Back to Eagles camp...and some TV observations of the Steelers preseason game...

After a day off on Friday, the Eagles are back to work at Lehigh on Saturday.  I finally got to watch the game on a full-screen TV. It's weird to watch a game without the usual delays between plays, quarters and halves...I won't rehash the whole game out of respect for our regular Bored readers, but I'll make some quick observations...


Serious questions still remain about Mike Vick's decision-making process at QB.  We'll deal with the "State of QB#1" in an upcoming blurb featuring some remarkable analysis points made by our very own pundits Brizer and Brozer...


Get Bent! er, I mean...Ben... As a fan I was extremely pleased with the defensive line pressure from the 2's and the 3's...of course, the Steelers were playing without their 1's on the OL, but even Ben Roethlisberger after the game had high praise for the Eagles defensive scheme.

Random observations while watching replay on the tube:

-Place-kicker Alex Henery provided the winning points with a 51-yard field goal with 12 seconds left in regulation. Gotta love that time-pressure comethrough with all the simulated pressure you could possibly engineer for not only the kicker but also his holder Chas Henry and the FG unit...

-Quarterback Michael Vick and company played into the second quarter but were only on the field for six plays and lost 3 total yards in a pair of three-and-out series.  He completed 3-of-4 passes for 6 yards and was sacked once. It was ugly.

-A makeshift Eagles starting defense gave up 13 first-half points, though it was hard to gauge its effectiveness since it was missing safety Nate Allen (strained hamstring) and defensive ends Jason Babin (strained calf) and Trent Cole (strained shoulder) with injuries. The replacements made a few big plays. Defensive end Brandon Graham, the Eagles' first-round draft pick in 2010, and defensive end Phillip Hunt each collected two sacks. But Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger drove his offense to a field goal in his only series and then backup Byron Leftwich burned the Eagles with a 14-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Antonio Brown. Safety Jaiquawn Jarrett looked lost out there...again.

-The Other QBs: 1. Mike Kafka took over midway in the second quarter and completed 5-of-9 passes for 31 yards. He threw an awful interception to defensive end Al Woods, who returned it 53 yards to set up a Steelers field goal.

2. Nick Foles brought the sparse crowd to its feet in the third quarter by connecting with Damaris Johnson for a 70-yard touchdown and throwing another TD to Mardy Gilyard. He completed 6-of-10 passes for 144 yards.

3. Trent Edwards took over in the fourth quarter and brought the team from behind with his TD pass to Jamel Hamler and set up Henery's winning field goal. Edwards, who sat out the 2011 season, completed 12-of-20 passes for 105 yards. Anyone out there still doubting Brizer's recommendation to us to keep Edwards in the conversation?

-The new guys: 1. Damaris Johnson started in place of last-minute scratch Jeremy Maclin and caught Vick's first pass for 4 yards. He finished with 6 receptions for 85 yards and his TD.

2. Rookie cornerback Brandon Boykin had a 46-yard kickoff return in the first quarter.

3. Punter Mat McBride averaged 42.3 yards on three punts.

-The good things: 1. The fans' standing ovation for coach Reid.

2. Henery's 51-yard field goal cleared the crossbar with plenty of room to spare.

3. Foles displayed a very strong arm and a very comfortable pocket presence while throwing his two TD passes.

-Roethlisberger played just one series and led the team to a field goal. The Steelers' starting defense also dominated early.

-Eagles second-year running back Dion Lewis took over for starter McCoy in the second quarter and rushed for 22 yards on four carries in the second quarter.

-Former Galloway Township (New Jersey) resident Myron Rolle made two tackles as a member of the Steelers' punt coverage team and played safety in the third quarter. Rolle signed with the Steelers as a free agent after not being in the NFL in 2011.

-Injuries--- Vick jammed his left thumb but X-Rays were negative...will be sore but should be okay for next week's exhibition...Cullen Jenkins, who moved over from defensive tackle to start at defensive end, suffered a strained hamstring in the first quarter and did not return. Mike Kafka, it turns out, broke a bone in his non-throwing hand...but troof be told, I did not see it on the TV replay.

