A Pittsburgh Perspective on the Eagles vs. the Steelers

With a huge game against the Steelers coming up on Sunday at the Linc, we've traded previews with Don Spagnolo of the Pittsburgh sports blog Mondesi's House. We'd throw in a zinger here, but to be honest, it's a damn fine site despite our dislike of subject material... or maybe because of it.

Greetings from the City of Champions, Philadelphians. I'm pleased to have a few moments of your time to preview the Pennsylvania State Championship on Sunday. I'll spare you the hackey "Cheesesteak vs. Primanti's Sandwich" angles that the media will undoubtedly play up during the game and get down to the on-field business.

 

Steeler fans just don't hold the venom for the Eagles that they do for the Browns, Ravens, Bengals, or even the Patriots. I'm guessing that it has something to do with the infrequency we get to meet up in the regular season, hard feelings over the whole "Steagles" thing, or some combination of the two. But I can say with full confidence that I think all parties involved are looking forward to this year's matchup.

I was not aware that the Steelers haven't won in Philly in 43 years; there must be some Pittsburgh aversion to the city, because I remember the Penguins also having a nasty run of luck there for quite some time. Luckily, that wasn't the case in the 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs...zing!

 

But this is a game that could honestly go either way. Just look at these teams' first four games this season. In week one, the Steelers were scoring at a 2007 Patriots rate while crushing the hopes and dreams of the Houston Texans franchise over the course of a 60-minute game; in week two, they play a completely different style and grind out a 10-6 win in Cleveland in miserable conditions (although in all fairness, Cleveland's conditions are always miserable).

After two games, the Steelers are sporting the league's top-rated QB (Ben Roethlisberger), the league's third-ranked RB (Willie Parker, 243 yards and 3 TD, with AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors to boot), the AFC Defensive Player of the Week in week two (a rejuvenated Troy Polamalu), and the league's second-best sack-master (James Harrison, 3). The defense is fourth in yards allowed and fifth in points allowed. The season has played out quite well, all things considered.

A quick glance at the Eagles shows a team scoring almost 38 points per game, led by a rejuvenated Donovan McNabb and a buzzworthy (for both good and bad reasons) DeSean Jackson. Much like the Steelers' opponent in week one, yours was also like an extra preseason game, and much like the Steelers, you had a tougher test in week two. Unfortunately, that one didn't turn out in your favor, much to the enjoyment of the rich Texan and his merry band of misfits. But it could've gone either way, and the same could be said for the Steelers-Browns game. Actually, I'm kidding. Everyone knew the Steelers would beat the Browns. The Steelers always beat the Browns. As I repeatedly point out, their "rivalry" is much like the rivalry of a hammer and a nail.

 

But I'm here to tell you about the Steelers, so that's what I'll try to do. Their strengths have already been outlined to some degree above, but I haven't yet mentioned Lamarr Woodley, a young linebacker out of Michigan whose name you'll probably hear several times on Sunday. He's got the official Peter King Seal of Approval, and if Peter King likes a player, you know he's great. But seriously, he's a havoc-wreaker.

 

Santonio Holmes is poised for a breakout season, even beyond his nude pictures hitting the internet earlier this year. He's always a threat for a big play. Hines Ward has looked like Hines Ward usually looks, to the tune of 11 catches, three TDs, and kicking dirt on the Dawg Pound after a score last week. The problem is that they're the only two Steelers receivers with any catches. That's right, the rest of the corps has been shut out. Nate Washington, Dallas Baker, Limas Sweed...they've got as many catches as you or I. And they're not getting the balls to the running backs, either: they've combined for just one catch through two games. That's got to change.

 

Ben Roethlisberger has been playing at his usual All-Pro level, and much to my delight, the national media is finally starting to notice. It only took a season-ending injury to Tom Brady and an infected bursa sac from Peyton Manning to get the notoriety, but we'll take what we can get. Ben threw just one incompletion in week one, and for the year sits with a 75% completion rate. He's done all this with a shoulder that may or may not have been separated, a fact that not even the great Andrea Kremer could extract from him. His shoulder's health will undoubtedly be a key to the game's outcome. I'm just hoping no Eagles pull a Shaun Rogers and plow into him after the whistle this week.

