Friday

9/11, Tim McGraw and Fireworks: Must be Time for Football

Pittsburgh’s a friendly town. The kind of place people say hi to each other when they pass on the street and let you make a left-hand turn even if you don’t have the right of way.

The neighborliness usually goes out the door at Heinz Field, where the Steelers and their most vocal supporters generally take no prisoners. On Thursday night, though, the fiestiness stayed in the Ketchup Bottle while the NFL honored the victims, survivors, heroes and others deeply effected by the attacks of September 11, 2001. On the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, the atmosphere began raucously as the Steelers raised their record sixth Super Bowl championship banner and Tim McGraw got the crowd ready for 17 weeks (at least) of football.

Fireworks followed then Harry Connick Jr. sang the national anthem with the honored guests on hand before kickoff.

The game was a lull for the first half as the Tennessee Titans missed two field goals and the Steelers failed to capitalize on strong field position. The game was scoreless until there was just 1:22 to play in the first half when the Steelers scored their first touchdown of the season the same way they notched their final one of last year: with Ben Roethlisberger hooking up with Santonio Holmes. In February, it was on a title-winning grab for the ages against Arizona. This time, Holmes beat the Titans for a 34-yard touchdown.

Tennessee improbably marched down the field before the end of the half to tie the game at 7-7 on a Kerry Collins-to-Justin Gage TD with 34 seconds to go.

Pittsburgh entered the game as a 5-point favorite against the point spread while the over/under seemed a solid bet to go under 35 points.

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