Steelers vs. Broncos - Week 1 - Intangibles



Tomlin vs Fox on Sunday Night Football


The last installment of the weekly preview of the upcoming Steeler game leaves me with the intangibles.  These would include special teams, coaching, home field advantage, etc.  Tomorrow I will recap all of this and more on the weekly podcast as well as my NFL weekly predictions.

- Battle of Great Coaches - Some might not include John Fox into the "great" coaches list, but some might not put Mike Tomlin there either.  I know that yesterday as I checked the twitter account (Follow us - @BnGBlitz) I noticed some Pittsburgh beat writers quoting John Fox as he talked about last year being history and that neither team would be thinking about that come Sunday night.  A part of that is true, and another part of that says that John Fox must be living on a different planet!  I would put Mike Tomlin on the great coaches list based on the fact that he will motivate his team to be at their best come Sunday night, and if YOU think for a second that he isn't going to bring up the playoff loss, or even show everyone the final play of that game in OT, then you must be from another planet.  Coaches have to motivate by any means necessary.  Tomlin will use this to his advantage and don't think that the Broncos fans and players alike don't know the black n' gold don't have a little extra motivation on SNF.

- Special Teams Could Play a Factor - Look at the Steelers dynamic return men.  Chris Rainey, Emmanuel Sanders, and Antonio Brown are all capable of returning kicks/punts and returning them for TDs.  The downside of the Steelers' return game is their kicking game.  Untested rookie punter Butler will be put to the test, as well as PK Suisham.  Suisham should be used to kicking outdoors, but we all know that Tomlin will push the envelope on long distance kicks showing trust and faith in his kicker.  If its a questionable 52 yd FG, I bet Tomlin decides to kick it at Mile High Stadium (or whatever its called now) and if Suisham yanks it, he is giving Peyton Manning a short field...which is NOT a good thing.

- Home Field Advantage - Often times this is null and void, but in terms of being a mile above sea level, it isn't.  Not only will Ryan Clark's sickle cell trait keep him out of yet ANOTHER game in Denver, but players like Jason Worilds, James Harrison, and Casey Hampton who aren't used to playing will have to take more breathers than normal with the high altitude and dealing with those factors.  Besides that, the Steeleres are used to environments like that one and will be just fine going with a silent count if necessary.  The place will be rocking, but what else is new for an opening kickoff game in the NFL on Primetime?!

So as I've gone over the Steelers and Broncos offense and defense, as well as the intangibles, you are probably wondering what my prediction will be.  You'll have to check the podcast tomorrow afternoon to find out who I like in this game, and every other game on the NFL Week 1 docket.