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Defense leads Eagles to hard-fought win over Steelers

Sep 22, 2008 - 2:34 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Eagles won the game, but now their season hangs in the balance.

After losing running back Brian Westbrook to an ankle injury in the first half, the Eagles' defense recorded nine sacks, forced three turnovers and a safety in a hard-fought 15-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

"Defensively, I thought it was a phenomenal job," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "That was quite a display right there."

Westbrook left the contest after the first play of the second quarter and did not return. Philadelphia (2-1) almost had another scare when Donovan McNabb remained in the locker room at the start of the second half with a chest injury.

"Westbrook has an ankle strain and he'll have an MRI (Monday) morning," Reid said. "McNabb had a chest contusion."

The five-time Pro Bowl quarterback returned early in the third quarter.

Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was harassed constantly by the Eagles' defense, which sacked him eight times and forced two fumbles.

"(Roethlisberger) is a strong quarterback," Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson said. "We felt if we got in his face a little bit, it would help. Today, we felt there were some things that we could take advantage of and our guys were aggressive."

Roethlisberger finished 13-of-25 with 131 yards passing and one interception. He left the game with an apparent right hand injury and was replaced by Byron Leftwich, who was victimized for Philadelphia's ninth sack.

"(The hand) feels good. I think it just got stepped on," Roethlisberger said. "Give (the Eagles) defense a lot of credit. They brought guys from all over the place. Johnson is one of the best (defensive coaches) and there's a reason."

The Steelers (2-1) only managed two field goals by Jeff Reed.

"(Philadelphia) took it to us, no doubt," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "I'm disappointed that we did not handle their pressure packages. I've said all along that the protection of our quarterback is an 11-man job. We didn't do a good job."

The Eagles were clinging to a 10-6 lead in the fourth quarter when Roethlisberger was flagged for intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety that made it 12-6.

David Akers added a 31-yard field goal to make it 15-6 and complete the scoring. McNabb went 24-of-35 for 196 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

McNabb started the contest with 15 straight completions, breaking his own club record of 14 he set during the 2004 season. However, the Eagles' first possession ended when Pittsburgh's Bryant McFadden recovered a fumble by Tony Hunt, who left the game following the play with a concussion.

The Steelers then drove deep into Eagles' territory, but had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Reed to take a 3-0 lead.

McNabb answered by engineering a 13-play, 85-yard scoring drive culminating in a 20-yard touchdown pass to Correll Buckhalter that put the Eagles in front, 7-3, early in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia's defense was making things miserable for Roethlisberger, who was sacked six times in the first half. Juqua Parker led the charge with 2 1/2 sacks, one of which forced a fumble that led to a 31-yard field goal by Akers and a 10-3 advantage.

"(The Steelers) didn't know what was coming at them," Parker said. "People were getting free and (Roethlisberger) was getting flushed out of the pocket to me."

Reed cut the deficit to 10-6 on a 53-yard field goal with 13 seconds left until halftime.

Philadelphia's defense also held Pittsburgh to just 33 rushing yards. Willie Parker had 20 of them on 13 carries.