Eagles-Steelers predictions
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Eagles-Steelers predictions
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
JEFF MCLANE
Record, 1-3.
Week 5: At this point, the above record suggests I should get out of the prediction game. The Eagles, who are 3-1/2-point underdogs to the Steelers, are 1-3 against the spread this season. I’m 1-3 straight up. But press on, I must.
My gut says the Eagles win Sunday. I’ve gone against my better judgment the last three weeks. Not gonna do it, as Dana Carvey’s George Bush would say, this week. The book says you don’t bet against the Steelers at home against an NFC opponent. Ben Roethlisberger is 13-1 against the NFC at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh has won nine of their last ten at home.
But this is not a dominating Steelers team – based on the first few weeks of the season and on paper -- and it is aging at some key spots on defense. Safety Troy Polomalu (calf) will play after a two-game absence. He is still a force to be reckoned with, but he doesn’t move quite as well at 31. James Harrison is also expected back, but at this point in his career it’s difficult to predict how much he can play with a chronically injured knee. LaMarr Woodley, at the other outside linebacker spot, is dangerous. He should give Todd Herremans, who has struggled for parts of this season, all he can handle at right tackle.
The thing that worries the most is how Michael Vick and the Eagles offense will fare against Dick LeBeau’s defense after one of his disciples terrorized the quarterback two weeks ago. Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton did an effective job of keeping Vick off kilter with a variety of blitz packages. LeBeau doesn’t have the same caliber of horses up front, though. Defensive ends Brett Keisel and Ziggy Hood are not as unrelenting as the Cardinals’ Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett.
So Vick should have more time to operate behind a line that got into a groove in the second half last week.
The Steelers offense, meanwhile, has been lopsided. The running game has been non-existent, but running back Rashard Mendenhall will play for the first time this season. Roethlisberger has been sharp this season playing in a scheme that has him getting rid of the ball much earlier than he is used to. In spite of that, the Steelers quarterback has already been sacked nine times in three games. The Eagles defensive line should be licking its chops against an offensive line that is suspect.
I got the Eagles winning another close one in the fourth quarter, which probably means it won’t happen. Eagles 23, Steelers 21.
What goes right: Jeremy Maclin gets back into the swing of things and takes advantage of Steelers cornerback Keenan Lewis.
What goes wrong: The Eagles special teams continue to have their issues.
ZACH BERMAN
Record, 2-2.
Week 5: This is a tough matchup for the Eagles. The Steelers are a considerably more different team when they're healthy than when they're injured, and the return of Polamalu, Harrison, and Mendenhall makes them a better squad than what's on film from this season. That is why the 1-2 record is misleading. It's also worth noting that both losses were on the road, and this game is in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers are especially difficult to play.
Look for a disciplined game from the Steelers, who will set the tempo and not allow the Eagles many big plays. Vick will get pressured from the Steelers' zone blitz scheme, and the Steelers prove to be effective on third downs to extend drives. Pittsburgh will win the time of the possession battle, a critical element in this game. The game will come down to the fourth quarter, and Vick will again lead a clutch drive. But the Steelers will win the game on the final possession, and the Eagles will prepare for the Lions with a 3-2 record.
Steelers 27, Eagles 24
What goes right: The Eagles run the ball a healthy amount, and LeSean McCoy tops 100 yards. The kickoff coverage will also improve.
What goes wrong: Polamalu shows why he's one of the best safeties in NFL history. Roethlisberger leads the Steelers on a fourth-quarter drive.
Zach is close. Steelers 28, Eagles 17. My hope is we come out with no injuries.
Eagles will make life miserable for the Steelers if they jump out to a 21-0 lead on big plays. Then the Eagles will settle in, run the ball, and lay back their ears on the pass rush. More likely, the Steelers will expose us as a finesse team, and pound out a win.— armchairGM- I don't see either team scoring more than 20. 17-14 Birds— bobf876
- Birds 21 - Steelers 10
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EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— birds748 - Eagles don't lose this game. I see the defensive line taking down Big Ben several times this game and controlling the time of possession with another heavy dose of Shady (returning to Pittsburgh for the first time in his career?). It will look much like the game in Philly in recent times when they sacked Roethlisberger 8x. Score was 15-6 i think.— sec719
- The Pittsburgh Steelers are an elite team and have been for a decade or more. They were 12-4 last season. Eagles were 8-8 last season and the only time they looked like s Superbowl nteam was when they had T.O., the best receiver in the NFL at that time. Other than that they have been also rans. Close only counts in horses hoes. I mean Vick is winning ugly like Tim Tebow which made all sports reporters say Tebow stunk. I guess winning ugly is okay this year. We'll soon finmd out in January!!!!— mario1239
- Shut up...
