NFL Opening Night Thoughts.

Damn, it is tough to be a Titans fan living in the middle of Steelers country. Constantly (but playfully, not serious) heckled during all my classes yesterday, I was hoping Tennessee would put on a show and repeat on last year's performance - a 31-14 win. I planned on going to this game, but unfortunately when my schedule came out, I had a Journalism class from 6-8:30 on Thursday nights - right when the game started. Bummer.

My pre-game prediction: Titans 20, Steelers 14. I had a lot of faith in the Titans D, even without Albert Haynesworth. I thought that Roethlisberger would throw some interceptions and the Tennessee defensive line would dominate Pittsburgh's o-line. It would be a tough, physical game throughout the night, but I figured the men in blue would pull it out.

Here were my thoughts on the Titans performance:

- Vince Young looked good...sitting on the bench.
- Defensive line will be just fine, they looked pretty good.
- Kenny Britt is going to be a stud. Made some clutch catches.
- I can't stand Justin Gage still, drops too many passes.
- Besides the pick by Troy, Collins threw the ball well.
- CJ had some good runs, Slimdale maybe had one 5+ yarder.
- Hey Chuck Cecil, you don't have to run a prevent defense the entire second half and overtime.
- I know Heinz Field is a tough place to kick at, but seriously Rob? You're a top notch kicker, but that was awful.
- And finally, if Cecil gets his act together with his play schemes, I see another AFC South title.

And some thoughts about the Steelers as well:

- Hines Ward is thankful he can sleep tonight.
- Ben is, in my opinion, a top five quarterback in this league. Although he doesn't put up the best stats, he still makes the plays when it counts.
- Mendenhall and Moore looked a lot more impressive than Parker. Willie might be on his way out in the near future.
- The Madden curse strikes again! Sucks for Troy though, he was playing beastly before the injury. The one handed pick was incredible.
- Even without Polamalu for a few weeks, I still see Pittsburgh winning the AFC North.

So there you have it! A great game to watch and even though Tennessee lost, I enjoyed it. Both teams are top tier in the AFC and I see both winning playoff games this year.

If you want, leave a comment below and I'll try to respond to it. Until then, I will hopefully see you again after Saturday with thoughts from the Penn State/Syracuse and other games.