A deep-seated rivalry that began 87 years ago takes the field next Sunday when the 0-2-1 Philadephia Eagles travel to Heinz Field to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Unofficially dubbed “The Battle of Pennsylvania,” the interstate, interconference clash dates back to Nov. 19, 1933. The Steelers and Eagles were, for three decades, in the same NFL Eastern Division, and played twice annually. Post-AFL-NFL merger, they’ve played a dozen times, meeting once every four years.
This contest, their first since 2016, will be the fifth in the Ben Roethlisberger era. The teams are tied at two wins apiece since Big Ben took over in 2004.
Javon Hargrave reunion
The Steelers lost a significant piece of their defense when the Philadephia Eagles signed lineman Javon Hargrave in free agency this offseason.
Pittsburgh will reunite with their former tackle in Week 5, but Hargrave hasn’t been as heavily involved as he was with the Steelers.
Initially, we at Steelers Wire weren’t too happy about Pittsburgh not extending Hargrave, but the team seems to know what they’re doing (they usually do). They plugged in Tyson Alualu and didn’t skip a beat — he’s been performing exceptionally well in the void left by Hargrave’s departure.
Isaiah Buggs is there to spell Alualu, and, for added depth, Pittsburgh selected Carlos Davis in the 7th round of the 2020 draft.
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Hargrave was dealt an early blow with an upper-body injury a couple of weeks into Eagles training camp. It was expected he would miss multiple games but, instead, returned Week 2 versus the Los Angeles Rams.
Since getting back on the field, the former third-rounder has been rotating in behind starter Malik Jackson. In 37 pass-rush snaps, Javon has four hurries, and in 20 run snaps, a single tackle and stop.
In Pittsburgh, Hargrave started all but 12 games in four seasons. During that span, Javon contributed 14.5 sacks, 168 tackles (22 for loss), 22 QB hits and two forced fumbles. His rookie season he recovered a fumble and took it in for six points.
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