In what is generally considered the most important week of the NFL preseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers (1-1) and Philadelphia Eagles (0-2) will meet Thursday evening for the third of four tune-ups in advance of the regular season. Pittsburgh will head east across the Keystone State to battle the Eagles, whom they face only once every four years in regular season play. The two teams meet somewhat often in the preseason, including a 2011 home win and a 2012 road loss. The last meeting between the them was Week 4 of the 2012 season, a 16-14 Steelers victory.
Head coach Mike Tomlin has indicated that the starters will play more this week than they have in the first two preseason games, which is standard. The final week of exhibition usually includes minimal playing time from key contributors in order to avoid injury leading into the regular season opener.
Pittsburgh comes off a 19-16 overtime victory at Heinz Field over Buffalo on Saturday. Philadelphia has lost close games to Chicago and at New England, continuing to show off a unique and flashy offense that includes former University of Pittsburgh running back LeSean McCoy. Second-year head coach Chip Kelly did not take long to find his quarterback, eventually replacing former Eagle Michael Vick last season with Nick Foles, who led the Eagles to the playoffs. Philadelphia lost a home Wild Card game to New Orleans, making the playoffs for the first time since a 2010 Wild Card appearance.
The Eagles won the AFC East last season at 10-6, finishing two games better than second-place Dallas. They ranked first in the NFL in rushing yards with over 160 per game, but ranked last defensively against the pass, allowing nearly 290 yards per game through the air. Kelly is considered by many to be a top offensive mind, especially after his success at the University of Oregon, but the defense certainly needs to improve heading into this season. Look for the Steelers and QB Ben Roethlisberger to throw early and often in an effort to attack this unit and have another quality performance.
To do so, Roethlisberger will have to avoid throwing near safety Malcolm Jenkins, who went there from New Orleans in the offseason. With the secondary as a top priority, Philadelphia made sure to get a top-tier safety to improve that last-place unit. Other newcomers include speedy running back Darren Sproles, who could be yet another dynamic piece in the Chip Kelly offense. Philadelphia will, however, be without receiver DeSean Jackson (now a Washington Redskin), WR Jason Avant and QB Michael Vick, who was replaced by former New York Jet Mark Sanchez, now the backup to Foles.
For the Steelers, Roethlisberger, receivers Antonio Brown and Markus Wheaton and running backs Le’Veon Bell and Dri Archer ought to be on display again in this one. But the spotlight should be on the defense, which has looked solid to this point. The Eagles will easily be the toughest test before the games actually start to count, so this unit’s response to facing Foles and his arsenal of weapons should be what Steelers fans focus on most.
Rookie linebacker Ryan Shazier has been extremely impressive and new safety Mike Mitchell got in on the action last week after missing the preseason opener. Defensive lineman Cam Thomas may be battling for playing time now that the Steelers have signed Brett Keisel. There are many stories to keep an eye on as the regular season fast approaches. The performance of players in this game should definitely play a role in upcoming roster moves. Teams must cut to 75 players by Tuesday, August 26 and, not long after the Steelers play the final preseason game two days later (home vs. Carolina), rosters are cut to the standard 53-man squad by Saturday, August 30.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field and the game can be viewed on the NFL Network and on the local CBS affiliate, KDKA.