 

The running game, traditionally a Steeler strength, has been solid. Willie Parker, one of the most underrated players in the game, is off to a fast start after his great 2007 season ended with a broken fibula. My only concern is that he's shouldering too much of the workload, as rookie Rashard Mendenhall, the man intended to give Parker an occasional breather, has just 10 carries, including zero in week two. We also count Mewelde Moore among those willing and able to carry the ball, but he's been too busy trying to field punts in the swirling Cleveland winds to tote the rock in a game that counts this season. I'm hoping for a more balanced workload starting Sunday.

 

What will really sway this game is the play of the Steelers' offensive line, a unit under the microscope like few others around the league in 2008. They've allowed five sacks so far, which puts them on pace for 40 over an entire season - just a few short of the 47 they gave up in 2007. While they've been far from perfect, they've done enough to open things up against some dominant defenders, including the aforementioned Rogers and Mario Williams. They're still a bit of an enigma.

 

Also keep your eyes focused on the Steelers' defensive line, which will be without the services of one Brett Keisel for a while. You may not know much about Keisel, but he is a key cog in the Steeler defense. He will be replaced the the Orpheus Roye-Travis Kirschke-Nick Eason pu-pu-platter, so that may be one aspect of the game that Andy Reid may try to exploit.

 

So which way am I going? Well, I'm not usually one for predictions. Last year, I did a similar project with the Jets Blog, and picked the Steelers over the Jets, 35-10. In case you forgot what happened (I know I've tried my hardest), the then 7-2 Steelers lost to the then 1-8 Jets, 19-16, in OT. The vaunted Jets defense, ranked 30th in the league overall and last against the run, sacked Big Ben seven times and held Willie Parker to 52 yards on 21 carries. To add insult to injury, it was the first career win for Kellen Clemens, a QB so promising that the Jets promptly bumped him down the depth chart when a certain Favre became available.

 

In the Rendell Bowl, I'll take the Steelers, 27-24. I think there will be some fireworks and some big plays, and ultimately it will come down to the leg of our fun-loving kicker. And regardless of the outcome of this game, I'm rooting for the Phillies to outlast the Mets, who used to be our rival when we were in their division and had a Major League team a few lifetimes ago. As for the Flyers' fortunes, that's another story...

Here's a link to my spot over over at Mondesi's. Thanks to Don for the invitation.Update: Don appeared on ESPN radio and discussed the matchup and this exchange. Podcast available here, 27 minute mark.

Comments

[Dan Levy]

Don, I never thought I'd say this, but I respect the length, Holmes.

[theKrisheim]

you forgot to mention your stupid towels

[jd]

apparently don has never been to state college.

both legions despise each other on gameday.

[Chamomiles Davis]

Greetings from the City of Champions

Hey, you're not from Boston!

[Bob]

Philly/Pittsburgh football fans, united on Saturday's. Despite each other on this particular Sunday.

[DLo34]

Primanti Brothers wishes they could hold a candle to Geno's.

[gootman]

Its amazing that this guy and the Pensblog guys are from the same city.

[TheMajor]

@gootman agreed. some people I guess have class in pittsburgh. 99.99999999% don't though this guy did have a pretty good summary of the steelers minus the outcome of the game. Eagles defense will want to make a big comeback statement after the cowgirls game put some pressure on parker. I say 24-15 eagles

[Jack Lambert]

Here we go Steelers, here we go!

[Chamomiles Davis]

Jesus Christ, Jack! Put your goddamned teeth back in!

[stevefredericks]

one championship in 15 years qualifies as the city of champions?

[Irish Road]

And how many does Philly have in that time span?

[joeb]

ARENA BOWL BABY!

[stevefredericks]

irish, thats not the point

the point is: tampa bay, montreal, miami, dallas, st louis, chicago, los angeles, new york, boston, baltimore, toronto, raleigh, atlanta, houston, san antonio, phoenix, and detroit can all call themselves THE city of champions. seems a little ridiculous, no?

[Mike]

City of Champions =

Super Bowl Champions: 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 2005

National League Champions (pre-World Series): 1901, 1902 - World Series Champions: 1909, 1925, 1960, 1971, 1979

Stanley Cup Champions: 1990-91, 1991-92

Pitt football National Champions 8 times

That's why Philly...call us when you win a championship this decade

[Mitchman88]

I go to college near Pittsburgh but am a die Philadelphia sports fan. Now Pittsburgh, do you understand what die hard means? Yes, you are lucky to have championships, but Pittsburghers are the most fair weathered sports fans EVER! They jump right on when the team does well but put the jersey, that they bought just as the playoffs started, deep in their closet the moment the team takes a turn for the worse. Prime example, the Penguins "pre-destined" Stanley cup jog to the finals. "Life-long" Penguins fan started popping up everywhere. It wasn't quite like that before Sid the Bitch showed up and they were 22-46-14 on 05-06! And I am not even gonna talk about the Pirates. Lets just say when I was at the Phillies games in Pittsburgh this year there were more Phillies fans then Pirates fans.

