Both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Atlanta Falcons closed 2009 with three straight wins, providing heightened expectations heading into the offseason despite the disappointment of failing to make the playoffs. It didn’t take long for the Steelers’ momentum to disappear. Off-field indiscretions led to the trade of a Super Bowl MVP wideout and Ben Roethlisberger’s four-game suspension, leaving Pittsburgh to hand the offensive reins to Dennis Dixon for Sunday’s season opener against the visiting Falcons.

The Steelers blew any chance to defend their Super Bowl XLIII title with a midseason five-game losing streak, which proved too much to overcome despite a late surge to finish 9-7.Shortly after the NFL season ended, the two stars that combined for the winning touchdown in Pittsburgh’s sixth championship were back in the news.

As we all know the Pittsburgh Steelers are without their star quarterback and until this week they didn’t know who would be their starter. Dixon has been made the starter and in pre-season has look pretty effective in the early going. With this being his first “real” test we expect the Falcons to prevail. Look for the rookie to make plenty of mistakes to start the season off and drop his first game of the 2010 season.