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Our pick: Tennessee vs. Pittsburgh
Cold, Hard Football Facts for September 10, 2009
Hey, there's a game tonight!
About time – it's
been 221 days since the last NFL contest flickered across our grainy old black & white. We think it was on right after the Ed Sullivan Show. That was well more than half a year ago, at
least on the Gregorian calendar, for those of you keeping score at home.
So let's get to it.
We'll be publishing
quick picks throughout the years. Here's a look at tonight's contest.
Tennessee at Pittsburgh
(-5.5)
We said earlier that
this game is a d*ck-measuring contest in the AFC: the league's best team in the
2008 regular season vs. the Super Bowl champs. But that was then. This is now.
We're fairly
confident the Steelers can live up to the regular-season standards of 2008 (the
playoffs might prove to be a different story). But we don't believe the Titans
can live up to the standards of 2008. Specifically, we believe Collins was not
a champion-caliber quarterback last year and probably won't be again this year.
Plus, the Tennessee
defense will not be as good as it was last year.
However, it's worth
noting that Collins was great against Pittsburgh
last December. The Titans dominated the game, 31-14, while Collins completed 20
of 29 passes (69.0%) for 215 yards, 7.4 YPA, 1 TD, 0 INT and a 101.9 passer rating.
It was probably his best game of the year, especially considering the quality
of Pittsburgh's
pass defense.
In fact, it was Pittsburgh's only blemish
over the final 10 games of the year. But
we see a different
outcome this time around.
Pittsburgh 24, Tennessee
20
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