What the players were saying on the voice-over interviews during the broadcast:

-"These preseason games are meant to kind of get all the nervous things out of you," Eagles running back LeSean McCoy said. "We'll be fine."

-"They're a good team," Roethlisberger said of the Eagles. "It's the preseason, so you're not seeing a bunch of crazy stuff. We just wanted to come out and be physical and see how we could match up."

- Nick Foles, after throwing two touchdown passes: "That's something I've been doing in the backyard since I was a kid. I just tried to relax and have fun."

Finally, and it was hard not to notice---  just a ton of empty seats at the Linc... Turrible.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Pittsburgh, B.Batch 19-41, Dwyer 2-40, J.Johnson 3-26, Redman 5-14, Clay 5-8, Rainey 4-1, Maze 1-1. Philadelphia, B.Brown 3-33, Lewis 4-22, Edwards 2-14, Akpla 1-6, Polk 3-1, McCoy 1-(minus 2).

PASSING_Pittsburgh, J.Johnson 3-6-0-93, Roethlisberger 7-8-0-49, Leftwich 3-5-0-14. Philadelphia, Foles 6-10-0-144, Edwards 12-20-0-106, Kafka 5-9-1-31, Vick 3-4-0-6.

RECEIVING_Pittsburgh, Rainey 2-65, A.Brown 2-21, Sanders 2-19, D.Johnson 2-13, Redman 2-4, Beiler 1-30, B.Johnson 1-6, Dwyer 1-(minus 2). Philadelphia, D.Johnson 4-85, Hamler 3-34, Polk 3-28, B.Brown 2-16, Ford 2-14, Jacobson 2-14, T.Jones 2-10, Brackett 2-9, Gilyard 1-44, Akpla 1-12, Hall 1-11, Igwenagu 1-8, Jackson 1-5, McCoy 1-(minus 3).

PUNT RETURNS_Pittsburgh, Rainey 3-20, Maze 2-5. Philadelphia, D.Johnson 3-18, Gilyard 1-14.

KICKOFF RETURNS_Pittsburgh, Maze 1-28, Paulson 1-0. Philadelphia, Boykin 3-89, D.Johnson 1-19.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS_Pittsburgh, M.McFadden 4-0-0, McLendon 3-0-1, Baker 3-0-0, B.Johnson 3-0-0, Rolle 3-0-0, Sylvester 3-0-0, Cromartie-Smith 2-0-0, Frederick 2-0-0, Golden 2-0-0, W.McFadden 2-0-0, Mundy 2-0-0, Spence 2-0-0, C.Allen 1-0-0, W.Allen 1-0-0, Bryant 1-0-0, Foote 1-0-0, Freeman 1-0-0, Hicks 1-0-0, Ivy 1-0-0, Lewis 1-0-0, McCoy 1-0-0, Victorian 1-0-0. Philadelphia, Curry 5-0-0, Kendricks 4-1-0, Hunt 4-0-2, Thornton 3-1-1, Jordan 3-1-0, Coleman 3-0-0, Graham 2-0-1, Asomugha 2-0-0, Clayton 2-0-0, Jarrett 2-0-0, Landri 2-0-0, Nelson 2-0-0, Trotter 2-0-0, Tapp 1-1-0½, Atogwe 1-1-0, Taylor 1-0-1, X.Brown 1-0-1, Akpla 1-0-0, Bonner 1-0-0, B.Brown 1-0-0, Dixon 1-0-0, Gill 1-0-0, Hanson 1-0-0, Hughes 1-0-0, Lindley 1-0-0, Matthews 1-0-0, McCoy 1-0-0, Moten 1-0-0, Rau 1-0-0, Simmons 1-0-0, K.Thomas 1-0-0, P.Thomas 1-0-0, Rolle 0-1-0½, Cox 0-1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS_Pittsburgh, Woods 1-53.

MISSED FIELD GOALS_None.

___

OFFICIALS_Referee Mike Shepherd, Ump Tim Keese, HL Tom Falcinelli, LJ George Shinkan, FJ Henry Zaborniak, SJ Gregory Sweeney, BJ Mark Kelsay.

Time: 3:13.