Philadelphia may not have "Championships" but at least we follow the ride on the lows and highs. So Pittsburgh, give us a call when you want to know what being a true "die-hard" fan is. Eagles 24-13! Eagles D gets big and Nabb, Brook and DJax do their thing! E-A-G-L-E-S!

[Evan]

The Eagles are going to win this game, and dude, really. Primantis is not as big an icon as a cheesesteak, the media may play up the cheesesteak in Philly, but until the media plays up your shit-sandwich that looks like it was made by a Pittsburgher, stick to being a white trash urban trailer park, ok? "Yinz" have a nice day!

[Chris]

Fairweather? Hardly. The fact that there are still Pirates fans considering that anyone under the age of 30 doesn't remember them being a winning team is kind of impressive. Heck, they sold out like 15 games this season with THAT TEAM? It's pretty impressive, all things considered
Steelers have sold out for about 30 years now, including the losing years, when the stands were still filled with people in jerseys. I suppose there may be a few fairweather fans, every city does, but it's not something you can fault Pittsburgh for.
I don't mind Philly (besides the Flyers). I went to a Phillies/Pirates game in Philly, and it was a lot of fun. The Pirates *gasp* won, and there was a lot of going back and forth, but it was all good-natured. Overall Philly fans seem like great fans, but so are Pittsburgh fans, don't call us fairweather because we certainly are not that.

[Brotherly Scrote]

Any city that calls the Pittsburgh Pirates home has no right to call themselves the "City of Champions". Maybe Pittsburgh was a City of Champions in the 1970s, but that sure as hell isn't now.

I'm pretty sure you have to win more than one championship since 1993 to call yourselves that. Nice try, Pittsburgh. Boston is the "City of Champions."

Also, if you think the two cities accept each other, try going to college in Western PA where idiot Steeler fans throw stuff out their car windows at you and taunt you everywhere you go for not being a bucktoothed goat-humping Steeler fan.

[Brotherly Scrote]

By the way, how great could Pittsburgh fans really be? The Pirates came close to moving in the 90s and the Penguins would have moved if not for "Philly guy" Rendell's determination to kiss the ass of Pittsburgh and Leimeux in giving them a sweetheart arena deal.

[will]

its amusing to me how pittsburgh fans like to validate themselves by reeling off how many championships they've won in the past 100 years--then try and throw a clever insult by asking us ever so gently how many we've won this decade, gay. Somehow having a pro sports team that wins a championship doesnt make you a noteworthy fan, it just makes you look like a dickbag when you drop the fact that they've won so many. Tiny middle school fellas with self-esteem issues do that, mm?

Clearly, you're from pittsburgh, which is much more amusing than any championship-type insult you can come up with. Which city is better you might want ramble and argue about? How about the one with die-hard support without the 'championship' title. eat it

[Mitchman88]

You found one exception. But again, for Pittsburgh fans its not hard to be a fan while the team is winning. The Steelers have been a consistently decent team, hence the reason why Pittsburgh hasn't written them off like they have the Pirates and were doing with the Penguins for 10 years before they started winning games because the objective of the new NHL is to kiss Crosby's ass.
Pittsburgh rides the highs and bails on the lows . . . simple as that. I go to college just outside Pittsburgh and this is all I see. Coming from Philadelphia, I was shocked. I am just glad it isn't how I was brought up to support my sports teams. There is a reason why we are the best fans it sports! Go Eagles!

[bobby steels]

As has been said, every town has its share of fair weather fans. But Pittsburgh fans are as supportive as any in the country. The Pirates struggle for attendance because they have shown a clear disdain for the fans for 16 years. They refuse to put the money into developing players and continue to raise prices. Will their attendance pick up when (if?) the team starts winning? Absolutely. Everyone wants to root for the Buccos, but at this point, rooting for them is like rooting for dental surgery.

The same goes for the Pens; for years they refused to spend any money on the team, and assumed that everyone would continue to pay $80 a night, 41 times a year. Now that the team has made a commitment to the product on the ice, they have an unprecedented sellout streak.

