A Great Start to NFL 2009 Season

Someone give Lendale White a tissue. I believe he might seek to conceal his face beneath one during his trip out of Pittsburgh.

During a night when Troy Polamalu succumbed to a knee wound, Wille Parker and the rest of the Pittsburgh running back unit couldn’t seem to get things going, and Hines Ward did one thing he rarely does - fumbled during a huge play situation. Ben Roethlisberger stood firm in the backfield, took some sacks, however in the end architected yet another game winning drive to help the Steelers beat Tennessee 13-10 in the NFL inaugural game.

It did not start off nicely for Big Ben and company; The Titans looked as good as ever and nearly locked Pittsburgh’s running game down.

Big Ben was calm under pressure, although. Yes, he threw 2 picks (Brett Favre does this religiously, and there are fans willing to kiss his feet when he enters a room, so get over it).

But he furthermore threw for 363 yards, including 60 yards during his last series of the game.

Pittsburgh’s defensive unit stepped up and executed when the chips were down, mainly when it came to special teams, where a blocked Rob Bironas field goal led to their only touchdown of the game.

Of course, that play lost them Troy Polamalu, but it only set them back for a moment or 2.

If Hines Ward had either fallen down or shifted slightly more quickly at the climax of his run in the fourth quarter, the game would have finished sooner.

But this was too good a contest to not end up in OT. Both organizations had fought hard, both organizations had athletes sidelined to injury, and overtime seemed the only just way to end the game.

If, , you could call NFL overtimes fair.

After the Steelers won the coin toss, Roethlisberger and crew made the most of a winded Tennessee defense, driving downfield for 63 yards to set up the game-winning field goal.

For the best football forums online and a great NFL pickem on the web, visit RootZoo.