NFL Old School Game of the Week: Eagles Escape Pittsburgh With Win over Steelers

Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham threw for 276 yards and ran for 48 yards and two touchdowns in the Eagles' win over the Steelers.

 The Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers have an unique history when it comes to the NFL.

Not only do they play in the same state of Pennsylvania, they came into the league at the same time as both teams began play in 1933.

They even joined forces in 1943 when a player shortage because of World War II forced the two teams to merge and become the "Steagles".

The merger lasted only one season as the two intrastate rivals played each other two times a year from 1945-66, then down one game from 1967-70, until the rivalry was grinded to a halt following the AFL-NFL merger which saw the Steelers moved to AFC to play with the AFL teams and two other NFL teams(Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns) while the Eagles remained in the NFC.

The Eagles and the Steelers would play twice during the 1970s but would not meet again until week 11 of the 1988 NFL season when the Eagles traveled to Three Rivers Stadium to take on the Steelers.

The Eagles entered the game with a 5-5 record, needing a win to stay afloat in the race for a spot in the playoffs, somewhere the Eagles hadn't been in seven years.

The Eagles were led by head coach Buddy Ryan, who was in his third year at the helm in Philadelphia after being defensive coordinator of the famous 1985 Chicago Bears defense, and had the dynamic Randall Cunningham at quarterback and defensive end Reggie White leading the defense.

While the Eagles had dreams of reaching the postseason, the Steelers were in the midst of a nightmare of a season as they entered their game with Philadelphia with a 2-8 record and were coming off a 42-7 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals the week before.

The Steelers were coached by Chuck Noll, who was in his 20th season as the head coach of the Steelers, but  was far removed from the glory days of the 1970s where the Steelers won four Super Bowls as the Steelers were looking at their third losing season in four years and a fourth straight playoff appearance.

Worst of all, they had lost owner Art Rooney who had died just before the season started.

While an win over the Eagles wouldn't save their season, it would still put a smile on Steeler fans' faces to beat their intrastate rival.

  After the Eagles went three-and-out on their opening possession of the game, the Steelers drove down the field behind the legs of running back Merril Hoge, who carried the ball four times for 29 yards to set up a 52-yard field goal by Gary Anderson to give Pittsburgh a 3-0 lead just a little over five minutes into the game.

.The Steelers would force the Eagles to punt again on their next possession to give their offense the ball at the Philadelphia 48-yard-line where again Hoge lead the Pittsburgh offense down the field as he ran the ball four times for 29 yards, then caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Louis Lipps to increase the Steelers' lead to 10-0 with 2:55 left in the first quarter.

Steelers running back Merril Hoge ran the ball 21 times for 102 yards  and caught four passes for 56 yards including a touchdown.

The Eagles' offense finally got going on their next possession as Philadelphia used their backfield of Keith Byars, Michael Haddix, and Anthony Toney to help them drive on 12-play, 72-yard drive which took up nearly seven and a half minutes and culminated with an one-yard touchdown run by Byars to cut it to a 10-7 game with 10:30 left in the second quarter.

The Steelers would begin their next possession at their 36-yard-line and drive down to the Eagles' 12-yard-line in just three plays as Warren Williams ran for 21 yards on the first play of the drive, followed by a seven-yard run by Hoge, and then a 24-yard pass from quarterback Bubby Brister to Hoge.

A holding penalty on the Eagles would give Pittsburgh a 1st & goal at the seven-yard-line, but Ryan's defense would the Steelers out of the end zone and force a 21-yard field goal by Anderson, which he made to increase the Pittsburgh lead to 13-7 midway through the second quarter.

Philadelphia would get the ball back at its 20-yard-line for its next drive where the Eagles would pick up two 1st downs thanks to Pittsburgh penalties on back-to-back 3rd down situations.

First on 3rd & 4 from the 26-yard-line, Steelers linebacker Greg Lloyd was called for offsides, giving the Eagles five yards and the 1st down, which was followed by a more egregious penalty on 3rd & 10 when Cunningham was sacked by Pittsburgh defensive end Tim Johnson, only to have Steelers linebacker Aaron Jones get called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after throwing two punches at the helmet of Philadelphia right tackle Ron Heller, to give the Eagles a 1st down at their 38-yard-line.

