The Philadelphia Eagles are set to kickoff the 2012 season with their first preseason game tonight against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After a long offseason in which began right after Week 17 with no playoff appearance, Eagles fans are excited for the new season to finally get under way.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Lincoln Financial Field Kickoff: 7:30 pm ET TV: 6abc Radio: 94 WIP Sirius: 94
Tonight's match-up will be the 23rd preseason meeting of all-time between the Steelers and Eagles. The Eagles are 9-13 overall in those games, having a 6-4 record on their home turf. The two teams will meet later in the year on Week 5, and the Eagles have a 47-27-3 overall regular season record. The last time they met in the regular season against their Pennsylvania-state rival was on September 21, 2008 at Lincoln Financial Field with the Eagles winning 15-6. Donovan McNabb completed 25 of his 36 passes for 193 yards with one touchdown and one interception. That game put McNabb at the sole-possession of the most touchdown passes thrown in Eagles history. Also, kicker David Akers hit two field goals from 31 yards in that game. (See highlights here courtesy of NFL.com)
With the tragic news of the death of Andy Reid's son, Garrett, many wonder if he'd be on the sidelines tonight at the Linc. In Wednesday's press conference, Andy Reid confirmed he would be coaching:
“I’m a football coach. That’s what I do. I know my son wouldn’t want it any other way.”
According to CSNPhilly's Reuben Frank, a moment of silence will be held before tonight's game in remembrance of Garrett. Also, players will wear memorial decals on their helmets. Michael Vick stated that the entire season will be dedicated to Garrett. Both Garrett and Michael were close friends, as they were both through the incarceration experience and dealing with fixing their previous troubling actions.
There are many connections between these two teams that make the Steelers-Eagles rival interesting. Pittsburgh's defense coordinator Dick LeBeau, for example, began his professional career with the Eagles from 1973 to 1975 as a special teams coach. Also, Pittsburgh's defensive backs Coach Carnell Lake first started with the Birds in 2009 serving as a training camp volunteer coach at Lehigh.
Bobby April, Eagles Special Teams coordinator, was a part of the Steelers organization with the same position from 1994 and 1995. Lastly, who could forget that both the Eagles' running backs LeSean McCoy and Dion Lewis attended and played for the University of Pittsburgh.
Tonight, each quarterback is expected to play a quarter, going in order on the depth chart (Michael Vick, Mike Kafka, Nick Foles, and Trent Edwards). Also, the first-team defensive line will rotate and play the entire first half of game action. Nate Allen, Brent Celek, Trent Cole, Jason Babin, Jamar Chaney, Riley Cooper, Cliff Harris, and Brandon Washington all will be out for the first preseason games with injuries.
Even though the first meaningful game is exactly a month away, on September 9th at Cleveland against the Browns, it's surely great to have the Eagles playing tonight at home regardless of the game's importance.
Matt Rappa is a contributor for Eagledelphia. You can find him on Twitter @mattrappa.
