Eagles fall short in Pennsylvania Showdown
The Pittsburgh Steelers secure their second win of the season against the visiting Philadelphia Eagles.
PITTSBURGH- Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers secured their second win of the season on Sunday beating the Philadelphia Eagles 16-14.
The Steelers now sit in third place in the AFC North with a record of 2-2. The Eagles remain in first place in the NFC East at 3-2.
With the Steelers coming off of a bye week after falling short to the Oakland Raiders the week before, it was safe to say they were fired up and ready to play.
It was a scoreless first quarter filled with penalties and fumbles. The Steelers ended with five penalties in the first quarter, but ended the game with nine for a total of 106 yards. The Eagles walked away with five penalties for a total of 35 yards.
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick felt an immense amount of pressure all day from linebacker Lawrence Timmons. Vick would eventually fumble trying to score from three yards out. The fumble was forced by Steelers safety Ryan Clark and recovered by linebacker Larry Foote. With a little over a minute left in the first quarter, Timmons found Vick again and forced a fumble that was recovered once again by Foote.
The second quarter consisted of Roethlisberger taking full advantage of running back Rashard Mendenhall, who played for the first time this season. Mendenhall suffered a torn ACL last January.
Late in the second quarter, Roethlisberger found Mendenhall for a lateral resulting in a touchdown. That put the Steelers up 7-0. Mendenhall was a key player in the game with 14 carries for 81 yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles last attempt to score in the first half was shut down when Vick was sacked by Steelers line backer Jason Worilds. Pittsburgh had time for one last drive before the end of the first half that ended with a field goal putting the Steelers up 10-0 at halftime.
In the third quarter LeSean McCoy caught a 15-yard pass from Vick for a touchdown. That brought the score to 10-7 with the Steelers still leading heading into the fourth quarter.
Vick found tight end Brent Celek for his first touchdown of the season with a little over six minutes left in the game, bringing the score to 14-13. The Eagles defense struggled to hold Mendenhall and the Steelers offense, as they were able to run the clock out and kick a 34-yard field goal to win the game 16-14
Vick finished the game 20 for 30 with 175 yards. Roethlisberger went 21 for 37 with 207 yards. The Steelers face the 1-4 Tennessee Titians next Thursday night while the Eagles host the 1-4 Detroit Lions on Sunday.