From there, Cunningham would take over as he hit tight end Keith Jackson three times for 42 yards, then scrambled for a seven-yard touchdown to give the Eagles their first lead of the game at 14-13 with 2:44 left in the first half.

The Steeles would get the ball back at their 34-yard-line and quickly drive down to the Eagles' 18-yard-line as Lipps took an reverse and ran for 11 yards on the first play of the drive, then caught a 20-yard pass from Brister, who also completed a 17-yard pass to Hoge to set Pittsburgh up in the red zone following the two-minute warning.

However, the Eagles defense would stiffen once again and allow only six yards on the next three plays, forcing the Steelers to settle for Anderson's third field goal of the game, a 29-yarder to give Pittsburgh a 16-14 lead with 55 seconds left before halftime.

Following the kickoff, the Eagles would get the ball at their 19-yard-line with a chance to retake the lead before the halftime break as Cunningham would complete four of five passes for 43 yards, three of them to Haddix for 29 yards, to give Luis Zendejas a shot at a 56-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half.

But Zendejas' kick was short and the Eagles went into the locker room trailing 16-14 as the Steelers would get the ball to start the second half.

The Eagles would force the Steelers to punt on their opening possession of the first half, to give their offense the ball at their 45-yard-line where Cunningham would lead the Eagles offense down the field as he converted on two straight 3rd down situations; First, running for five yards on 3rd & 2 from the Pittsburgh 47-yard-line, then running for 14 yards on 3rd & 10 at the Pittsburgh 42-yard-line.

Cunningham would face another 3rd down, this time at the Pittsburgh 10-yard-line, only to lose seven yards, forcing the Eagles to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Zendejas to give Philadelphia a 17-16 lead midway through the third quarter.

An illegal block on the ensuing kickoff would force the Steelers to start their ensuing drive from their 10-yard-line where Hoge carried for just one yard to begin the drive.

That is when Brister dropped back and fired a pass down the right sideline for Lipps, who made the catch and then outran the Eagles defense for a 89-yard touchdown to give Pittsburgh a 23-17 lead with 7:23 left in the third quarter.

Steelers wide receiver Louis Lipps caught six passes for 171 yards and a touchdown plus threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Merril Hoge.

The Eagles turned it over on the first play of their next possession as Cunningham was intercepted on a deep pass intended for Ron Johnson by Steelers free safety Thomas Everett giving Pittsburgh the ball at their 25-yard-line.

After the Steelers punted the ball to the Eagles who took over at their eight-yard-line, Cunningham completed a ten-yard pass to Jackson, only to have Steelers linebacker Gregg Carr knock the ball loose which was recovered by fellow linebacker David Little, giving Pittsburgh the ball at the Philadelphia 16-yard-line with an excellent chance ton increase their lead.

But on 2nd & 11, Brister was picked off by Eagles cornerback Eric Allen, whose 21-yard return plus 15-yard penalty on Steelers right tackle Tunch Ilkin gave the Eagles the ball at their 41-yard-line.

The Eagles would drive down to the Steelers' 23-yard-line when it appeared Pittsburgh would get the ball as cornerback Rod Woodson picked off Cunningham, only to have it negated by a roughing-the-passer penalty on Lloyd to give the Eagles a 1st down at the Steelers' 12-yard-line.

Three plays later, the Eagles would have the lead again as Cunningham ran it in for a 12-yard touchdown to give Philadelphia a 24-23 lead with 12:14 to go in the fourth quarter.

The Steelers would go three-and-out on their next possession giving the Eagles the ball back at their 18-yard-line who drove to their 39-yard-line until Cunningham was picked off by Steelers cornerback Dwayne Woodruff, whose 19-yard return gave Pittsburgh the ball at the Eagles' 36-yard-line.

Any chance of converting the turnover into points went out the window when Eagles defensive back Terry Hoage sacked Brister for a 11-yard-loss on 3rd & 6 from the Philadelphia 32-yard-line, forcing the Steelers to punt the ball away.

