Fantasy Player Rankings and Projections by Mike Krueger
Atlanta Falcons Rank  Player Projections QB 17 Matt Ryan Pass: 250, 2 TD Rush: 0, 0 RB 20 Michael Turner Rush: 65, 0 TD Rec: 3-20, 0 RB 56 Jerious Norwood Rush: 10, 0 TD Rec: 1-10, 0 RB 58 Jason Snelling Rush: 20, 0 TD Rec: 0-0, 0 WR 8 Roddy White Rec: 6-80, 1 TD  WR 68 Brian Finneran Rec: 3-40, 0 TD WR 69 Harry Douglas Rec: 3-40, 0 TD TE 7 Tony Gonzalez Rec: 6-60, 1 TD K 23 Matt Bryant FG: 1/2 XP: 2/2 View all Week 1 Rankings or Projections		Pittsburgh Steelers Rank  Player Projections QB 25 Dennis Dixon Pass: 195, 1 TD Rush: 20, 0 RB 10 Rashard Mendenhall Rush: 90, 1 TD Rec: 3-20, 0 RB 63 Isaac Redman Rush: 10, 0 TD Rec: 0-0, 0 WR 34 Hines Ward Rec: 5-60, 0 TD WR 36 Mike Wallace Rec: 5-60, 0 TD TE 12 Heath Miller Rec: 3-40, 1 TD K 10 Jeff Reed FG: 2/2 XP: 2/2

Past two meetings went to OT, including 34-34 tie on 11/10/02.

Falcons Head coach MIKE SMITH is 2-0 in career on Kickoff Weekend. Club posted back-to-back winning seasons for 1st time in franchise history... QB Matt Ryan has won 6 of 8 starts vs. AFC. In those 8, has completed 139 of 229 (60.7 pct.) for 1,699 yards with 11 TDs vs. 1 INT for 97.8 rating. In career, Ryan has posted 100+ rating 9 times & Falcons are 9-0... RB Michael Turner rushed for 220 yards on Kickoff Weekend 2008 (9/7/08), 2nd highest opening weekend performance in NFL history. In career, when Turner has 22+ carries, his teams are 13-1 (.929). Since 2008, has 27 rush TDs, tied for 2nd most in NFL... Pro Bowl WR Roddy White had 85 receptions for 1,153 yards & career-high 11 TDs last year. Became 1st Falcon to record 80+ catches & 1,100+ yards in 3 consecutive seasons. TE Tony Gonzalez needs 1 reception to become 1st TE with 1,000 career catches... CB Dunta Robinson makes Atl. debut. Spent previous 6 seasons with Hou. & had 13 INTs. LB Curtis Lofton led club with 160 tackles last year. DE John Abraham has 16 games with 2+ sacks & his teams are 13-3 (.813) in those contests.

Steelers Have won 7 consecutive games on Kickoff Weekend, longest current streak in NFL & club has won 7 consecutive home openers, 3rd-longest active streak in league... MIKE TOMLIN is 3-0 on Kickoff Weekend... QB Dennis Dixon will make 2nd career start & 1st at Heinz Field... RB Rashard Mendenhall had career-high 1,108 rush yards in '09... WR Hines Ward (895) needs 5 rec. to become 12th player in NFL history to reach 900 rec. Ward (10,947) needs 53 receiving yards to become 24th player in NFL with 11,000. Ward aims for 3rd consecutive game w/100+ rec. yards vs. Atl. (139, 171)... TE Heath Miller ranks 1st among Pitt TEs w/244 career rec. & 2nd w/2,721 career rec. yards (BENNIE CUNNINGHAM, 2,879)... LB LaMarr Woodley had career-high 13.5 sacks in '09... LB James Harrison aims for 3rd consecutive season w/10+ sacks (16 in '08; 10 in '09)... Club is 16-3 (.842) when Troy Polamalu has 1+ INTs.