NFL Week One concludes with two Monday Night Football games, back-to-back, on ESPN. Up first we get my AFC Super Bowl pick, the Pittsburgh Steelers traveling to D.C. to take on the Washington Redskins.
As always, scroll on down for the live blog. Keep reading for the press release from the NFL.
It will be a special night for the Redskins, opening the season against one of the league’s top teams on Monday Night Football at FedExField.
The crowd will be electric well before kickoff and will remain that way throughout the game, but the Redskins should remain calm in the face of mounting pressure in front of a national audience.
“We’re definitely excited about it, for sure. It’s just keeping our nerves calm,” starting strong safety David Bruton Jr. said. “Be excited come game time – we want to peak at the right time during the game. I know me personally, I’m excited going into a season as a starter; make a name for myself besides special teams. For me personally, it’s been tough to try and keep calm, but I realize I have to.”
Veteran cornerback Greg Toler, who signed with the Redskins in the offseason, said the team must remain “poised and focused,” not letting the bright lights get in the way of their preparation.
“We’re going in there with a game plan; just stay focused on your gameplan and execute at your best abilities,” Toler said. “You’re excited to go against different jerseys. You don’t want to reach too much. You understand that you don’t want to get too high. You don’t want to get too low. You want to stay even planed because the ball can bounce a lot of different ways. Hopefully it bounces our way more than theirs.”
Special teams captain Niles Paul will guide a unit that will be comprised of a lot of young players, some of whom will be making their NFL debuts.
“It’s going to be a different feel out there,” Paul said. “It’s nothing like college football. Monday Night Football is definitely a different type of environment and you have to prepare for it. But there’s nothing really I can say to them. You’ve just got to experience for yourself.”
One of the things that has made Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger so difficult to stop over the years has been his ability to shed would-be sacks and turn them into large gains, often times resulting in touchdowns.
Roethlisberger is one of the biggest quarterbacks in the NFL today, checking in at 6-foot-5, 240 pounds.
“I think the No. 1 thing with him is that he’s such a big body back there,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry said this week. “He’s a big man to come in and tackle. We talk about – and every time I’ve ever gone against him – the thing that we preach is you want to tackle the ball, you don’t necessarily want to tackle him. Because he’s been doing it for however long – 12 or 13 years. He’s proven he’s tough to tackle just because he’s so big. Especially you see undersized linebackers or DBs literally just fall off him and bounce off him. He’s able to make the unbalanced throws so well just because he’s so big and so strong.”
The game is on ESPN at 6:55 p.m. We’ve got a doubleheader tonight so hang out with me for the next seven hours.