However, the Steelers defense would force a three-and-out to get the ball back at their 43-yard-line where Pittsburgh caught a break on the first play of the drive as Williams fumbled the ball at the end of a five-yard run, only to recovered by Steelers offensive line John Reinstra six yards downfield to give the Steelers a 1st down at the Eagles' 46-yard-line.

Following an incomplete pass, Hoge would for run 17 yards on a draw play to give Pittsburgh a 1st down at the Philadelphia 29-yard-line.

From here, the Steelers played it conservatively and ran the ball three straight times, gaining only five yards and forcing to them to settle for a 41-yard field goal by Anderson, to give Pittsburgh a 26-24 lead with 3:06 left in the game.

After a 19-yard return by Mark Konecny on the ensuing kickoff, the Eagles would take over at their 28-yard-line with 2:59 to go and three timeouts remaining as they had a chance to drive down the field for the winning score.

Cunningham hit Byars for a six-yard pass to begin the drive, which was followed by a 17-yard pass to Jimmie Giles to give the Eagles a 1st down at the Steelers' 49-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.

Cunningham would throw two straight incomplete passes setting up 3rd & 10 when the biggest play of the game occurred.

Cunningham took the snap, rolled right and fired a pass to a wide-open Cris Carter, who made the 41-yard reception to give the Eagles a 1st & goal at the Steelers' eight-yard-line.

From there, Byars would carry the ball three straight times, gaining seven yards but coming one yard short of the end zone as 4th down approached.

Probably tempted to go for the touchdown, Ryan wisely sent in the field goal unit as Zendejas calmly hit the 18-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 27-26 lead with 1:15 left.

Following a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, the Steelers took over at their 20-yard-line with 75 seconds left and one timeout remaining as they tried to drive down into field goal range to give Anderson a shot at winning the game.

Brister connected with Lipps for 12 yards to start the drive, then found running back Dwight Stone for nine yards as the Steelers burned their last timeout with 40 seconds to go in the game.

Two straight incomplete passes set up a do-or-die 4th & 1 where Hoge took a handoff from Brister and ran around the right side for six yards and a 1st down at the Pittsburgh 47-yard-line.

But the Steelers would go backwards as Ilkin was called for a false start penalty and Brister would be sacked by White for a four-yard-loss, forcing Brister to spike the ball to stop the clock as the Steelers were faced with a 3rd & 19 at their 38-yard-line with 12 seconds left.

That is when Brister hit Lipps for a 22-yard completion as Lipps stepped out of bounds at the Eagles' 40-yard-line with four seconds left to give Anderson a chance to win the game with a 57-yard field goal attempt.

Despite a low snap by Webster and a struggle to get a good hold by holder Harry Newsome, Anderson would get the kick away only to have it blocked by Philadelphia defensive end Clyde Simmons to preserve the 27-26 win for the Eagles.

Eagles kicker Luis Zendejas kicked the game-winning a field goal, a 18-yarder with 75 seconds left.

While the loss dropped the Steelers to 2-9, the loss did provide some momentum for the rest of the season as the Steelers would win three of their last five games to finish with a 5-11 record, but still bad enough for Pittsburgh's worst record since the 1969 season when they finished 1-13.

However, the Steelers would return to the playoffs the following year with a 9-7 record and then stunned the Houston Oilers 26-23 in the AFC Wild Card Game on Anderson's 50-yard field goal in overtime to advance to the Divisional Round, where they would fall to the Denver Broncos 24-23.

The 1989 playoff appearance marked the last time Noll would coach in the postseason as he retired following the 1991 season and was replaced by Bill Cowher, who would coach the Steelers for the next 15 years.

As for the Eagles, they would win four of their next five games to finish the season with a 10-6 record, good enough to win the NFC East and earn a trip to the postseason for the first time since 1981.

The Eagles would face the Chicago Bears in the NFC Divisional Round when a thick fog rolled over Soldier Field late in the first half, hampering the Eagles' chances to come back as they lost to the Bears 20-12.

The Eagles would make it to the playoffs the next two years but would not win a game, leading to Ryan's firing after the 1990 season.