Eagles @ Steelers Preview

The Eagles will have their dress rehearsal preseason game, in which the starters get the most playing time. Next week against the Jets, you probably won’t see any starters, and the backups will get their last shot to prove they deserve to make the cut. After the game in which the starters play a whole half or even more, you want to come away confident that they’re ready for the regular season. If these three matchups turn out successful, I’m confident the Eagles are ready to go.

Donovan McNabb vs. Pittsburgh pass rush- He did a good job in the game against Carolina, and it would be great to see a similar effort from McNabb again. He was sharp throwing the ball, his mobility wasn’t limited and he took a couple hits and bounced right up. The 3-4 can bring some interesting blitzes, so McNabb has to be ready for anything. I don’t know how much Pittsburgh will bring pressure in a preseason game, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

Jamaal Jackson vs. Casey Hampton- Jackson struggled a bit against Haloti Ngata in Baltimore’s sometimes 3-4 defense in the first game, and blocking the nose tackle is the key to success against the 3-4. This has been an Achilles heel of the Eagles of recent year, and Jackson has to be the guy to step up and help fix the problem.

Eagles’ front seven vs. Pittsburgh running game- Obviously it’s going to be interesting to see how the Eagles do without Trotter. Pittsburgh has, always has and always will have a great running game. Willie Parker is a complete back that can hurt you in a lot of ways, so the Eagles need to show that we’re watching the same movie from last year, and we didn’t like how that one ended. Omar Gaither is going to need to show the fans that he’s capable of doing the job because a lot of people are upset at letting go of Trotter.

Three more players to watch:

Nick Cole- In the replace Shawn Andrews roulette, everything’s coming up Cole this week. It’s his turn to start with the 1’s after a strong game against Carolina. He played RG very well, despite Pat McCoy making it look like he wasn’t doing a very good job. He blew guys off the ball and showed he’s a pretty good run blocker. He deserves the chance to show what he can do.

Ian Scott- If he plays, with the exception of Ramsey, who wasn’t going to be dressed on game day anyway, the Eagles will have all of the DTs for the first time in the preseason. We signed him with the intention of him playing pretty well against the run. He’s a bit bigger than our other tackles, and he’s going to have to show he can hang tough and improve the middle of the defense.

Brian Dawkins- He’s finally expected to play after dealing with a leg injury for much of camp. I don’t know how much he’ll play, but hopefully he shows he can move around and won’t be affected by the injury. Hopefully he was being held out for a while as a precaution and this won’t be something that lingers throughout the season.