The Philadelphia Eagles broke their franchise record setting season start on Sunday, losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27- 3 at Heinz feild. Pittsburgh, 7-1, has beaten two undefeated teams in two consecutive weeks. Last week Pittsburgh helped break an other streak by beating the New England Patriots 30-24 snapping their NFL record 21-game winning streak. Steelers running back and former Eagle, Duce Staley sat out Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury he suffered during practice on Friday. This was no setback for the Steelers, led by the ground attack of Jerome Bettis. Bettis, who is sixth all-time in career rushing, had 149 yards on 33 carries. Bettis had just 129 yards in Pittsburgh’s first seven games.
The Steelers came out strong in the first quarter with two touchdowns from wide reciever Heinz Ward. One was a 16 yard reverse and the other a 20 yard catch from the much-hyped rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Each touchdown, Ward mocked Terrell Owens by flapping his arms like a bird in the end-zone. The 1978 Stelers were the last Steeler team to open up the regular season 7-1. The team finished the season 14-2 and won the Super Bowl.
Terrell Owens ended the game with seven catches for 53 yards and made it clear to Donovan McNabb on the sideline.. He was coming off five consecutive 100-yard games and didn’t catch his first pass until Pittsburgh led 21-0. McNabb was 15 for 24 in the game with one interception and no touchdowns.
The Eagles were finally on the board eight minutes into the second quarter with a 33-yard field goal from David Akers. The Birds just couldn’t pull it together, coming up empty for the rest of the game. The Steelers capped the win with a 31 yard field goal from Jeff Reed with 7:58 left.