Hypo-Steelers/Eagles SBs

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74_75_78_79_
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Hypo-Steelers/Eagles SBs

Post by 74_75_78_79_ »

A shame the two never met for all the marbles! 2001, '04, and '08 are the seasons in which both PA teams were in the 'final four'. If both teams meet in each of these respective Super Sundays, who do you think wins in each case? Though the Birds just missed out on the NFCCG in '79, let's count that very season as well - Vermeil's bunch hypothetically getting thru TB and LA to a SBXIV date with the 'Burgh, the very team they beat four months earlier.

Here are my takes...

1979 - Steelers were the better team that year in the first place. They weren't full-strength in that close loss at the Vet though they had more-than-ample replacements as was, pretty much, the case all through that title campaign. I'm thinking Vermeil makes that 'uptight', strict-bed-check mistake one year earlier in the two weeks leading up...and against a very experienced SB-winner?? Not by a blowout, but not quite a close Steeler victory just the same.

2001 - 13-3 Pittsburgh was the stronger team though the special teams were a notable Achilles heel. Eagles just 11-5 but by the time the playoffs began, they were pretty much that strong-contending team they'd be each of the next three-straight years. A good game but Steelers by a TD, ten points at the most.

2004 - A stretch of a what-if in that the Steelers didn't even come close vs NE. But let's just say the Pats all get the flu right before the game and the 'Burgh advances. Despite hammering the Eagles at Heinz during that regular season, the Steelers despite still winning kind-of sleepwalked for the remainder. And they really should have lost that divisional to the Jets! I think the Birds get their way this time. A seven to ten point victory as well. Big Ben's rookie-ness would have been a detriment for we all know how he struggled a year later in his actual first SB rodeo.

2008 - Going into the CCs, and feeling confident enough of a hattrick over the Ravens, I was pretty worried of having to face the Eagles. That September, despite losing Westbrook early in the game, they still prevailed in a more-lopsided-than-the-score-indicated 15-6 result while sacking us NINE times! Had Eagles got thru the dessert, which they almost did, they would have been a dangerous opponent as well. But, thinking about it, it was that Cardinals passing game (especially Warner-to-Fitzgerald) that matched up so well vs that defense thus making SBXLIII what it truly was. The Eagles' passing game didn't offer up quite the firepower. The Andy Reid-led squad still keeps it close (and they are arguably the best 9-win team ever), but the 'Burgh with help of that (at least statistically) juggernaut of a D gets revenge and pulls it off.
7DnBrnc53
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Re: Hypo-Steelers/Eagles SBs

Post by 7DnBrnc53 »

1979 - Steelers were the better team that year in the first place. They weren't full-strength in that close loss at the Vet though they had more-than-ample replacements as was, pretty much, the case all through that title campaign. I'm thinking Vermeil makes that 'uptight', strict-bed-check mistake one year earlier in the two weeks leading up...and against a very experienced SB-winner?? Not by a blowout, but not quite a close Steeler victory just the same.
Those Eagle teams were getting a lot of help from the officials in 1979 and 80. When they beat Pittsburgh in 79, there was a questionable call when Matt Bahr recovered an onside kick late in the game (with the Steelers only down by three):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=378hcnc5OZI

Also, the officials really helped them against the Bears in that WC game. I don't think the Eagles should have made the SB in 79. They also may not have made it the next year if this call wasn't blown:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxSCIvDcioU
sluggermatt15
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Re: Hypo-Steelers/Eagles SBs

Post by sluggermatt15 »

The '04 Steelers seemed like a team of destiny until they ran into the Patriots in the AFC Champ Game... Pittsburgh beat the Eagles pretty good in the regular season that year as well. I'd say the Steelers still win the rematch in the Super Bowl. Everything was falling right for the Steelers: the defense was solid, among the league's best, Big Ben was having a heralded rookie campaign, and the ground game kept him rolling on.
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74_75_78_79_
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Re: Hypo-Steelers/Eagles SBs

Post by 74_75_78_79_ »

7DnBrnc53 wrote:
1979 - Steelers were the better team that year in the first place. They weren't full-strength in that close loss at the Vet though they had more-than-ample replacements as was, pretty much, the case all through that title campaign. I'm thinking Vermeil makes that 'uptight', strict-bed-check mistake one year earlier in the two weeks leading up...and against a very experienced SB-winner?? Not by a blowout, but not quite a close Steeler victory just the same.
Those Eagle teams were getting a lot of help from the officials in 1979 and 80. When they beat Pittsburgh in 79, there was a questionable call when Matt Bahr recovered an onside kick late in the game (with the Steelers only down by three):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=378hcnc5OZI

Also, the officials really helped them against the Bears in that WC game. I don't think the Eagles should have made the SB in 79. They also may not have made it the next year if this call wasn't blown:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxSCIvDcioU
Looking at that onside kick numerous times, it's really hard to tell. It simply wasn't Pittsburgh's day; and they were due for a loss, an upstart Eagle team at home being the perfect team to hand that very loss to them. Still to this day, the Steelers have not beaten the Eagles at Philly since 1965 (they never beat them at the Vet)! Like the narrator says, it didn't matter anyway for that even if the Steelers win that game - and the rest of the season plays out as it did - Houston (after beating Denver in the WCG) would still travel to SD the following week while the 13-3 Steelers would still host Miami. In the NFC, no difference at all either. The 10-6 Eagles would have still gotten the nod over Washington due to a better (6-2 to 5-3) division record as well as still hosting the Bears due to they having the better (9-3 to 8-4) conference record.

Interesting knowledge-drop that the narrator throws during the second video you offer, 7Dn. The Cowboys, at the time of that '80 midseason game at the Vet, having that awesome home-record vs the Birds in the past 15 years! Also during that '65 season, would be the last time the Eagles win at Dallas until...1979! If the Birds do lose that very midseason match to Dallas, and remainder of season plays out as it did, 11-5 Eagles visit LA in the WCG due to Rams having better (9-3 to 8-4) conference record! And Cowboys get top-seed at 13-3! That NFC playoffs scenario definitely reeks possibly of a different turnout/NFC champ.
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