TheBallDontLie says:
The Titans number 1 Nate Washington probably wont suit up. And if he does his hammy will be hindering him

bushman9 says:
Write-up for the game:

The first thing that popped into my head before the line for this game was released was
the 8-0 ats record of reigning super bowl champs the the past eight opening weeks.  Going
against this trend is a very difficult proposition to get past when thinking of backing
the Titans but at this point I am strongly considering doing just that.  The oddsmakers
clearly know how good (and popular amongs bettors) of a team the Pittsburg Steelers are
and throw in the 8-0 ats superbowl champs trend and all of this was strongly factored into
the opening line of Pittsburg laying 4.5.  The thing about this great Pittsburg team is that
if you look at last years results they had a tendancy to beat up on the bad to mediocre teams
and play closer games with the good to very strong teams (Week3 L 6-15 at Philly, week 4 W 23-20
vs Balt, week 8 L 14-21 vs Giants, week 10 L 20-24 vs Indy, week 11 W 11-10 vs SD, week 14 W 20-13
vs Dallas, week 15 L 14-31 at Tenn) with the lone exception being a 33-10 drubbing of the Pats in
New England.  Also, as I noted above when the Steelers were laying 4.5 to 6.5 points last year
they were a paltry 1-3 ats.

Now let me move onto the Titans.  Everyone has overstated that they lost All-World Dt Albert
Haynesworth who is a certainly a great playmaker.  However, I believe what may be a bigger loss
is the departure of their D-coordinator whiz Jim Schwartz.  If you remember correctly, in the
Titans 31-14 victory of Pittsburgh Big Albert himself did not even play.  The stout Titans
defense that was one of the top units in the league last year return gritty veterans by the
names of Kearse, Vanden Bosch, Tony Brown, Bulluck, Finnegan, Harper, and Griffin who are
itching to prove they can still "play" defense without Big Bad Albert.  I'd also like to point
out that one of the things the Titans do well is get to the QB.  Last year against Pittsburg's
biggest weakness (the Offensive line), they picked up 5 sacks.  This year that weakness may
be worse with the loss of Guard Kendall Simmons.  Another angle that is key in backing the
Titans is their record as underdogs, a role they have seemed to absolutly relish the past few years. 
As I noted above, the Titans as dogs of 3 or greaters points were 9-3 ats in 2006-07, 3-0 ats in
2007-08 and 1-0 ats in 2008-09.  Now they get to play opening night, in front of a national
audience (albeit on the NFL network), against the defending World Champions and dogged by the
now margin of 6 points.  In last year's matchup, a strength of the Titans, their running game
and offensive line, was able to gain 117 yards on the ground and run for 2 touchdowns while
Collins managed an impressive game with 207 yards no ints and 1 touchdown.

While I don't know for sure whether the Steelers will come out like gangbusters or the Titans
will be in the game until the end, the 1.5 line move from 4.5 to 6 and hopefully higher by
game time leads me to believe that the value lies with the visiting Titans who under Jeff Fisher
have reminded us over the past few years to never count them out, especially as an underdog.
What better team than the Tennessee Titans to break up the staggering ATS run of defending
SB champs?

jpfinne says:
Taking the pts - Titian will be ready and this game is historically tight.
Leaning towards under

bushman9 says:


Good points, yes I've heard a few things about Stefan Logan but I think it's bigger than Sepulveda is back as their punt game was very poor last year.  I read somewhere that he got a standing ovation when announced during preseason, so I'm sure Steeler Nation is happy to see him back.  As good as Steelers D is up front, I Johnson and White should get something done behind their strong O-line and if they don't, NO I don't trust Kerry Collins to put the team on his back.

TitanFan says:
The Titans are better without Schwartz  as the DC.   Chuck Cecil is more aggressive and a better fit for the team.  He was the defensive backs coach for the Titans, before the promotion. 

3TB3 says:
Last year the Titans met the Steelers in game 15 with the winner becoming the #1 seed in the AFC. Tennesse demolished the Steelers 31-14. In that game Defensive linemen Albert Haynesworth, Kyle Vandenbosch and Vickerson did NOT dress for the Titans. The latter two still on the team and will start on Thursday.

Only reason the Titans got edged and upset 13-10 by Ravens in playoffs was in effect 5 turnovers all in the red zone getting no points each time(plus Chris Johnson got hurt).

Hard to give 6 points which means Steelers must win by a TD over such a team.