Preseason Week 3 is finally among us as the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers get ready to kick off the football week at Lincoln Financial Field for Thursday Night Football.
Week 3 is typically the season’s “dress rehearsal” as the starters generally play the first half and possibly into the third quarter depending on their coach’s preferences.
Let’s take a look at some key things as the Eagles get ready for their first game at home this preseason.
The Eagles are 0-2 in the preseason. This is not a cause for concern.
In losing those two games, the Eagles – particularly their defense – have not looked especially good. This is a slightly greater cause for concern.
I’ll give the defense a slight pass for their poor showing. After the Seahawks utilized their “let’s just hold on every play” technique to perfection last season, the NFL decided they were going to really crack down on it this year. The result has been an insane amount of penalty flags thrown in the preseason.
The Eagles made some moves this week picking up former Oregon Duck Kenjon Barner from the Carolina Panthers for a conditional 7th round pick. Barner was selected in the sixth round of the 2013 draft and adds both experience in Kelly’s system and return capabilities to a team looking for returners after Josh Huff ‘s recent injury. The former All-American played extremely well under Kelly picking up 21 touchdowns his senior year at Oregon while averaging 22.5 yards per kick return. Chris Polk and Matthew Tucker still ease their way back from injuries, Barner could see a good amount of playing time these next two games.
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As hard as it is to believe, the Steelers have missed the playoffs for two straight seasons. I figured the NFL would have some sort of rule preventing that from happening, because the league seemingly wants the Steelers to succeed even more than they do Peyton Manning.
The Steelers lost their first four games in 2013, placing the team in a major hole. However, they rebounded to finish strong. They won their final three games and were a Chargers overtime victory away from qualifying from the playoffs. (I’m shocked the league didn’t find a way to fix that Chargers game.)
Here’s something that will make you feel old: This will be Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger‘s eleventh season in the league, and the eighth season for head coach Mike Tomlin. Has Bill Cowher really been out of the league for that long?