— thegamepa - lol, logic is now allowed here. We want to fail to win a championship for a 14th straight year with Fat Andy, but not so bad that we can try to feel good about ourselves with 8 or 9 wins. That way we can say we arent losers. BETTER THN THE REDSKINS ANDY REID YEAR 14.
- Enough already, we got your point. Move on. — swisstafari
- horses hoes? Sorry, I don't generally pick on typos. But this one was just too good....... — dlscholt
- What the f are you talking about? We aren't talking about last season, or the season before, we're talking about Sunday. Who is going to win on Sunday?
Did the Giants look like a Superbowl team last season? Did they?— swisstafari - lol, you dont get it. The Giants run a balanced offensive system within 58/42 pass run. Nothing over 60/40. Nothing over 60/40. again NOTHING OVER 60/40. 60% passing has NEVER WON A SUPERBOWL. EVER. and NEVER WILL UNDER ANDY REID BEING IN CHARGE OF EVERYHTING ON A TEAM. NEVER. I think Eagles fans are afraid of a 4-12 season where a young QB would actually get some experience for once and build to a future championhip run. All Andy does is try to eek out 9 or 10 wins to keep his job, ITS NOT GOING TO WIN A SUPERBOWL. In fact, no coach that has not won one in his first 14 years has also NEVER WON A SUPERBOWL. THE AMOUNT OF EVIDENCE AGAINST ANDYS DUMB OFFENSE IS PATHETIC. Most coaches that have failed that many times STOP TRYING and REITRE. MOST ARENT EVEN AS DUMB AS ANDY TO KEEP TRYING PAST LIKE 10 YEARS IN A ROW. ITS A JOKE.
- Keep changing your numbers CG. It was never above 54, then 55, then 56, then 57, and now 58. Good thing the Eagles pass less than the Giants. PATHETIC!
As for the Steelers, they have a terrible offensive line. Might be worse than the Eagles. Their defense, however, is finally healthy and should be better than it has been lately. Tricky game for the Eagles coming off the emotional high of last week and the Steelers coming off a bye. It should be close. I won't be surprised with a win or loss.— Penfold18 - Yikes! You act like Andy is the only one who supports Andy. What dimension are you in, bud?
The team supports Andy...
The leadership supports Andy...
Many fans support Andy, even ones that hate him...
Many experts support Andy...
I mean, here we are, in year 14, still watching Andy. If it's so obvious, then why hasn't he been fired? Why do fans still watch games? Why don't the analysts turn on him?
I am, by no means, an Andy supporter, but at the same time, using logic that insinuates that if someone coaches for x amount of years, and doesn't win, means they can't win? What?!?!
By the way, triple negatives in a sentence...ouch. Has anyone posting triple negatives ever been right about winning a superbowl? I wonder if you were doomed from that start.— MFPhils - I'm also curious about all these coaches that have failed as many times...How many coaches have won as many games as Andy, or gotten to the post-season as much as Andy, and then quit based on failure? — MFPhils
- MFPhils...its called "logic". I didnt invent, but I use it more then most people on here unfortunately. It is a FACT that no coach that coached for 14 years without winning ever won a SB after that. Reread it and maybe it will sink in. Maybe again. Keep going.
