By: Jonathan Clark
SteelerNation.com
This Sunday, the 3-0 Pittsburgh Steelers take on the 1-2-1 Philadelphia Eagles in a battle of 1st place teams in their respective divisions. The Steelers lead the AFC North in a slim margin over the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, with the Ravens and Browns trailing by just a half game. This is a battle of two teams who seem to be headed in opposite directions. While both teams do hold first place leads in their divisions, the way in which both teams got there, could not be far from different.
Now yes, it has only been four weeks into a long 16 week NFL schedule, and many things can change from now until the end of the year, but if the regular season would have ended today, both teams would be represented in the NFL playoffs. While this probably would not come to a shock to most avid NFL fans, the way in which both teams have come to this point might be something that catches most fans eyes.
The Steelers are 3-0 entering Week 5 of the NFL season. Pittsburgh has beaten the New York Giants in Week 1, the Denver Broncos in Week 2 and then most recently beating the Houston Texans last Sunday. In each of these games as a whole, our team has been pretty consistent in their play. The offense has scored at least 26 points in each of the first three games, the running game has shown to be dominant with already two 100-yard performances (one by James Conner and one to Benny Snell Jr.), QB Ben Roethlisberger pretty much has the pick of the litter as to who he is going to throw the ball too, and we have continued to be successful in keeping our franchise QB off the ground.
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Benny Snell (24) leaps in celebration with injured running back James Conner (30) after he scored against the Cleveland Browns during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Our defense has certainly continued right where they left off last season. Led by our dominant defensive front, our running game has been stout, holding rushers to just 61 attempts for 161 yards and 1 touchdown in all three games combined this year. Pretty good if you ask me. Our passing game does need some work. We have given up a total of 708 yards and 6 touchdowns throughout these past couple of weeks already. Normally this area would be a cause for concern in the past years, but it just seems like we have too many playmakers in our secondary to not be able to turn that notion around, and this could be the perfect week to do so.
Philadelphia is struggling to say the least. Yes, they are coming off their first win of the season after opening the season off with a loss to the Washington Football Team, then followed that up with a tie against the Cincinnati Bengals, finally getting that coveted first win of the season last week against the San Francisco 49ers. Offensively, the Eagles have struggled to keep their offensive weapons on the field. Rookie WR Jalen Reagor and veteran WR DeSean Jackson have both been dealing with nagging injuries that have been putting both of these players' statuses for the game on Sunday into question. QB Carson Wentz has seemed to take a step back this season after starting out very shaky. He has been quite turnover happy to start out this campaign and that does not bode well for him against a defense that loves to get after the ball. Winning the turnover battle could be a HUGE advantage for us this Sunday.
This is a big game for us this Sunday. After last week's situation arose, we have heard head coach Mike Tomlin say “We do not care” referring to the fact that the Steelers now have to play 13 straight weeks of football instead of getting their Week 8 bye as expected. It will be interesting to see if this team can keep the momentum that they built up in their wins these past couple of weeks and come out of Sunday's game 4-0!
Let us know what you think! Comment below!
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