Steelers vs. Eagles Recap

By: Eric Brill

It's never good when your rookie left tackle recovers two fumbles in the first quarter, but thats just what Mike Adams did tonight after giving up two strip sacks before leaving with a knee injury.

He and fellow rookie lineman, David DeCastro, have been under the microscope since being drafted with the Steelers first two picks in April's draft. With Max Starks inactive and Willie Colon recovering from an ankle injury, the two were thrown into the fire earlier than expected.

If you watched the game, or were on twitter during the first quarter, you're probably thinking that Adams played poorly. Most of the media tore him apart after giving up two early sacks, but if you go back and watch every play he was in for, you'll see he actually did a pretty good job. His run blocking was solid, and even on plays he allowed pressure, he was rarely out of position. Now, I'm not saying he doesn't have a lot to work on, but he performed about as well as I could have hoped. Especially considering he had a late start to camp after missing OTAs. Keep in mind, this is guy who has a ton to learn yet and this time next month will be vastly improved. All in all, I was actually quite impressed.

As for DeCastro, he showed nice pulling ability and from what I can see on film, he played well for the most part. I know he relied on Maurkice Pouncey to help him but for his first action at the pro level, I was pleased. Admittedly, I have only one camera angle to study, and its hardly flattering for interior linemen, but from what I could see, he didn't blow anything, looked to be in position and held his own against fellow first round pick, DT Fletcher Cox. DeCastro is still adjusting to the physical aspects of the game, and like Adams will grow with each rep he gets.

On Roethlisberger's one drive, he finished 7-8 for 49 yards. Not bad at all, but a number of those throws were check downs out of play action. He made a "ben-esque" play on 3rd and 11 escaping the rush before hitting Emmanuel Sanders for a 17 yard completion. Overall Ben was Ben, and the first team offense led a methodical 16 play drive, lasting 9:48 that resulted in a 46 yard Suisham field goal.

David Johnson, who was having an excellent training camp, caught two passes before getting hurt. He is now rumored to have torn his ACL and is expected (unfortunately) to miss the season. Will Johnson, who is also having a nice camp so far, is now a virtual lock to make the roster, as he is the only other fullback the Steelers have.

The first team defense, namely Steve McLendon, looked as good as Michael Vick and the Eagles offense looked bad. Chris Carter, who started in place of an injured James Harrison, showed excellent burst off the line, supplying consistent pressure. There are still a number of areas that he needs to work on, namely his bull rush, but he may well overtake Jason Worilds on the depth chart if he continues to progress like this. McLendon played most of the first half, adding a sack in the process, while consistently pushing the pocket, and making plays all over the place.

The Steelers second possession was highlighted by a 33 yard run by Jonathan Dwyer, who strained his shoulder on the play and did not return. Two plays later, Byron Leftwich hit Emmanuel Sanders on a two yard slant to give the Steelers an early 10-0 lead.

Nearing the end of the second quarter, Brandon Johnson supplied great pressure on a blitz from the left side, allowing Al Woods to pick off an ill-advised screen pass from Mike Kafka, which he returned 52 yards, all the way back to the Eagles 5 yard line. The Steelers added a short field goal three plays later, capping the first half scoring.

Perhaps the only man to turn more heads than McLendon was rookie running back Chris Rainey. Rainey, who showed off his speed all night, took a short screen from Jerrod Johnson and turned it into a 57 yard touchdown, evading a number of Eagles defenders in the process. If his performance proved anything, its that Todd Haley is going to find ways to get the ball in his hands, because he is a playmaker. Keep in mind, he was the only man who played the whole game. He caught a pass from Ben on that first drive and was still getting carries well into the 4th quarter.  Its clear that the coaching staff is excited by his ability, so I'd expect to see a nice dose of Rainey throughout the remainder of preseason.

Otherwise, Cortez Allen played well and despite giving up a long touchdown, Curtis Brown hung with his men consistently in coverage. He's just gotta get his head up on those. I expect Allen to make a push for the starting job opposite Ike Taylor in the coming weeks.

Undrafted free agent OLB Adrian Robinson really caught my attention in the second half, getting in the backfield on virtually every passing play. He had more than one hand on opposing quarterbacks, now he just needs to bring them down. Otherwise he was as good as advertised after having had a great camp thus far.

I wasn't impressed by the offensive line in the second half, but most of them won't make it out camp, so I'm not overly concerned. Its unfortunate for Baron Batch, because he's being judged based on their poor play.

Shaun Suisham (or Sushi, as he will henceforth be known) played well, going 2-2, hitting easily from 46 and 31 yards. It looks like I'll get to put off yelling about him until next Saturday, when the Andrew Luck led Colts visit Heinz Field.

At the end of the day, this was a much better start to the preseason than last year's egg against the Redskins. Lots of good, lots of bad, but its all fixable and mostly the result of inexperience. The starters dominated Philadelphia in most all phases and that's what should be focused on.