PITTSBURGH - After two weeks of no-shows and sideshows, distractions and departures and wide receivers who don't show up or don't shut up, the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers finally play a game Monday night that Pennsylvania preferred to see in February.

Just don't expect anything resembling playoff-style football from the Eagles, who play for the first time since losing to the Patriots in the Super Bowl, or the Steelers, whose fourth loss in the AFC title game in a decade prevented an all-Keystone State Super Bowl.

The starters for teams that were a combined 28-4 last season will play about a quarter apiece - that is, those regulars that are around. Plenty of marquee names are missing on both sides, from the chatty Terrell Owens and absentee defensive tackle Corey Simon of the Eagles to holdout Hines Ward and the injured Duce Staley and Joey Porter of the Steelers.

For quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Ben Roethlisberger, that means barely enough time to get in a few tosses to mostly unfamiliar receivers before they sit down. Philadelphia's starting receivers will be Greg Lewis and rookie Reggie Brown, rather than Owens (tossed out of camp) or Todd Pinkston (season-ending injury), and Pittsburgh will start Antwaan Randle El and Cedrick Wilson rather than 2004 starters Ward (holdout) and Plaxico Burress (signed with Giants).

Big changes, yet with so little time to make them. Neither Eagles coach Andy Reid nor Steelers coach Bill Cowher is willing to risk injury to a key player, especially with important personnel already missing.

The pregame messages to their players from both coaches were almost identical: Get in there, get your work done and get out safely - and, oh, yes, don't dwell on who's not around.

"I expect them to do a nice job," Reid said Sunday of Lewis and Brown. "If you focus in on the football and run the routes the right way, you'll be fine."

The Eagles' second units will start the second quarter and play into the third. Cowher will use his personnel similarly, with some starters - such as running back Jerome Bettis - likely going less than a quarter. All four Pittsburgh quarterbacks may play, though backup Tommy Maddox was bothered for several days last week by a flu-like ailment.

Despite Ward's absence - he has a year left on his contract, but wants a new deal - Cowher doesn't expect any sustained problems on offense, even if rookie Fred Gibson spent several days with the first unit last week after Randle El sprained an ankle.

"Maybe in two or three games, it's going to start to come together," Cowher said. "I certainly want to see our first units go out and show some continuity. We don't need to be on all cylinders, but we need to show some positive steps."

Still, the Steelers' offense will be watched more closely than normal for a preseason game to determine the effect, if any, of Ward's holdout. Randle El thinks the Steelers can keep winning even if the four-time Pro Bowl receiver's layoff extends into the season, but Porter said, "We can't win without him."

And while Owens' constant talking and training camp banishment last week seem to have divided the Eagles, with McNabb visibly wearying of the entire mess and linebacker Jeremiah Trotter saying Owens deserves more money, the Steelers' veterans appear to be behind Ward.

One reason: After years of traditionally honoring contracts, the Steelers forced several veterans in recent seasons, including Bettis and since-departed tight end Mark Bruener, to renegotiate for much less money to stay with the team. Ward is set to make $1.66 million this season, which barely ranks among the NFL's top 40 for wide receivers.

Perhaps that's why Bettis concluded a TV interview last week by yelling, "Free Hines Ward!", though he

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aid he did so playfully.

Notes:

Both teams will start inexperienced offensive tackles, fourth-round draft pick Todd Herremans for Philadelphia and 2004 third-rounder Max Starks for Pittsburgh. ... The Eagles closed up shop at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., on Sunday and will finish camp at their practice facility. ... Because the Steelers play at home again Saturday night, they will have only two full practice days this week, Wednesday and Thursday, at St. Vincent College in Latrobe. ... The Eagles' veteran players dunked Reid in a tub of water after practice Saturday. ... Philadelphia's first loss of last season, 27-3 in Pittsburgh on Nov. 7, came a week after the Steelers stopped the Patriots' 21-game winning streak by winning 34-20. The Patriots won the AFC title game rematch in Pittsburgh, 41-27. ... On his Web site, Owens said he would return to camp - he is allowed back Wednesday - and would reward his fans "with a season for the ages."