Simply put, there is a difference between fair weather and pissed off. Why support teams who only see fans as sources of revenue? We want to support our teams, and as long as they are making the effort to compete we do. Passionately. Go to a Steelers bar anywhere in the country to catch a game (Steelers, Pens, Pitt, even Penn State). Very few towns can boast that type of support

[Jack Lambert]

Pittsburgh has fair weather fans? Didn't last years MVP Jimmy Rollins just call you guys a bunch of fair weather fans? I'm from Philly and I'm a diehard Pittsburgh fan and I was at plenty of Pirates vs. Phils games at the Vet in the mid 90's where the crowd looks like a Marlins crowd today. Do you consider a fan "die hard" if he buys a jersey and pays for a ticket and then sits there and starts eagles chants and boos the team when they start losing? Fair weather fans are everywhere, even Pittsburgh

[Chris]

Mitchman88, count the number of Terrible Towels you see in the crowd and then after that go to the Fox and Hound in Philly and count the Terrible Towels and then you'll see who has the best fans in sports.

[Tim]

Philly fans booed Mike Schmidt so bad he wore a disguise out to 3B one day, and then they have the balls to talk him up as being the Greatest Phillie ever. Philly fans cheered when they signed T.O. and now want to cruxify him. They went nuts when JRoll won the MVP last year, but now boo him when he goes down looking. Fair weathered

[Pete]

Brotherly Scrote, I go to college at Pitt and I'm a die hard Pittsburgh fan from just over the Betsy Ross in New Jersey. I wore my Pens jersey during last years Eastern Conference finals and the douche bag at Wawa fucked up my hoagie and wrote "Flyers" on the wrapper. This kind of taunting has been going on all my life when I wear anything Pittsburgh related around Philly, so don't think its not a 2-way street

[Chris]

For the record, ESPN lists us as the #1 NFL fans in the country, and the #4 most loyal baseball fans. They don't care about hockey, so that's still out there, but either way, Pittsburgh markets draw huge viewership. This last season we had the biggest hockey viewership on average in the entire league, and with a much smaller market. The Pirates and Penguins both continued to rank very high in TV viewership, even during the down years. That's a sign of a committed and PISSED OFF fan base, not a fairweather fan base. So the fact that we refuse to give our teams as much money as other teams (still watching the games, but not in a way that gives the team money) means we are doing what we can as fans to inspire change.
Also, as for the Penguins and Pirates almost leaving? The Penguins were far closer, but that was 80% posturing by Lemieux who has since said as much. If it wasn't for Mr. Philly Rendell, the Penguins might have gotten the casino that would have given the Penguins a new arena, instead of the one that seemed like it would be more destructive than good for the city (which has gone worse than even some have predicted). So don't call Rendell our savior, he could have easily avoided all the drama AND we would have had our arena for this season, not for next year.

[stevefredericks]

if you have to list a national league championship from 1901 to validate your claim that youre from the city of champions, youre a fuckin retard, regardless of your city.

and if you list a championship from 107 years ago and then you tell philly to win a championship...i can list the eagles 1948 championship and say the eagles won a championship before the steelers.

pittsburgh = we wave yellow towels so we are good fans; we wear white when the other team is wearing white so we are good fans; we havent been to a baseball game in 15 years so we are good fans; we havent been to an NBA game our entire life, so we are good fans

[stevefredericks]

and why would lemiuex NOT claim to be posturing? otherwise he looks like a pussy who needed a philly guy to save his team. you guys are unbelievable.

[stevefredericks]

if you can list championships from over a century ago, so can i. these are all major league championships except for the college ones, but you mentioned pitt football and you clearly have shown that anything withstands the test of time. the A's count because they won while they were here, and you cant say we didnt support the team because we certainly did, but connie mack built a spite fence in order to keep out the fans from watching games from across the street, so we stopped going to a's games. pirates owners ever do anything that bad? no. here we go:

lasalle basketball (1): 1954
villanova basketball (1): 1985
upenn football (4): 1894, 1895, 1897, 1904
philadelphia athletics (7): 1871, 1902, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1929, 1930
philadelphia phillies (2): 1980, 2008
philadelphia flyers (2): 1974, 1975
philadelphia 76ers (2): 1967, 1983
philadelphia eagles (3): 1948, 1949, 1960

thats 22. the guy up there mentioning pitt football counted 22. game over.