NFL - Eagles v Steelers

The offense of the Eagles was amazing on their first two games of the season by scoring 28 points against the Rams and 37 points at Dallas last Monday. The main reason for that was an healthy Donovan McNabb, who combined 642 yards, 4 TD and 0 int in the first two games of the season. However the offense of the Eagles will have a very tough test this week against the defense of the Steelers. First of all, we can’t forget that the Eagles played last Monday and thanks to the Monday night game and a long flight from Texas, the usual 2 1/2-day break between a typical Sunday game and the start of the practice week on Wednesday morning had been reduced to less than one full day. Besides that, the game at Dallas wasn’t a normal one, as it was very intense and played at a very high rhythm. It’s only necessary to read what McNabb said to understand the consequences of this for the team:

“It’s tough on your body,” Donovan McNabb said. “I think all of us are a little sore. That’s supposed to happen in this game. It doesn’t get any easier this week, either. Just go through the right things to do, take care of your body and we’ll take care of Sunday.”

And the team became even tougher, as they will face the Steelers, which were the best defensive team in the league last season, with just 266.4 yards allowed per game and that on the first two games of the season have just allowed a combined of 23 points (with 14 being allowed in the last quarter of their game against Houston, which had everything decided on the 3rd quarter). McNabb got sacked 4 times during the game against the Cowboys and the offensive line won’t be at 100% for this game, as guard Shawn Andrews will be out. Jamaal Jackson dealt the whole week with personal problems and so, I expect the Steelers to bother McNabb a lot today. Just remember the Steelers allowed just 159 passing yards to the Texans and 155 to the Browns.

Analyzing now the offense of the Steelers, we see that they are becoming a run offense oriented team. Ben Roethlisberger has a shoulder injury and he hasn’t been capable of executing long throws. He has been compensating that struggle with good decisions, however it’s obvious the Steelers aren’t capable of creating great plays with long passes right now. Looking at their last game at Cleveland, we see that Roethlisberger ended the game with a QB rating of 113.0, which in normal conditions would mean that the team would have scored a good number of points, but the truth is that Pittsburgh has just scored 10 points during the whole game! The option for running the football is obvious: Roethlisberger ended the game with 12/19, with the team attempting 31 rushing carries.

In this game, I expect the same performance from the Steelers, which is a team oriented to run the football and so they will play offense with a low rhythm. The Eagles in these two games have been executing a nice run defense, allowing just 36 yards to the Rams and 68 yards to Dallas. The total is at 44 points, which gives us some confidence on the under. Also Philadelphia is 9-2 Under as a favorite over the last 2 seasons and the winner of this game will be the team which will defend better and not the team which will execute their offense better. So, I’m taking the under in here.

Pick : Under 45
Odds : 1.91
Stake : 7 / 10
Bookmaker : Bodog
Match Result : 15-6
Tipster Personal Link/Sponsor: http://andregomes.apostaganha.pt

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