Tennessee Titans Lose the Opener, But Not Without Heart

No football fan likes watching their team lose the first game of the season. Nothing is worse than being all pumped up about the season getting underway just to watch your favorite team fall.

Titans fans, let me just tell you: it will be okay.

The NFL got its season underway Thursday night with the Titans and the Steelers doing battle. This is easily the NFL's newest rivalry.

Many probably think this rivalry started last season when Lendale White, Keith Bullock, and a couple other Titans stomped all over the sacred Steelers terrible towel. As obvious as it would seem, that's not where the rivalry started.

The rivalry really started during the 2002-2003 playoffs when the Steelers were called for a roughing the kicker penalty, which gave Titans kicker Joe Nedney one more chance to nail the winning field goal in overtime.

I can't imagine how bitter Steelers fans were after that game and I'm sure that stuck with them up until now.

After watching tonight's game I realized that the Titans and the Steelers are probably the two best teams in the AFC, thanks in large part to their defenses. They mirror each other in so many ways that it's scary.

In fact, the first half showed both teams trying to go vertical, when that obviously didn't work for either of them. Then they both started pounding the ball down the middle and relying on the short underneath routes.

In the end, the Steelers obviously won that battle.

I have to admit that at first, I was very upset to watch the Titans lose. However, after a few minutes of the loss sinking in, I realized the Titans lost to a good team.

No, not a good team, a great team. Not even a great team.

How about the Super Bowl champs?

Both teams showed a ton of heart and made it all more apparent as to why I love football so much and why I have been so impatient watching baseball all summer.

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