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After witnessing one of the best
Eagles Defense’s performances in some time, all I can say is “WOW”!! After a tough loss to the
Dallas Cowboys a week ago, the Eagles Defense had a statement to make and that statement is still echoing across the NFL today. There was no better time for this defense to stand up and take on their shoulders the burden of winning the game and they did so with reckless abandon.
Most of the time, after a team loses one (if not two) of their star offensive players during a game, the rest of the team goes into what I call a “funk mode” where they just sleep-walk through the rest of the game to get it finished. Not so on Sunday against arguably one of the AFC’s top teams, The
Pittsburgh Steelers. It was as if the defense recognized their offense needed a hand and took it upon themselves to keep Pittsburgh out of the end zone and lead the Birds to a very important victory.
The Eagles defense registered 9 sacks, 3 turnovers, and even that rare safety. The amazing thing about the defense’s performance is they could have had even more sacks if not for some penalties and Steelers QB
Ben Roethlisberger’s ability to scramble away for some small, positive yardage or throw the ball away on more than one occasion. Like that bee’s nest that I accidentally hit with a basketball when I was younger, the Eagles defense came out flying and swarming Roethlisberger. They shut down the run and dangerous RB
Willie Parker. They gave up minimum yardage to Steelers receiving threats in
Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, and
Heath Miller and kept them in check. The defense was simply amazing and as if the Eagles had at least 15 defenders on the field facing the Steelers’ 11 players.
Nothing made me happier however when in the 4
th quarter, Eagles “Soon to be Hall of Famer” Safety
Brian Dawkins came flying in, diving towards Roethlisberger and not only caused a fumble, but somehow used his ‘Jedi’ skills to fall on the ball and recover it too. “B-Dawk” is my favorite Eagle and he took a considerable amount of heat this week, especially after getting beat by Cowboys WR
Terrell Owens for a TD in last week’s game against Dallas. With that single play against Pittsburgh, he showed us
Die Hard Eagles Fans that although he is indeed older, he still has something left in the tank and he will leave nothing on the field with his hopes of bringing Philadelphia a championship. He is the heart and energy of our defense and despite some loss of speed; he proved yesterday he is very much needed on that field.
To conclude, I want to be clear that Sunday’s victory was a true team win. Credit is due to the entire team, not just the defense. The Offense did execute well enough to get some points on the board. The Special Teams were fantastic both on kick-off coverage as well as punts. Punter
Sav Rocca indeed had his best game with the Eagles. However, it was the fire and intensity that the Eagles defense brought all game long, and for that, we Eagles fans should be very proud and excited of what opportunities lie ahead if they can consistently perform at that level. All I can say is “WOW”!!
With that said, “E-A-G-L-E-S!! EAGLES!!”
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