The night we’ve been waiting 6-7 months for is finally here! The 2009 NFL season kicks off tonight with the Tennessee Titans vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers at 8:30 PM Eastern time. Most early power polls have the Titans and Steelers near the top. They’re both playoff teams from 2008, when the Steelers happened to win the Super Bowl. It’s going to be hard-nosed AFC football. The kind of football you love to watch.

The NFL did a great job picking out the opening night game. These are two teams that the entire nation will want to watch. The Titans are coming off a playoff season and have one of the game’s most exciting young players in Chris Johnson. Both teams play very tough defense. I’m probably one of the few fans that enjoys watching defense just as much (if not more) than I do watching offense. The Steelers have several marquee players on defense including Troy Polamalu and James Harrison. I wouldn’t be surprised if they scored a defensive touchdown tonight.

When I gave out my college football predictions last week I got every single one of them wrong… so if you live in Vegas and like to bet on games, please don’t take my advice (or if you do at least go with the opposite of what I say). I like the Steelers big in this game. I wasn’t sold on the Titans in 2008 and I’m not sold on the Titans in 2009. I think they benefited from an easy schedule in ’08 and won a lot of close games. The Steelers, however, are the real deal. They have a great quarterback, very fast defense and players that can run/catch the ball.

My final score prediction: Steelers 31 – Titans 10