Pittsburgh Steelers up 2-2 in AFC North with 16-14 tight win vs Philadelphia Eagles – NFL Recap
The Pittsburgh Steelers appeared to be all over the field in a not so impressively coordinated effort versus the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday (Oct. 07) but managed at the end to hold the nerve to register a narrow-margin (16-14) victory over the visitors,
improving their standing in the American Football Conference (AFC) North division to 2-2, just behind the Baltimore Ravens who are at 4-1.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and running back Rashard Mendenhall, who played his first game of the season returning from a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), made some crucial plays at critical stages to make sure their side stays ahead of the opposition.
Ben threw for 207 yards on 21 out of 37 completed passes while Mendenhall finished with 81 yards. He also added 20 receiving yards to help the side overpower Eagles, who showed clear intentions of a win and kept the hosts in defensive position most of the
time.
Roethlisberger said:
"I always have confidence in myself and the guys that we can do it. It's good to go down. That was everybody on that drive."
He added:
"Our saviour is back. We've been teasing him all week. It was great to see him out there and he did a great job."
Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who has led his side to some of impossible victories this season with his some superb display of skills in closing few minutes of the games, could not prevent them from the two-point defeat to the Steelers.
The Steelers got special boost on return of safety Troy Polamalu and Mendenhall but the former could not prove to be of help as he left the field while aggravating his calf injury and did not return to finish the game.
Polamalu injured his calf in the season-opener and then spent the next couple of games on the sidelines while recovering from it. In spite of all the uncertainty, he returned to action against the Eagles but his comeback was only for a shorter period of
time before he got ousted once again.
It was another bad day for the team as far as injury scares are concerned. They also lost the outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley with a hamstring injury and at a time it looked difficult for them to hold the pressure until end.
In spite of the injuries, the defence managed to hold back the opponents and as linebacker Lawrence Timmons notes it was the turning point of the game for the hosts.
Timmons said:
"Our defence stood up today. We really needed this win. A good team is always defined by what they do after losses."
Overall it was a good morale-boosting win for the Steelers, as they have so far appeared to be struggling in the season.
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