The Steelers laid an old-fashioned whopping on the Philadelphia Eagles tonight at Heinz Field. Ben Roethlisberger looked great and the Steelers intercepted Michael Vick three times in the first half. Vick only threw 6 interceptions all of last season. The only thing that would have made tonight’s game even better was if it was a regular season game.
The Steelers took the opening kickoff 80 yards down the field despite a bunch of holding penalties and an injury to starting LT Jonathan Scott on the first offensive play. Roethlisberger hooked up with Antonio Brown for a 26-yard touchown pass after a blown coverage by Asaunte Samuel.
After a short six play drive and punt by Philadelphia, the Steelers offense put together another sustained drive that featured the Steelers top three running backs. Roethlisberger and Rashard Mendenhall worked a nice passing play where Mendenhall let a blocker come free to open himself up for a pass. Roethlisberger capped the drive with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward on 3rd and 18 making it 14-0 and ending the game for the Steelers offensive starters.
The Steelers defense took over the rest of the way, with Ryan Clark, Keenan Lewis and Troy Polamalu intercepting Vick in the Eagle’s next three possessions. Polamalu’s interception led to another Steelers touchdown just prior to halftime. Byron Leftwich led a 44-yard drive and tossed a TD pass to new Steeler Jerricho Cotchery. Leftwich’s arm looked great tonight.
One of my favorite moments from tonight’s game was a 10 yard Jonathan Dwyer run with about 10 minutes left. Dwyer bounced it outside towards the Steelers sideline and ran over an Eagles defensive back before being taken down out of bounds. Clark, Mendenhall and Maurkice Pouncey all ran over to congratulate him before he got back to the huddle. Loved seeing that camaraderie and seeing the stars of the team still into the game in the 4th quarter.
The Steelers tacked on a field goal in the 3rd quarter by Swazye Waters, who was otherwise pretty awful. The Eagles finally got on the scoreboard late in the 4th when Mike Kafka and former Pitt star Dion Lewis started making plays in a battle of third stringers. Gerald Jones caught a pair of late touchdowns from Kafka during the last 5:00 of the 4th quarter which made the final score a lot closer than the game truly was.
The Steelers have a little over a week to get back to work before they host the Atlanta Falcons next Saturday at Heinz Field. The game will be televised on KDKA.
