You can mark Sunday, November 7, 2004 down in your NFL history textbooks. This was the second of two major tests for the Steelers in back-to-back weeks. In fact, the last time a team played two undefeated team this late in the season was 70 years ago. The difference is that, unlike the 1934 Detroit Lions, the Steelers were victorious in both of their games.
During my search through the annals of football history, I stumbled upon a little known fact that I had forgotten about. During the 1943 season, due to Word War II, the Steelers and the Eagles merged into one team, named the Steagles. Games were played in both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and the rosters were constructed from players on both teams who were not serving in the military.
As I watched the Steelers-Eagles game on Sunday, I thought: What if I took the best players from both teams and reformed the Steagles with these current players?
Since the quarterback is (supposedly) the most crucial player on the football field, I will start there. While Ben Roethlisberger did not have a Marino-esque type of passing day, Ben was superb at managing the game. While he was almost flawless, Donovan McNabb looked flustered. To best demonstrate the difference, look at the interceptions made by each quarterback. Ben's interception was a deep pass that was a little under-thrown, and (as my brother said) Burress slightly "under-ran" the pass. In other words, it was not a "bad" interception. Conversely, McNabb's ill-advised pass into the arms of James Farrior was indeed a "bad" interception.
But for those who rely solely on statistics, the better quarterback was still Roethlisberger, with a passer rating of 109.3 to McNabb's 55.7.
Speaking of statistics, Terrell "Look at Me" Owens was held to 53 total yards and zero touchdowns. Furthermore, on the few passes that TO did catch, Troy Polamalu smacked him for almost no gain. No touchdown dances were done today by TO...although, Hines Ward did do TO's "dirty bird" dance after each of his two touchdowns. Personally, I thought Ward was above those shenanigans. He should have just handed the ball to a fan, like he always does, and not gotten involved in the show-boating.
Since we are talking about frivolities, how in the world did Plaxico Burress drop that ball as he was running in for a sure touchdown? As my brother said, "Well. At least he didn't spike it."
In short, Ward And Burress did not exactly blow away the Eagles' secondary...then again, with a rejuvenated Jerome Bettis gaining 149 yards, they did not have to. Brian Westbrook was playing injured, but anyway you spin it, the Steelers racking up 252 rushing yards to the Eagles' 23 yards is, in a word, dominance.
What allowed the Steelers to be so stellar in the run-game was the fact that Pittsburgh's O-line is playing at an unbelievable level. In the past two games the Steelers held the ball for 43 minutes and (just under) 42 minutes. Again, dominance.
While we are in the trenches, we need to talk about the D-line. Aaron Smith played as if the 1979 Steelers were standing on the side-lines...wait...they were. Do you think conversing with Joe Green inspired Smith and company? By the looks of their play, the answer is a definitive: Yes!
The Steelers teams of the 1970s had two of the best linebackers to ever play the game. And ever since then, the Steelers have always been a linebacker factory. Thus, it was not surprising that best defensive player on the field this past Sunday was James Farrior. Five tackles, one sack, a pass defensed, and an interception (returned 41 yards) says it all.
The secondary, which has been picked on by fans and opposing quarterbacks alike, has to be given a ton of credit for holding Owens and McNabb in check. Willie Williams ran step-for-step with TO on most plays. And, as mentioned before, when Terrell did indeed catch the ball, Polamalu stuck him hard.
Even the coaching was convincingly in Pittsburgh's favor. LeBeau and Whisenhunt called nearly perfect games. But the most significant decision occurred at the end of the game. The Steelers had a first and goal from the six-yard line. Yet, instead of driving the ball in for another touchdown or kicking a chip-shot field goal, Cowher had Roethlisberger knelt down on four straight plays. Even though the Steelers could not run out the clock, and the Eagles would get the ball back with 35 seconds left, the message was clear: Cowher was not going to run up the score. That was a classy move, and one that earns Cowher the job as the head coach of the Steagles.
SUMMATION If the Steagles were to be reformed today, and one were to use only last Sunday's game as a means to determine which players would be on the roster, every position on the starting units would have to be manned by a Steeler. Well, every position except for the punter...since the Steelers never punted.
