(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

MYTH:  "It was a 15-round, old-school Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight that went the distance" (Keith Bulluck, regarding the Titans’ 13-10 overtime loss to the Steelers in the season opener)

FACTS:  It was anything but.  Though it is easy to say both teams played great and were evenly matched, the game was so low-scoring and close only because of mistakes by both teams.

Though the Steelers won, they have no reason to be excited about this victory.  The loss of Troy Polamalu is reason enough for the Steelers to be unhappy about the game.  On top of that, the Super Bowl Champions did not appear remotely super.

On offense, their running game was nonexistent.  On paper, the Steelers should be expected to run the ball much better than they did last year with the return of a healthy Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall.  On the field, the Steelers ran the ball even more ineffectively than they did last year. 

Instead of using Mendenhall in a complementary role to Parker’s outside speed, the Steelers used Parker as an every-down back, and the results weren’t pretty: 19 yards on 13 carries.

Though the Steelers’ touchdown drive at the end of the second quarter made the Steelers’ passing offense look excellent, the “great” plays have to be taken in context.

Instead of pressuring Roethlisberger with an additional rusher or two, which worked to near perfection the few times the Titans actually did so, the Titans only rushed with their four defensive linemen.

The rest of the Titans’ defense went into a zone defense that was spread really widely.  These miscues in defensive play-calling gave Roethlisberger plenty of time to penetrate the spread-apart zone defense with pump fakes that the safeties fell for twice in a row.

Despite his numbers, Roethlisberger was less than stellar as a passer.  He is constantly praised for his ability to extend the play by scrambling around in the pocket.  Without a doubt, it is absolutely amazing when Roethlisberger makes a play like that. 

However, for every play like that, there are usually four to five where Roethlisberger holds onto the ball too long, trying to make a play, and instead gets sacked or turns the ball over. 

That lack of consistency makes it hard for me to buy into the idea of him as a quarterback on the level of Brady, Manning, or even Drew Brees.

Though he was incredible in spurts on Thursday night, he had some major ups and downs.  Had he displayed more consistency, this game wouldn’t have even been close.

On defense, the Steelers allowed one long run by Chris Johnson (and this was before Polamalu left the game), but otherwise did an effective job against the run.  Once again, this was the Titans’ fault.

LenDale White and Chris Johnson form the best running back tandem in the league.  With White’s brute power and Johnson’s breakaway speed, the two of them earned the nickname “Smash and Dash” as they gave defensive coordinators headaches all year.

This formula led the Titans to a league-best 13-3 record in 2008, but the Titans did not employ it against the Steelers, instead using Johnson as the primary back and only giving White eight carries. 

Unfortunately, the Titans didn’t Dash too well without any Smash to help out.  Johnson himself only got 16 carries, too, though.

It’s this simple: when White and Johnson get the ball, the Titans win.  When they don’t, the Titans lose. 

This held true even throughout the pre-season of Johnson’s rookie season.  The Titans went 3-1 in the pre-season, losing badly to the Falcons by a score of 17-3.  Lendale White sat that game out with an injury.

When the Titans started off 10-0, their dreams of an undefeated season came to an end at the hands of the New York Jets. 

At the beginning of the game, the Titans benched Lendale White for getting into an argument with running backs coach Earnest Byner after a fumble.

The Titans lost 34-13.  Twice is a coincidence.  After it happened a third time against the Steelers, you can only hope the Titans will see the pattern.

It should be noted that the trend works in reverse, too.  In the playoff loss to Baltimore

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?