NFL is Officially Back: Steelers-Titans Review

Mulldog's Thoughts:
Before I really get into it, I just want to say it feels great to have the NFL back. We even got a little bonus football for the long wait as the Steelers took it 13-10 in Overtime. But now...

Why is all the analysis during and after the game raving about these two teams, claiming this was a preview of the AFC Championship Game? Was I watching the same game or do I just live on a different planet? That was a disgusting, poorly played game where both teams (hopefully) looked extremely rusty. The Steelers offensive line failed to open up a single hole all game and couldn't keep the defense away from its quarterback. There were missed field goals, bad fumbles, missed receivers, and yellow markers everywhere. You would have thought it was the Raiders-Lions with all the sloppy play. Yet somehow, since it was the Steelers-Titans, and they were both great last year, that was considered a great game. Sorry, but color me unimpressed - I'm not going to take to much out of it because it's the first game in primetime, but both teams need to play better if they plan on making the playoffs in a stacked AFC.

And all of this raving about Ben Roethlisberger. Seriously, what was everyone watching? Roethlisberger played terribly almost all night. He missed open receivers, threw one bad interception...took terrible sacks to take his team out of field goal range (and other times to turn 3rd and shorts into 3rd and longs). Look, Big Ben is my fantasy QB this year..he can make plays and at times he looks pretty good, but just because the defense shut down the opponent all night and Ben was able to chuck it around a bit on a gassed defense late, doesn't mean he's all of a sudden Peyton Manning. He played terribly for 3.5 quarters, let's not forget that.

Kudos to the Titans defense, which performed very well, especially against the run without Albert Haynesworth. I question how much of this is a poor Steelers run-blocking offensive line and a bad running back (fast Willie)...I would hold off the "Titans defense is as good as last year" until they play again. Their secondary looked shaky when they couldn't get to Ben and I'm interested to see how they do against a more balanced attack.

God, if the Titans didn't have Chris Johnson would they ever score? Their offensive line is incredibly, truly one of the best units int he league, and yet their receivers are all terrible, their QB stinks and the only time they are at all dangerous is when CJ has the ball.

Troy Polamalu is a damn freak. Too bad he got injured because he looked better than ever, the interception was exceptional, but personally I was more impressed with his open-field tackle of Chris Johnson where he showed a burst that was even too quick for the speedy Johnson and took out his legs on what looked like a big gain waiting to happen.

Both teams have solid defenses. I want to see what they do against some other teams before anointing these two the class of the NFL off that effort though.

AFC South
This is a very difficult division to project. Indy, Jacksonville and Tennessee are all expected to be very good. And the Houston Texans are a talented, appealing team on paper. That said, here is how I think it will shape up.

1. Colts 13-3: Who cares that Tony Dungy is gone? Peyton, Peyton, Peyton. No offense to Marvin Harrison but I think Anthony Gonzalez will step right in and actually improve this offense. The offensive line should be improved from last year, and quietly the Colts have been investing on the defensive side of the ball and it all may come to fruition this year. This is quite possibly the best team in the AFC and it would not be a stretch or surprise to see Payton get himself another ring this year.

2. Jaguars 11-5: Projecting Jacksonville to get a wild card. Love this team on paper. Torry Holt, for some reason, is treated with laughter these days, but I think we will see a rejuvenation from him this year. You can toss his recent performances due to injury and in particular having no QB or offensive line. He now steps in as the man in a much better offense with a strong line, running game and competent QB. I think this move will prove brilliant for both player and team.

3. Texans 7-9: Too many questions for me to expect this to be the year Houston leaps into the playoffs. They have enough offensive firepower with Andre Johnson, Steve Slaton and a bunch of pass-catchers with a pretty decent QB in Matt Schaub. The problem is, keeping the QB healthy is a major concern and then you have to hope Slaton doesn't suffer a sophomore slump., Johnson, for all his talent, is still prone to dropping some balls .. and while the defense might be on the up, it is just impossible to project this team into the playoffs in such a tough division.

4. Titans 5-11: A lot of people love the Titans, not me. Kerry Collins should regress and / or get injured and as I noted before the loss of Albert Haynesworth will be felt at all levels. They have a stout enough offensive line and enough (aging) talent on defense where they pose a threat, but they seem an obvious candidate to fall back off the map this year.

Going to lump the AFC/NFC North division previews in the next post.

Revenge falls short

Sure it may have been ten years later. And well, it may have just been a pre-season game. Okay, the first pre-season game, and the hall of fame game. But it was finally time for the Buffalo Bills to strike revenge on the Tennessee Titans for the god awful forward pass Music City Miracle. The bills are fighting a brutal 10 year absence from the playoffs so maybe beating the Titans and exercising the evil devils would set them right for the season.

Or maybe on the opening drive a rookie punter would just take fake a punt and run 40 yards for the touchdown and put the Bills away for good. It took me a good solid 5 minutes to remember that it is preseason and that it doesn't matter. Bills came out looking great in their new solid white throwbacks. There is no question about it the Bills should be playing in those and their royal blue throwbacks all season. So much sharper than the arena league (RIP) junk they wear now. Titans looked good in their baby blue Oiler garb as well.

T.O had a great first series, catching 2 balls for 27 yards before calling it a day. Trent Edwards and the bills offense were pretty sharp to start, introducing the no huddle offense that they are going to be running all year. Or should I say they will be running it for the first series of the year, going 3 and out, and abandoning it forever. Especially when they are getting crushed by the Patriots opening night. Funny how one preseason game can change the whole outlook on a season. Speaking of the Patriots, did anyone see Tom Brady's Emmy winning performance on Entourage last night. What I had anticipated as a brief cameo, turned into an half hour long guest spot. Even Tom Brady's golf swing was perfect. What a guy. I sat there and wondered why do I hate this man. He really doesn't come across as a bad guy, doesn't say anything terrible to the media. He is flat out a winner. Scores touchdowns, Mvps, Superbowl's, and beautiful babies. whats not to like. If he can win Turtle over, he can win me over. Plus, look at that face.

Back to the game, Trent Edwards launched a brutal Interception after a nice looking drive. I blame the INT to rookie guard Andy Levitre who just got uprooted and driven 10 yards back into Trent's face. Not much to interesting happened. Lendalle White has a jawbone, as evident by shedding 30 lbs solely by not drinking Patron apparently. Vince Young looked pretty awful. How can two absolutely stud Quarterbacks (Leinart and Young) just fade off into the sunset after wowing us all during their College years and playing in what could be the greatest national championship game of all time. They are now rotting behind two gray veterans in Warner and Collins, and apparently fighting to even be 2nd string battling out St. Pierre and Patrick Ramsey. Yuck.

I ended up catching some of the Hall of Fame ceremonies since Grandpa Wilson and Bruce Smith were being inducted. Berman had a great speech as he presented for Wilson. Ralph then ended up going on stage and I think he mentioned every game he ever saw since 1950. He had a couple solid points and actually looked alive on stage. I was convinced for several years that he was being controlled by strings like a puppet. Best line when was he wanted to mention that the parade was great and lavish, and he said it was appalling. Everyone was confused....poor Ralph.

All in all it was great to watch some live football and I am pumped for the season and for fantasy. Should be a good one...NV Blues update to follow...