STEELERS NIP TITANS IN NFL SEASON OPENER

The Pittsburgh Steelers opened defense of their Superbowl championship by beating the Tennessee Titans 13-10 in overtime.  Both offenses moved the ball well, but both defenses came up big in the red zone resulting in a low scoring affair.  Neither team could get their usually solid running game established, so QBs Ben Roethlisberger and Kerry Collins took to the air, combining for over 550 yards passing.  The rushing attack, meanwhile, was rendered irrelevant in the NFL season opener with neither team able to surpass 100 yards on the ground.  The Steelers, in particular, saw their ground attack sputter as a stout Titans’ defense held them to 36 yards of rushing.

While the Steelers took the straight up victory, NFL betting enthusiasts who took Tennessee as +6 road underdogs cashed their tickets with the pointspread victory.  Underdog players were likely anticipating a low scoring game, and many of them were no doubt rewarded by the total outcome as well.  The 16 combined points went well UNDER the posted total of 36.

The true hero of the game was Pittsburgh kicker Jeff Reed, who hit the 32 yard game winning field goal early in overtime to secure the victory.  Reed commented on the Steelers’ ability to win close football games:

"It's nice to know we can win close games. This is my eighth year here and I've been in a lot of close games, and we usually are on the up side of those."

Some bad news did befall Pittsburgh despite the victory as defensive mainstay Troy Polamalu sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during a blocked field goal play early in the second half.  While this type of injury usually sidelines a player for as long as a month, Steelers’ coach Mike Tomlin stressed that it was too soon to speculate on a timeline for Polamalu’s return to action.

The Titans missed two field goal attempts and made a number of other mistakes that kept them off the board.  Tennessee receiver Nate Washington said this was the difference in the outcome of the game:

"The Pittsburgh Steelers didn't beat the Tennessee Titans, the Tennessee Titans beat the Tennessee Titans.”

Titans’ coach Jeff Fisher concurred, but wasn’t taking the setback too hard:

"We had chances and opportunities but missed a field goal, had a field goal blocked. I believe we've got a good football team in that locker room and we're going to bounce back."

Pittsburgh will take to the road for their next two games, and will almost certainly be without Polamalu in both.  On Sunday, September 20th they’ll play the Chicago Bears and will face the Cincinnati Bengals the following Sunday.  Tennessee will host the Houston Texans next Sunday before playing their next two games away from home at the NY Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars.