strong pass rush prevented much accuracy by Roethlisberger, so many were incomplete. He caught a few short and intermediate passes in the first half and did get the lone target in the red zone in the first quarter. The passing game was totally ineffective so owners should not read too much into the unproductive results from Ward this week.
| WR Santonio Holmes, Rec: 3 - 32 - 0 (8 targets) |
Holmes was the victim of Roethlisberger's many incomplete passes throughout of the game. His first and second catch was on back to back plays in the first quarter, a 16 yarder and a six yarder. After that, only one more catch for ten yards came his way. Numerous balls thrown were uncatchable. QB Byron Leftwich took over for Roethlisberger.
| TE Heath Miller, Rec: 4 - 63 - 0 (4 targets) |
Miller caught one pass on the first drive and then was mostly active in the fourth quarter where he picked up over half of his yards on the final drive when Leftwich was in the game and the Eagles did not blitz much. Miller was kept in to block a lot and that limited his opportunities.
| PK Jeff Reed 2 - 2 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 6 points |
Reed hit a 37 yard field goal early and a 53 yard field goal late in the first half. He had no other opportunities.
| PIT Rush Defense |
The Steelers held the Eagles' rushers to under three yards a carry. The loss of Westbrook and the pass-oriented emphasis of the game plan made the Eagles throw significantly on first down, so running plays were limited.
| PIT Pass Defense |
The Pittsburgh pass rush was solid recording three sacks and other QB pressures. SS Troy Polamalu made an athletic interception and CB Bryan McFadden added another.
| QB Donovan McNabb, Pass: 24 - 35 - 196 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 2 - -2 - 0 |
McNabb came out throwing the short passes often seen in Philadelphia's offense early and marched the Eagles on an 85 yard drive in the second quarter for the game's first score. An earlier drive looked equally as promising, but was snuffed out by a fumble by FB Tony Hunt. McNabb was steady in the pocket, but never looked to take off and run. Only two passes were 20 yards or more and very few deep pass plays were called. An attempted flea-flicker in the second quarter exposed McNabb to a big hit by LB Lamar Woodley driving his upper body into the turf. He was in obvious pain, but played through to halftime. It was later diagnosed as a chest injury. McNabb did not come out for second half warm-ups and was replaced for two series by backup QB Kevin Kolb. He did return and seemed to be less than 100 percent. Owners should keep an eye out for the upcoming week's injury news. Overall, it should be noted that the early loss of Westbrook took away McNabb's most significant weapon and impacted the Eagles' play calling.
| RB Correll Buckhalter, Rush: 10 - 43 - 0, Rec: 6 - 44 - 1 (6 targets) |
Buckhalter began the game as a compliment to Westbrook, seeing early action as a receiver out of the backfield. After Westbrook was hurt, that continued that trend and was a major factor. His best play was a swing pass on a third and long where he beat LB James Harrison and took off down the sideline's for the game's lone touchdown. Buckhalter was also productive in the running game and had a healthy 4.3 yard per rush average. If the injury to Westbrook extends beyond this game, Buckhalter would be a useful waiver wire target. Third stringer RB Lorenzo Booker picked up 11 yards on carries.
| RB Brian Westbrook, Rush: 5 - 12 - 0 |
Westbrook came out on the first drive and carried the ball just three times, held to limited gains. The second drive where he was injured produced only two more carries. His injury was to his ankle on a freak play where one foot landed on the back leg of another player and he could not get his balance. He limped off, took some treatment on the sideline, and walked very gingerly into the locker room and did not return.
| WR Hank Baskett, Rec: 8 - 85 - 0 (8 targets) |
Baskett ended up with the best day among Eagle receivers making the most of his opportunities. Donovan McNabb looked for him in the middle of the field, and he was able to take some big hits to keep drives alive. His best play came in the second quarter where he took in a third and long catch which eventually led to the Buckhalter TD score.
| WR DeSean Jackson, Rush: 1 - 1 - 0, Rec: 5 - 40 - 0 (7 targets) |
Jackson was not a major factor this week coming off previous big games. His small stature presents problems for him being able to break tackles and he could not find much open space against the normally physical Steelers' secondary. 18 of his total yards came on one play.
| WR Jason Avant, Rec: 2 - 24 - 0 (4 targets) |
Avant caught his first target at the start of the game, a 19 yard catch on a third down, but did not get his second catch until late in the second half.
| TE L.J. Smith (2 targets) |
Smith did not make a catch but earned a red zone target, one where a low throw from McNabb was not caught. That led to a field goal. His other target, this time from Kolb, was intercepted.
| PK David Akers 2 - 2 FG, 1 - 1 XP, 7 points |
Akers hit a pair of 31 yard field goals and connected on his lone extra point. He had no other opportunities.
| PHI Rush Defense |
The Steelers posted just 33 rushing yards on 19 attempts. Philadelphia was able to limit RB Willie Parker by consistently getting penetration and keeping him from the perimeter where he usually can be effective. Coming out in the third quarter, Pittsburgh tried to establish Parker, but to little real yardage. Later, the field position and score prevented many running plays.
| PHI Pass Defense |
The Eagles pass rush made its presence felt early on in the game and clearly dominated play. They were able to pressure and hit QB Ben Roethlisberger seemingly at will and only his athletic ability kept the sack totals under double digits. They ended up with seven sacks, two forced fumbles and a safety.