- Logic? You? That's rich! — Penfold18
- Eagles 24-17 if Shady gets health doses of runs along with his back up.— phillynupe4
- Steelers 30-16. Big Ben will hit 70% of his 3rd down plays while Reid gives up trying to run the ball. Vick attempts 45 passes before he gets hurt.— farley
- If the Eagles go I formation again this week, and carefully (conservatively) pick their spots to take advantage of a bad Steelers secondary, Eagles win 24-16. Eagles D shuts down The Rapist and a gimpy running game.— petergou
- Eagles 20 Steelers 10, that is if they don't turn the ball over and play smart. I think the Steelers are an aging team on the way down, the Eagles have a log of young players and are on the rise. I think they run the ball down the Steelers throats with McCoy after a couple of quick strikes. Lets see how well the hair ball moves those old legs. Loser trolls like Mario and CG25 NY Giant fans that hate the Eagles and their fans go back into their hiding hold for another 2 weeks until something negative happens. TROLLING LOSERS— TrollExterminator
- silly to see all these fans suddenly on Eagles bandwagon because they are somehow 3-1 when they could just as easily be 2-2, 1-3 or 0-4... the only sure thing in NFL this season is regression to the mean and the team that needs the game more will generally find a way to win..I'm not one for football predictions but this one is a "Best Bet" for season and won't be close as Steelers win— warbiscuit
- I used to take pride in being part of the Eagles fan base, known for being tough and knowledgeable. Perhaps, I have been coming to these boards too often. It's clear that a sizable portion of the vocal minority are a bunch of idiots. It makes me embarrassed to be lumped in with these idiots (you know who you are).— Penfold18
- Yes, and he posted yet another obsessive loser message below — andimike
- Oh come on now, if you are posting too much, and don't know that people don't act like this outside of the house, then you are spending too much time in your house.
Just think about these comments...How many fans do you see personally, or on t.v. that act like this? The internet is a haven for those, including myself and you, who type anything without being accountable for what they say.
— MFPhils - lol...its reciprocal Penfold. The fan base is split 50/50 or so on Andy with an acutal MAJORITY 51% wanting Andy Reid FIRED according to a poll on this very site. A lot of fans are tired of a MORON COACH THAT WILL NEVER WIN A SB. With one of the DUMBEST GAMEPLANS EVER IN FOOTBALL EXISTENCE. Post your prediction for the game on sunday, and on monday lets see who is more right. THE KOOLAID IS DELICIOUS.
- Again, I'm sure that I don't need to explain polling validity to such an *intelligent* person like you, right? — Penfold18
- Steelers romp 31-20.— 1republican
- The Eagles played their best game of the season against the Giants and won by only two points -- and that game was at home. The Eagles could play a similar game -- no interceptions and no turnovers -- but I doubt it because they rarely play two great games in a row. If the team from last week shows up the Eagles could eek out another win (24-20), but if the Eagle team that showed up against the Browns and Cardinals play they'll easily get beat up(31-17). The real question will be the Eagles pass defense -- which we all know can be pretty erratic.— Ron T
- Steelers should win at home with a relatively healthy team. Special teams will probably kill us. Turnovers will be the deciding factor. But, who knows. It is why they play the games on the field and not in our heads.— johnny eagle
- Totally depends, as always, on how Reid chooses to gameplan. If it's to put all the pressure on Vick, then he will choke and turn it over. If he spreads the wealth, we'll likely win. Not rocket science. I don't believe Andy's learned anything from last week, so I'll go 17-10 Pittsburgh.— evolutionary
- Garner some of your comments are idiotic. Most coaches don't last 14 years....— ceocreates
- yes, because many of them RETIRE, move on, or find something better to do once they use logic and actually look back and realize THEY ARE A COMPLETE FAILURE. There are COUNTLESS couaches who have had better win loss records then Andy, but only coached 1, 2, maybe 5 years,and then moved on to do something else. Just because he has coached 14 years, longer then most, doesnt make him in any way "better", and in fact it might prove is he in fact "dumber".
- CG25, so then why haven't you figured out that you are a complete failure and move on? Please!!— FLealglesfan
- Could you imagine what he must be like to live with? Sure hope he doesn't have a family. Probably lives in a trailer somewhere deep in the forest. — andimike
- I make 4 million dollars less then Andy Reid, and yet I could get better results. Other coaches make 1 million and get better results. Many make like 2 million, less then half of him and actually WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS. Andy has won VIRTUALLY NOTHING and gets paid VIRTUALLY THE HIGHEST. SO WHO IS THE FAILURE.
