Steelers Defense Forces Turnovers, Topples Titans

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

The Steelers puzzled Tennessee's offense, forcing seven turnovers, in route to a 19-11 victory.

Antonio Brown started the game off on the right note for the Steelers when he returned the opening kickoff 89-yards for a touchdown.  Jeff Reed tacked on four field goals as the game went on, but the story of this game belongs to the defense.  The Titans offense was unable to get on track, due in large part to the Steelers' ability to stop the rush, which held last seasons leading rusher, Chris Johnson, to just 34 yards.  The low total snapped his 12-game streak of rushing for at least 100 yards.

The game saw both sides replace their starting quarterbacks.  Titan's starter Vince Young was yanked due to an overall poor performance, accumulating two interceptions and a lost fumble to go along with just 66 yards passing.  He was replaced by Kerry Collins, who managed a touchdown late in the game, but  also threw an interception.  Neither quarterback could avoid the blitz, as the Steelers came up with four sacks.

Charlie Batch took over for Steelers' starter Dennis Dixon before the first half finished after Dixon went out with a knee injury.  Batch is the only other quarterback currently on the Steelers' active roster since they released Byron Leftwich earlier in the week to make room for another defensive lineman with nose tackle Casey Hampton on the sideline.

The Titans lost four fumbles on top of tossing three interceptions.  Tennessee had not coughed the ball up that much in a single game since 2000.  Pittsburgh hadn't forced seven turnovers since 1997 in a game against Baltimore.