Steelers vs Eagles - The Nitty Gritty



Mike Tomlin is a Master Motivator for the Steelers
He will have the team ready for Philly on Sunday!


As the work week ends, its time to tell your boss to shove it and sit down and get prepared for the upcoming Steelers vs Eagles game.  If you ask me, its the game of the week.  I could care less about Peyton vs. Brady.  I want to see a classic NFL Matchup, and if you are the same way you'll be tuned into the Steelers game at 1pm on Sunday.  Here at the Black n' Gold Blitz, we have covered this game from top to bottom, and if you haven't checked that out yet, then you need to!  Just go to our home page (http://blackngoldblitz.blogspot.com) for the best Steelers coverage on the web!  Now, the final 5 story lines known as the "Nitty Gritty" before it becomes crunch time...oh yeah, and don't forget the prediction!

- Penalties - The Steelers sure did rack up the penalties vs the Raiders in Week 3.  Lets hope that Mike Tomlin nipped that in the bud over the bye week.  The Steelers have been a phenomenal team on 3rd down (mainly because of Ben Roethlisberger), but you don't want to put yourself in a hold repeatedly.  On top of all of that, is the fact that penalties also brought back HUGE plays.  Antonio Brown returns a Punt for a TD and it gets called back on MULTIPLE flags.  Some would say that is the reason why Brown scored, but I am more along the lines that it simply can't happen if you want to be a winning team in the NFL.

- Home Field Advantage - The Steelers have been money in the bank at Heinz Field over Mike Tomlin's tenure as the Steelers Coach.  It isn't like they haven't been tested at home.  The last time they beat the Philadelphia Eagles in the regular season was Ben Roethlisberger's rookie season when the Steelers knocked off the Eagles and Patriots (both undefeated teams at the time) at home in back to back weeks.  Hopefully the Steelers will be able to duplicate that success not only at home, but versus the cross state rivals...the Philadelphia Eagles.

- History Lesson (Bye Week - Vick vs Steelers) - Mike Tomlin has only one loss on his resume coming off of a bye week.  Lets hope that the good mojo continues for the Steelers as they look to not only get the taste of the Raiders loss out of their mouths, but also make a statement that they are a contender not only in the AFC North, but in the AFC.  Mike Vick might have something to say in those regards, as he has a pretty solid record against the Steelers in his tenure as a QB in the NFL.  Remember the crazy back and forth game when Tommy Maddox and Vick went wire to wire only to end in a tie?  Remember when Ben was concussed in Atlanta and Vick propelled the Falcons to an OT win?  Vick typically plays well against the Steelers, but lets hope those memories stayed in Atlanta, and not carry over to Philly.

- Coaches - These are two of the best in the NFL in my opinion.  Even though Andy Reid hasn't won the big game, he is considered to be one of the best in the business at what he does.  He is on the hot seat this year, and don't think the players don't know that and want to fight for their coach.  Mike Tomlin has already been to 2 Superbowls and has one ring to show for it.  Mike Tomlin seems to be the master motivator for the Steelers, and I'm sure he knows exactly what buttons to push to make sure his team is focused and ready for the Eagles on Sunday.

- Special Teams - Not a ton of ink going to be spent on Special Teams.  Pittsburgh's unit can be explosive as a return unit, but can also give up big returns and give the opponents short fields.  Shaun Suisham must do a better job of kicking the ball deep into the endzone to make sure the Eagles start their drives on the 20 yard line and not on the 35 or worse.  Steelers Punter Butler showed some kinks in the armour in Oakland, but hopefully both kickers will be on their A-Game on Sunday, along with the return and kicking units.  Nothing is more of a punch in the gut than a Special Teams TD.

Prediction - I changed my mind...if you want to see my prediction, you'll have to listen to the latest podcast on the site...see the link above and enjoy!