- Chumpy,can you stop to think about this for just a second because these numbers you throw out here on a daily basis are so ridiculous.You say that the Giants have a "balanced offensive system" at a 58/42 ratio and that AR's system is "pathetically flawed" at 60/40, do you realize that is two passes more per 100 with the average team having about 70 offensive plays per game that would equate to an extra 1 1/2 passes per game? That hardly makes one system "balanced" and another "pathetically flawed".Now i know you hate AR and I'm not even gonna try to sway you on that but at some point you need to figure out that these numbers add up to nothing but stupidity. — greensob
- greensob, your understanding is just not there. that 58/42 is the max that has EVER won a superbowl, with Eli a great superbowl winning QB in the system, and a run game that they pounded all througout the playoffs to get to the superbowl. Thats why it worked. Every other team to ever win was less then that, and no team at 60% has ever won. So its not the giants at 58 being the norm, its the Giants at 58 being the extreme and 60% IS EVEN MORE EXTREME THEN THE FREAKING EXTREME. AND YES 2% IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE. Thats the equivalent of 3-4 snaps, 3-4 more run plays in a game is the chance to control the clock and wipe at least 2 more minutes off the clock. Thats 2 minutes at the end of the game the other team DOESNT HAVE so they CANT have the ball to go down and score on you. IT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE. PLEASE LEARN THE GAME. Andy Reid will NEVER EVER EVER win a superbowl being in charge of an entire team NEVER. PROVEN CORRECT. EVERY. YEAR. PLEASE COME UP WITH MORE EXCUSES AS WELL lol
- AS i thought, you wouldnt get it, that ratio you keep throwing out there equates to 1 1/2 plays per game, do the math Chumpy its not 3 to 4, and what the hell does runny time off the clock have to do with anything, maybe your the team that needs a little more time. — greensob
- This game will be over by halftime. Steelers 31-10.
— SteveS11 - The Eagles' third down defense has been consistently good this year. Rothlisberger looks like he's become even better at converting third downs. It should be a competitive game.— NorthPhillyTechie
- Tight game coming. We cannot worry about Pittsburgh running it. We need to tee off on the restroom romantic. Kendricks and Boykin are going to need to come up big. We should move the ball on this D, unless Marty chokes and becomes predictable which is always a strong possibility. Our team has heart and should get this win.— auntesther
- Mario, I'm so confused...If the Steelers record last year made them an elite team, then what does the 1-2 record make them? By your logic, the Eagles are the better team this year.
By the way, close counts enough for 3 wins, so far.— MFPhils - Ridiculous to pick the Eagles in this one.
Just remember how the Steelers' 1st team dominated the Eagles in the preseason game.
I still remember the Steelers taking apart the Eagles in their Superbowl season @ Heinz field in 2004.
Steelers 28, Eagles 13— makrom - Yeah, lots of reasons to give the nod to Pitt in this one, but a result from 2004 is not one of them. The thing I look at is team speed. Pitt's D is slower than its been in recent memory, and we should be able to take advantage of that with our speed on offense. Apart from scheme, this D is nothing like the ultra-athletic Cardinal's D that just shut us down. They're going to blitz Vick all day, but draws will be there, along with screens. Vick's going to get loose running it as well. The only thing that slants this game to Pittsburgh is the bye, the crowd, and the turdhouse trapper extending plays and getting it downfield to receivers forgotten about by the always confused Kurt Coleman. — auntesther
- @CG25, tell me, how many Eagles OLs are pro bowl blockers? I think the line has something to do with offense production. Only a hater would suggest to win a SB you only need a white QB and slim head coach. I guess Dan Marino sucked because he never won a SB and Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer are great because they did! Stupid and wrong analogy by hater CG25.— allworld2
- All of the signs point to a Steelers victory: playing at home after a bye week, getting star players back from injury, facing a desperate situation of not wanting to fall to 1-3. The Eagles should not win this game, which is exactly why somehow they will. Eagles 23, Steelers 21— mjw1229
- I see the Eagles coming into their own this year and they have the offense to make things happen at just the right times in games. Their defense is the best it has been since Dawk left. They play hungry, opportunistic and mean. And they have much more talen than they had last year in the right places. The rookes are, so far, holding their own too. I'm a little concerned about Boykin. He is going to be tested big time this week.— gotedge
