Left field

Another NFL season is upon us and the Lineman knows there is no chance of it being a perfect one. But hey, it’s not whether you win or lose; it’s if you covered the spread.

Each week this NFL season the Lineman will offer up his Pick-of-the-Week plus his top five other games. So have some fun, go one-on-one with the Lineman and see you at the Super Bowl.

The new season kicks off on Thursday with a beauty as the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers open defence of their title against AFC rivals the Tennessee Titans.

So let’s get started.

Tennessee Titans at Pittsburgh Steelers (minus-6)

It’s a new season but the Steelers and Titans have a familiar look with both teams returning all but two starters. The Steelers may be Super Bowl champs but remember the Titans, not Pittsburgh, had the best record in the NFL (13-3) last season and were 12-4 against the spread.

Titans’ experienced quarterback Kerry Collins is 3-0 against Pittsburgh and will not be frightened by a Pittsburgh defence that was the stingiest in the NFL last season surrendering a miserly 13.9 points a game.

If there is a weakness in the Steelers defence it is in the secondary and the Arizona Cardinals fleet-footed receivers exposed it during last year’s Super Bowl.

Unfortunately for Collins, he does not have a Larry Fitzgerald or Anquan Boldin at his disposal, the Tennessee passing game ranking 27th in the league last season and seen very little upgrade.

Steelers should open the defence of their Super Bowl with a home victory but six points is too much to pass up.

Take the Titans and the points. And see you back here Friday.

Steve Keating

PHOTO: Fans cheer the Pittsburgh Steelers as they make their way through downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania February 3, 2009 during the Superbowl XLIII parade. REUTERS/Jason Cohn