The Philadelphia Eagles were at 1-1 as they hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 1, 1967. Coached by Joe Kuharich for the fourth year, the Eagles had looked impressive in an opening-week win against Washington but decidedly less so in being flattened by the Colts in their second game. QB Norm Snead was talented but inconsistent, although the arrival of two veteran receivers, split end Gary Ballman and TE Mike Ditka, helped and flanker Ben Hawkins (pictured at right), a disappointment as a rookie the previous year, was showing signs of improvement. The defense lacked a strong pass rush and had given up lots of passing yards in both contests.
The Eagles would not be seeing the likes of Washington’s
Sonny Jurgensen or Johnny Unitas of the Colts lining up against them with
Pittsburgh coming to town. With starting QB Bill Nelsen injured, backup Kent
Nix would be making his first pro start for the Steelers. They would also be
without TE John Hilton, further hampering the passing game. But Head Coach Bill
Austin’s club had a tough defense and was also at 1-1, having whipped the Bears
in the first week before losing to the Cardinals.
There were 60,335 fans in attendance at Franklin Field. The
Steelers shuttled running backs to bring in plays in an effort to help the
inexperienced quarterback, but the receiving corps was depleted further when flanker
Roy Jefferson went out with a leg injury in the early going. Nevertheless, Pittsburgh
scored first after flanker Chuck Hughes of the Eagles was nicked by a punt and FS
Paul Martha recovered at the Philadelphia 43. Four plays later, FB Willie Asbury
ran 25 yards for a touchdown and Mike Clark added the extra point for the early
7-0 advantage.
The Eagles responded with a 79-yard drive in seven plays.
Norm Snead completed four passes and FB Israel “Izzy” Lang added an option toss
to Gary Ballman for a gain of 26 yards to the Pittsburgh seven. Two plays
later, Snead rolled to his right and connected with Lang in the corner of the
end zone for a five-yard TD. Sam Baker added the game-tying point after.
Prior to the end of the period, Clark attempted a 36-yard
field goal into the wind that fell short, but early in the second quarter,
Baker was successful from the same distance to put the Eagles ahead by 10-7. Shortly
thereafter, a Nix pass was intercepted by FS Joe Scarpati at the Pittsburgh 29.
Snead immediately went long to Ben Hawkins, who outmaneuvered SS Clendon Thomas
for a TD. Baker converted and the home team was up by 17-7.
The Steelers got a break on their next possession when,
forced to punt, DE Mel Tom was flagged for roughing-the-kicker. A third down
pass by Nix was complete to Asbury for 21 yards to the Philadelphia 25 and,
with Hoak and Asbury carrying, the visitors ground away to another touchdown,
this time on Hoak’s three-yard run. Clark added the extra point to narrow the
score to 17-14.
The Eagles responded quickly, advancing 68 yards in six
plays. Snead (pictured at left) threw to Hawkins for 40 yards to the Pittsburgh 28 and again on a
third-and-10 play for 19. He then lobbed a throw to TE Jim Kelly, who caught it
over LB Andy Russell for a four-yard touchdown. Baker converted, and with 33
seconds remaining in the first half Philadelphia was ahead by 24-14. Pittsburgh
got one last shot to add points before halftime, but Clark missed a 52-yard
field goal try and the tally remained unchanged.
The Eagles were forced to punt following their first
series of the third quarter and Baker’s kick was shanked, traveling just 29
yards to give Pittsburgh the ball at the Philadelphia 49. The Steelers reached
the 15 before Clark kicked a 24-yard field goal to make it a seven-point game.
Neither team scored again during the period. The Steelers
missed two opportunities, the first after reaching the Philadelphia 34 when CB
Jim Nettles picked off a Nix pass and the second when an apparent 76-yard
scoring run by Hoak was nullified by a holding penalty. The Eagles also missed
out when Snead barely overthrew Hawkins near the Pittsburgh goal line.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Steelers put
together their most impressive drive of the game, moving 93 yards as Nix
completed two passes along the way and Hoak tossed an option pass to Asbury for
21 yards. The long series ended with Nix completing a TD throw to split end J.R.
