The Pittsburgh Steelers will be playing host to the Tennessee Titans at Heinz field 8:30 pm ET Thursday night, as it kicks off the 2009 NFL season.  The Steelers have a lot to live up to this season, as they try to defend their Super Bowl Championship.  The only thing the Steelers can hope to top from last year’s success is getting the number one seed in the AFC playoffs.

The Tennessee Titans were able to steal the number one seed from the Steelers last year, as they stomped the Steelers 31-14 in their week 16 match-up. This opening game is a rematch of that week 16 debacle, and the Steelers will be looking to send a message right away and show the Titans why they were the Super Bowl XLIII champions.  However, it seems the offenses are always a little behind the defenses early in the season, so it will most likely be a defensive battle.

The Steelers might be able to run some points up behind their strong running attack of Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall, especially since the Titans no longer have their anchor in defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth.  The Titans aging quarterback, Kerry Collins, will look to hook up with former Steelers wide receiver Nate Washington.  This game will probably be a defensive battle and although the Titans still have a solid defense, it is not as solid as it was last year.  Look for the Steelers to win a rough and probably sloppy opening game with my prediction being a 16-10 victory for the Steelers.  Check out blogger Smash’s detailed preview of this opening match-up at the main locker – www.bloglockers.com

The Steelers beat the Panthers without really trying to win the game.  Ben Roethlisberger completed his only pass attempt for 7 yards.  Charlie Batch followed him into the game and he completed both of his pass attempts for 15 yards.  Mike Reilly finished up the game by completing 5 of 7 passes for 65 yards.  Isaac Redman had a huge game carrying the ball 12 times for 79 yards (6.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  WR Stefan Logan also had a game to remember.  He caught 2 passes for 27 yards and returned a kickoff for 28 yards.  But, his biggest play was when he returned a punt 80 yards for a TD.  The Steelers finished up with only 211 total yards in this game (137 rushing, 74 passing).

Safety Ryan Mundy led the way for the Steelers on D in this game with 6 tackles, a sack and a interception that he returned 31 yards for a TD.  CB Keenan Lewis was also busy with 10 tackles in this game.  The Panthers finished up with 320 total yards in this game (123 rushing, 197 passing).  The Steelers finished up the pre-season with a 3-1 record.

With Nate Washington off to the Titans as a free agent the Steelers needed someone to step into his role as the #3 WR.  Limas Sweed looks like he wants the job and nothing would make the Steelers’ happier.  Sweed was a high draft pick last season for the Steelers but he didn’t play like one.  He played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Steelers last season and he caught 6 passes for 64 yards (10.7 avg).  He has already caught more passes than that this pre-season in three game (7 rec, 107 yards, 15.3 avg).  The Steelers have their fingers crossed as Sweed needs to justify the faith that they have in him.

Rashard Mendenhall needs to get his act together this season.  Many had projected that he was going to kick Willie Parker to the bench but he hasn’t shown he’s ready for that kind of roll thus far in the pre-season.  In three pre-season games so far, Mendenhall has carried the ball 30 times for 98 yards (3.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 2 passes for 16 yards (8.0 avg).  Mendenhall had his rookie season cut short after 4 games last season.  Hopefully he learned his lesson as he texted fellow Ravens’ rookie RB Ray Rice about how he was going to run all over them.  Rice then showed the defense what he said and in the game that week the Ravens’ defense broke his shoulder.  With his stats at the time he shouldn’t have been talking trash to anyone.  He played in 4 games (1 start) last season and he carried the ball 19 times for 58 yards (3.1 ypc).  He also caught 2 passes for 17 yards (8.5 avg) last season.  The Steelers need Mendenhall to step up as he’s not in the Big 10 anymore where he could simply run over defenders.

The Steelers have lost 23-year old starting right guard Darnell Stapleton for the season with a knee injury.  Stapleton played in 14 games (12 starts) for the Steelers last season.  26-year old Trai Essex will likely inherit the starting RG spot from Stapleton.  Essex played in 7 games (0 starts) for the Steelers last season.  In four years with the Steelers, Essex has played in 31 games (4 starts).  The Steelers have been coaching Essex up in case Stapleton were to miss a lot of time as he’s started all three of the Steelers’ pre-season games to date.