NFL Preview for Sept. 12: Atlanta Falcons (-1 ½) vs Pittsburgh Steelers

The betting community appreciates the mess that Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin is trying to deal with.

First he finds out that his franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, the one guy that the Steelers could not win without last year, is gone the first four weeks of the season. Then, while desperately trying to get back-up quarterback Byron Leftwich up and going to start in Roethlisberger’s place, Leftwich goes down with an injury.

To be honest, Leftwich was not looking that good and the NFL betting world did not hold a whole lot of hope for the Steelers if they decided to stay with Leftwich when the season started. But what Tomlin did next would add his own fuel to the Pittsburgh fire.

With a perfectly healthy veteran quarterback Charlie Batch ready to go on the Pittsburgh sidelines, Tomlin named third-year quarterback Dennis Dixon as the starter. In his previous two seasons Dixon had played in two total games. He has not been a factor in a football game since he was affecting the college football betting results three years ago.

Tomlin claims that the Steeler playbook will not change because of Dixon, and he is prepared to have Dixon run all of the regular plays that Batch or Roethlisberger would have run. It is a big gamble for a coach with the NFL spotlight burning brightly on his neck.

The Atlanta Falcons are ready for the season to start.

Quarterback Matt Ryan has wide receiver Roddy White and tight end Tony Gonzalez all in sync, and the Falcons defense looks ready to hit anything that moves. There is no need to single out one player, or even a group of players, on this Falcons team. In the preseason they proved that they function as a single unit regardless of who is on the field.

This is the year that Atlanta starts their climb back to respectability.

Just four years after Michael Vick’s antics dismantled the team and left it for dead, head coach Mike Smith picked up the pieces and has put the Falcons back together again. With Ryan at quarterback, Michael Turner at running back and an offensive line that is coming into its own, the Atlanta Falcons look to make the playoffs this season as a wild card or division champion.

The NFL football betting lines have the Falcons favored over the Steelers at Pittsburgh’s home opener for the season.

While the line is only one and a half points, the message sings out loud and clear. The betting experts do not think that the Steelers can win with the current chaos that surrounds them and without Roethlisberger at quarterback.

Judging by the past history of the team without Roethlisberger in the line-up since he joined the team, the experts probably have it right.

The Steelers will put up a fight in their own building, but with the Falcons firing on all cylinders and the Steelers missing half an engine block, it may be difficult for the Steelers to put up any kind of a fight against a team the caliber of the Falcons.

Pick: Atlanta Falcons 20-17

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