Doug’s Sports Rap: Monday Night Debut

Monday Night was the conclusion of week one of the NFL as the home teams lost their openers in their fan-less stadiums.

In the first matchup, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New York Giants 26-16.

The Steelers were clearly the seasoned team with their 13-year head coach Mike Tomlin and seasoned Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger starting his 17^th season.

The New York Giants came out looking good, Daniel Jones was hitting his receivers and tight ends, but couldn’t get their running game going, the Pittsburgh defense held Saquon Barkley to just 6 rushing yards on 15 carries, and Jones turned the ball over twice, including an interception in the end zone on a 19 play drive that should have ended in a score.

Ben Roethlisberger (who hadn’t played since week two of last season) started slow, but showed why he is a two time Superbowl champion, and the Steeler defense and running game were more than enough to defeat a young Giant team that is seeking some game time experience.

Steelers will host the Broncos next Sunday, the Giants will travel to Chicago.

The second half of the Monday night double header had a much different look, well there still was the empty stadium, but the game was closed and came down to a 25-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal with 17 seconds left to give the Tennessee Titans a 16-14 win over the Denver Broncos.

The Titans have not had luck with their kickers over the past season, and last night didn’t look promising with Gostkowski missing kicks in each quarter, that included a blocked field goal. I guess the end justifies the means.

The Broncos had their chances but including a first goal on the one yard line which they failed to get into the end zone.

The Titans will host Jacksonville on Sunday, Broncos travel to Pittsburgh.

[NFL.com]