Steelers claim titanic NFL season opener

You would have thought it was the Super Bowl instead of the first game of the season. The NFL and NBC collaborated to give the 2009 NFL season kickoff a production that rivaled the spectacular opening of last year’s Beijing Olympics. What fans least expected was that the game rivaled any opener in memory for thrills and level of execution.

Before he left with a sprained left knee in the first half, Pittsburgh’s Troy Polamalu put on one of the all-time jaw-dropping displays of how to play the strong safety position, stuffing the opposing Tennessee Titans’ running backs behind the line of scrimmage and headhunting Titans receivers on pass routes. But the Steelers’ defensive warrior wasn’t alone with his elevated level of play. Both sides showed uncanny crispness, unusual so early in the season.

The game had the look of an old-school defensive battle, borne out by the scoreboard that showed a scoreless tie till nearly halftime. Both teams scored just before the half to make it 7‒7, and that’s the way it stood through three quarters too. Stars were many: Roethlisberger, Ward, Miller, Polamalu, Harrison for the steel town; Collins, Johnson, Gage, and the rookie Britt making plays for Tennessee—again, all with the mature execution one wouldn’t expect to see until midseason or beyond. The only glitch was two improbable field goal misses by the Titans’ normally automatic Rob Baronis. As events turned out, the miscues, which included a blocked attempt, would make the difference in the outcome.

With 12 minutes remaining, Tennessee’s Baronis finally connected on a three, making it 10‒7 Tennessee. Roethlisberger stepped up, sliding from tackles and using his incredible pump fake to freeze Titans defenders on a drive that would stall from a delay-of-game penalty. But Pittsburgh converted the three, and with just under three minutes to go it was tied again, 10‒all. Tennessee could do nothing and punted. With just 1:01 left, the Steelers appeared to have salted the game away, when Big Ben hit Hines Ward for 30 yards down to the Tennessee 4. But Titans safety Michael Griffin stripped the ball from the receiver. Overtime!

The only disappointment of the entire game came next: the coin flip that preceded overtime. Not that Pittsburgh won the toss, but that each team did not get the chance to touch the ball. That’s one of those archaic NFL rules that still finds a way to insidiously sabotage game outcomes, and I for one am no fan of it. It seems a slap in the face to the majesty of the game, especially one as hard-fought and evenly matched as this one, to have the outcome settled by something as fickle as a coin toss. Really, it’s an insult to the game. Let ’em both have at least one crack on offense, then let it become sudden death.

ANGLING FOR THE CORNER: It was fitting that the same combination that produced the last touchdown of 2008 should make the first one of 2009. Super Bowl XLIII heroes Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes hooked up on a 34-yard TD pass with a minute and a half to go in the first half to tally the league’s first points of 2009…New Orleans’ Drew Brees tossed six TD passes, but then, it was against the Detroit Lions. FOX Sports reported incorrectly that it was the first time the feat had been accomplished in an opener since 1950. No one threw for six scores in any of the league’s opening games that year…Adrian Peterson rushed for 180 rushing yards and three TDs to help make Brett Favre’s debut with Minnesota a smooth one. But then, it was against Cleveland.

Alan Ross is the author of 32 books, including Away from the Ball: The NFL’s Off-the-Field Heroes. E-mail him at:alanross_sports@yahoo.com© Sportland 2009