Steelers-Eagles Preview: Battle of the Keystone State
Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Harv Aronson. Contact Harv @ Totalsportsrecall@gmail.com
Week 15 in the NFL includes a game taking place in Pennsylvania that will determine who the best pro team in the state is. The Pittsburgh Steelers cross the state to Philadelphia to take on the 11-2 Eagles. The Steelers are just about as good at 10-3. This is a real test for both teams with the Eagles winners of nine straight also experiencing some locker room issues of late.
The two teams have a history dating back to the first game played in the Steelers’ first year of existence in 1933. The Eagles won that first game on November 19 by a score of 25-6. At that time, Pittsburgh’s team was not known as the Steelers but sharing the city’s baseball counterparts nickname, the “Pirates.” Walt Holmer was the quarterback for Pittsburgh and Elmer Schwartz as well as Mose Kelsch contributed to the running game. Since that first game the two teams have played 80 more games with Philadelphia winning 48 times, the Steelers 29 times, and there has been three ties.
There has been one playoff game between the two teams, but it was to break a tie for the division lead in 1947, a game the Steelers lost 21-0. Pittsburgh would not see a regular playoff game until they broke through 25 years later in 1972. In the series the Steelers have scored 30 or more points on Philadelphia four times with a 38-20 victory in 2020, their highest point total. The Eagles on the other hand have manhandled the Steelers multiple times, going over 30 points 16 times and over 40 three times. On December 12, 1965, Philadelphia blew out the Steelers in Pittsburgh at Forbes Field by a score of 47-13.
20 years earlier the Eagles were in the ‘Burgh for a visit and left with a 45-3 wipeout. During Chuck Noll’s rookie season in 1969, he took his team into Philly and went back home on the short end of a 41-27 loss. The Eagles have shut out the Steelers six times, the last goose egg coming on October 30, 1955, in Philadelphia that saw the final score 24-0. Twice Philadelphia has held the Steelers to just a field goal.
Have the Steelers ever tossed a shutout on the Eagles? Yes. They did it equally six times. The most recent game in which they kept Philadelphia off the scoreboard came in 1974, the year the Steelers won their first Super Bowl, and the game was at Three Rivers Stadium when Pittsburgh won 27-0. The Steelers have also limited Philadelphia to just a field goal on five separate occasions.
For those unaware, these two franchises combined forces in 1943 because of a shortage of players that went off to fight in World War II. They subsequently became known as the “Steagles” and had a mildly decent season finishing with a record of 5-4-1 good enough for third place in the NFL Eastern division. The head coach of the team was both coaches from each team, Greasy Neale from the Eagles, Walt Kiesling of the Steelers. Some of the key players that took the field that season for the Steagles were Allie Sherman from Philadelphia, Hugh McCullough who was a running back for the Steelers, Frank Kilroy who played both ways for the Eagles, and Elbie Schultz a Steeler.
The 1943 season would be the only season for the Steagles. The Steelers, however, for one season combined forces with the Chicago Cardinals and that combined team was terrible. In fact, the Chi/Pitt Cards/Steelers as they were known that year failed to win a game finishing 0-10. These two teams combined were outscored in those 10 games 328 to 108.
That brings us to 2024 and the last meeting between the two teams came in 2022 when in Philadelphia the Steelers lost 35-13. Two years earlier Pittsburgh prevailed at home 38-29. Since 2000 the Eagles and Steelers have been exchanging blows with Pittsburgh winning three of seven games played. Three of those four losses were in Philadelphia. So here we are again back in the City of Brotherly Love looking to upset the apple cart and snap the Eagles’ long winning streak.
Offense vs. Offense
The obvious key for the Steelers defense here is twofold. Focus on Sequon Barkley and make sure AJ Brown isn’t left alone to make big plays. Barkley leads the NFL in rushing yards with 1,623 through 13 games. He is also first in attempts with 266. That’s a crazy 20 carries per game and 124 yards rushing. His average per carry is an incredible 6.1 yards. Barkley has gone over 100 yards rushing in every game this season except four. Those three teams keeping him under the century mark were the Falcons, Bucs, Cowboys, and the Browns. However, he was over 50 in all but the Cleveland game when the Browns held him to just 47. That’s what the Steelers need to do.
As for A.J. Brown, his reception total is 48 catches for 836 yards or 64 yards per game. He’s averaging a nice 17 yards per catch but has just four touchdown receptions. How he plays along with quarterback Jalen Hurts remains to be seen given the drama they experienced this past week.
For the Steelers, Russell Wilson will be playing in his eighth game this season after missing the first six. Since taking over the starting role for Justin Fields, the Steelers have won six of seven games. Obviously, Wilson will not be found among any league leaders in any category, but he is averaging 254 yards passing per game, very respectable. In 213 passing attempts, there’s been just three interceptions. Wilson has tossed 12 touchdowns, and his quarterback rating is 103.9.
Pittsburgh primary running weapon is Najee Harris who is fifth in carries in the league with 223 and he has 877 yards, averaging 67 yards per game. While Harris doesn’t have Barkley type numbers, he runs hard and his yards after contact are solid. His partner in crime, Jaylen Warren, dealt with some injuries earlier in the season but he seems warmed up now and is at full speed.
Russell Wilson has plenty of weapons around him, but his top gun George Pickens is still nursing a hamstring injury that kept him out of the Cleveland game and might have him pacing the sideline again this Sunday. Still, Wilson makes the most of what is at his expense and tight end Pat Freiermuth is ready to go as a big target.
Defense vs. Defense
What we will see on Sunday is two strong defenses. The Eagles are second in the NFL in passing defense yielding just 178.5 yards per game trailing only the surprising Tennessee Titans who surrender 175.5 on average. Pittsburgh is 17th at 218.6 per game. When it comes to stopping the run, the Steelers have the edge there allowing opposing runners to get only 91.5 yards per game, fourth best in the NFL. Philadelphia? They give up 105.6 for the eighth best. However, when it comes to taking the ball away from an opposing offense, that’s Pittsburgh’s bread and butter this season leading the league with 28 turnovers, 15 of which are interceptions and the remainder in fumbles.
The Eagles are way down the list with just 15. Both teams have offenses that don’t turn the ball over much each with just 11, sixth best in the NFL. On the season Philadelphia has 37 sacks and Pittsburgh 32 but the Steelers are excellent at quarterback pressures.
Intangibles
I had this game pegged as an Eagles victory however, after Philadelphia’s game against Carolina that they nearly lost, this Steelers team is not the Carolina Panthers. But what convinces me more about the possibility of a Pittsburgh victory is the in-fighting and discombobulation of the Eagles locker room. It began with an interview of wide receiver AJ Brown following the win over Carolina when asked what was wrong with the offense of Philadelphia he said, “passing game.” Obviously, a shot at quarterback Jalen Hurts. Making matters worse was Brandon Graham, a team captain coming out after that saying the relationship between QB and receiver had deteriorated in recent weeks. This situation helps the Steelers. As I said, this is not the Panthers the Eagles will be seeing.
Prediction
With the Eagles turmoil going on, I like Pittsburgh to snap their nine-game winning streak. With a win the Steelers will have won their third straight. Steelers 24 Eagles 21.
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