Steelers Almost Give Fans A Heart Attack!

You can throw out all the pre-season speculations and predictions, when the games mean something. The Steelers and the Titans opened the 2009 NFL season at Heinz Field with fire works and two tough teams. The Titans were 13-3 last year and the Steelers were 12-4. Steelers head coach , Mike Tomlin said before the game "The most violent team will win the game".

These teams had the number 1 and number 2 defenses in the league a year ago. The Steelers defense asserted itself early in the game keeping the Titans off the scoreboard until under a minute left in the first half. Steelers defensive end, Aaron Smith blocked a 31 yard Bironas field goal and he missed another 27 yard try. It was on this blocked kick that Steelers fans had to catch their collective breath first.

After Smith blocked the kick, Steelers strong safety, Troy Polamolu tried to pick the ball up and was injured in the pile-up. He injured his left knee in the second quarter and didn't return. There is speculation he may be out 3 to 6 weeks or more. Linebacker Lamarr Woodley was also sidelined with leg cramps in the game.

The Titans defense only allowed the Steelers offense only 1 yard of offense in the first quarter. They managed to sack Ben Roethlisberger 4 times on the night, mostly in the first half. The Titans stuffed the Steelers running game, marginalizing both Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall and forcing Ben to pass.

The Steelers offense didn't get going until Roethlisberger began repeatedly find Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward open. With about two minutes to go in the half, Roethlisberger mounted a 5 play, 79 yard drive that culminated with a 34 yard touchdown pass to Super Bowl XLIII MVP, Santonio Holmes. That gave the Steelers a 7-0 lead with 1:22 to go.

But not so fast! With the Steelers defense missing two key players, Titans quarterback, Kerry Collins needed only 3 plays to tie it up. After finding Kenny Britt alone for a 57 yard pass to the Steelers 14, Collins threw to an equally wide open Justin Gage in the end zone, leaving only 48 seconds on the clock. Once again the Steelers fans held their breath when Ben threw an 80 yard Hail Mary pass that was and returned 80 yards to end the half.

Tied at 7-7 , the game got sloppy as both offenses bogged down in the second half. The Titans didn't lead until Rob Bironas kicked a 45 yard field goal with 11:03 left in the game. With the score 10-7 , Big Ben would have to take the game on his shoulders. Roethlisberger was able to put together a late drive. He went 7 for 7 and 57 yards as Jeff Reed tied the game on a 37 yard field goal with 2.57 left in regulation.

When the Steelers got the ball back, Ben was able to hit rookie receiver Mike Wallace in the middle of the field to keep the drive going. Once more Steelers fans held their breath as Roethlisberger completed a 30 yard pass to Hines Ward at the 4 yard line which would have allowed them to kick the winning field goal. But Hines tried to get to the goal line and lost the ball and the game went into overtime.

The Steelers won the toss to start the overtime period. Roethlisberger was able to hit Ward for 11 yards, then Santonio for 11 and rookie Wallace for 22 yards. Being in field goal range and unwilling to risk a turnover, the Steelers kicked a field goal on first down to win it. Reed's 33-yard field goal with 4:32 gone in overtime gave the Super Bowl champion Steelers a 13-10 win over the Titans in the NFL season opener. Check out the Steelers schedule and get discount Steelers merchandise at www.steelers-fan.com