Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers went 9-6-1 last year, finishing in 2nd place in the AFC North. They had one of the most drama-filled seasons in 2018. Between the Antonio Brown drama that led to him being traded to the Oakland Raiders and the Le’Veon Bell holdout that lasted all season and led to him playing in New York with the Jets.
On offense, they will have their 15-year quarterback Ben Roethlisberger under center once again with James Conner and JuJu Smith-Schuster as his primary weapons. They will be looking for them to fill big shoes, but the two young pro-bowlers have been solid for them so far.
Defensively the Steelers have returning stars Joe Haden at corner and T.J. Watt at linebacker. They will be joined this season by their rookie first-round pick Devin Bush from the University of Michigan. Bush will look to make an instant impact at the linebacker position this season. Between Watt, Bush, Conner, and Smith-Schuster, the Steelers look to be set for a long time with a lot of young talent all over the field.
Tennessee Titans
The Titans finished last season 9-7 and missed the playoffs in their first year under their new head coach Mike Vrabel. Vrabel was a linebacker for New England, and he brings the same toughness to coaching. Vrabel gained a reputation early of not being afraid to make the risky call when the game was on the line.
A very interesting pickup for the Titans this offseason was quarterback Ryan Tannehill from the Miami Dolphins. Their young starting QB Marcus Mariota had has a very up and down career that has had its share of injuries including last year. Tannehill will most likely serve as a solid backup for the Titans with plenty of NFL game experience. However, if Tannehill gets his shot to play, it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
The Titans have solid weapons on offense including Derrick Henry, who really started to get going in the second half of last season and finished with 1,059 yards and 12 touchdowns. Another big threat to watch out for is their top WR Corey Davis; the young wide receiver had 891 yards last year with 4 touchdowns. He will be hoping for consistency at QB this year to give him his first 1,000-yard season.
What to expect
In this game, like most preseason games, it is going to come down to the backups and who can make more of an impact. With both Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill getting a lot of time in this game, and the Titans still having a young coach still learning his team, I like the Titans to push the envelope more in this game and get the win. The Titans are at home in this one which gives them even more of an advantage in this game.