Wilburn, who made a leaping catch from 18 yards out. Clark converted to tie the
score at 24-24 with 11 minutes to play.
With the game knotted, Hawkins returned the ensuing
kickoff 41 yards to give the Eagles good starting field position in Pittsburgh
territory. Snead threw to Hawkins for 19 yards and FB Tom Woodeshick ran the
ball effectively on four plays before Snead connected with Hawkins once again
on a post pattern for an eight-yard touchdown. Baker again booted the PAT and
the Eagles were back in the lead at 31-24.
There was still time for the visitors but, following an
interception of a Nix pass by LB Mike Morgan, Snead threw to Hawkins for 24
yards and the possession resulted in Baker adding a game-clinching field goal
from 35 yards. Philadelphia came away with a hard-fought 34-24 win.
Total yards were almost even, with the Eagles having the
edge (319 to 318) while Pittsburgh had more first downs (19 to 17). The
Steelers were effective running the ball, gaining 153 yards, while Philadelphia
accumulated just 48 yards on 29 carries. But the Eagles had far more net
passing yards (271 to 165) and turned the ball over once, to three by
Pittsburgh. Philadelphia mistakes on special teams proved beneficial to the
Steelers and the Eagles were also hurt by committing eight penalties, at a cost
of 71 yards, as opposed to three flags that were thrown on Pittsburgh.
Norm Snead completed 16 of 24 passes for 258 yards and
four touchdowns while giving up no interceptions. Ben Hawkins had a huge
performance with 8 catches for 187 yards and two of the TDs. Tom Woodeshick,
who caught three passes for 33 yards, topped the Philadelphia runners with 30
yards on 16 carries.
For the Steelers, Kent Nix (pictured at right) had a respectable showing as
he succeeded on 12 of 26 throws for 159 yards and a TD while giving up three
interceptions. HB Jim “Cannonball” Butler rushed for 81 yards on 17 attempts
and Willie Asbury contributed 54 yards on 7 carries that included a touchdown
while also gaining 42 yards on two pass receptions. Split ends Dick Compton and
J.R. Wilburn caught a team-leading four catches apiece, for 70 and 50 yards,
respectively, and Wilburn scored a TD.
“They gave us single coverage on Hawkins and appeared to
be more worried about (Gary) Ballman,” explained Norm Snead. “I called
three-man patterns most of the time but ended up going to him (Hawkins) pretty
much.”
“Nix ran the team well enough to win,” said Coach Bill
Austin of his quarterback. “When you score 24 points, you should have enough to
win.”
Philadelphia won again the next week to rise to 3-1, but
could not do so consistently and finished at 6-7-1 and second in the Capitol
Division of the Eastern Conference. The Steelers lost their next three games
before edging the first-year Saints on the way to a 4-9-1 record that put them
at the bottom of the Eastern Conference’s Century Division.
Norm Snead had the biggest statistical year of his long
career, achieving career highs in pass attempts (434), completions (240), yards
(3399), and TD passes (29). The big performance by Ben Hawkins proved to not be
a fluke as he broke out with 59 catches for a league-leading 1265 yards (21.4
avg.) and 10 touchdowns. He had five hundred-yard performances and his 187
yards against the Steelers were not his highest total – thanks to an 87-yard TD
catch, Hawkins compiled 197 yards on six receptions in a game at St. Louis
(albeit one that the Eagles lost by a score of 48-14).
Kent Nix started a total of nine games for the Steelers ,
continuing to see action even after Bill Nelsen’s return. He completed 136 of
268 passes (50.7 %) for 1587 yards and 8 TDs, but also gave up 19
interceptions. The son of Emery Nix, who had a brief career with the Giants in
the 1940s, he spent another two years with Pittsburgh, but saw decreasingly
less action before departing for the Bears and Oilers.
