Hal's Tennessee Titans vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Preview

[NOTE from Jimmy]-Steelers O/Titans D and thoughts from Hal after the jump.  Sorry for the weird formatting.  We couldn't get the story editor to cooperate with us.

STEELERS OFFENSE

YDs/Game:                                                311.9 (22nd)        

Passing:                                             206.3 (17th)        

Rushing:                                            105.6 (23rd)

YDs/Play:                                                          4.9 (24th)         

Passing                                                  7.1 (12th)         

Rushing                                                 3.7 (29th)

Points/Game:                                                21.7 (20th) 

Passing DVOA                                          12.9% (19th)

Rushing DVOA                                            5.8% (15th)

TITANS DEFENSE

YDs/Game:                                                     293.6 (7th)        

Passing:                                                 199.8 (9th)        

Rushing:                                                   93.9 (6th)

YDs/Play:                                                              4.6 (4th)        

Passing:                                                     6.0 (3rd)        

Rushing:                                                   93.9 (6th)

Points/Game:                                                  14.6 (2nd) 

Passing DVOA                                            -19.3% (4th)

Rushing DVOA                                            -12.9% (6th) 

For the first few weeks of the season, I will use last season's statistics until enough games are play to provide a meaningful sample from this season.  Until then, I will try to extrapolate, based up off season personnel moves, whether a team will be better or worse at a certain phase of the game.

With Pittsburgh, you have a team that is more or less in tact from their championship season last year.  Their defense was unquestionably the best in the NFL last year statistically.  There is no evidence to suggest that the Steelers will have anything less than a top-5 defense.  On offense they also are essentially the same unit.  The Steelers will hope to bring more potency with a running game that was pretty anemic last season, while continuing to live by the big plays that Ben Roethlisberger can create in the passing game by scrambling.

Looking at the Titans, one would have to think that they will be at least as good on offense as last year, and probably should be better, especially in the passing game.  The traditional wisdom out there suggests that losing Albert Haynesworth and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will hurt this season, but it remains to be seen if this is true, and if so, how much of a drop off the defense will actually see.

The stats from last year would suggest that both of these defense should be well up to the task of stopping the opposing offense.  Barring a lopsided turnover battle like last season, this game should come down to the wire and be decided by a close margin.  Both of these teams have very reliable place kickers, and odds are that one of them will have a big role in deciding to outcome of this one.