The Pittsburgh Steelers regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons appears to be a tougher matchup than initially thought, at least on paper. The Falcons are coming off a 7-10 season but it’s a revamped unit with new head coach Raheem Morris and quarterback Kirk Cousins. They also bolstered their defense over the last month by trading for Pro Bowl edge rusher Matthew Judon and signing All-Pro safety Justin Simmons.
The Steelers are currently 3-point underdogs against the Falcons in Week 1, according to Vegas Insider. NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger thinks the Falcons match up well against Pittsburgh.
“I like the Falcons to win this game,” Baldinger said on the The Best Football Show podcast. “I feel like, as good as Pittsburgh’s defense is, when you look at Bijan [Robinson] and their ability to run the ball, I think that’s gonna be the difference. Kirk Cousins is gonna make some plays. We’ll see how Drake [London] and Kyle Pitts, how active they get.
“I feel like Atlanta is going to be able to run the ball against Pittsburgh better than what Pittsburgh is gonna be able to do.”
Baldinger isn’t the only one who likes the Falcons over the Steelers in the season opener, as eight of the 10 NFL.com panelists picked Atlanta to beat Pittsburgh.
The Steelers offensive didn’t light up the scoreboard in the preseason, but they did show signs of progress in the preseason finale against the Detroit Lions, as Wilson and Justin Fields both orchestrated touchdown drives.
The Steelers’ quarterback situation, offensive line and wide receiver corps all leave a lot to be desired, but perhaps the regular season will be a completely different story than what was displayed in the preseason. Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith mentioned that when he was the Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator in 2019, they scored 43 points in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns after a dreadful preseason.
“Preseason record doesn’t go on your permanent record,” Smith said. “It’s the old joke where Indy went 0-for every year, and they won 13 games almost automatically with Peyton (Manning).
“The longer you’ve been in this, I go back to my own experiences, in 2019 (in Tennessee), I didn’t think we were great in the preseason and come opening day we scored 40-something points (43) against the Browns. I’m not saying we’re going to do that in Atlanta (in Week 1), but we hope to. It’s just, you’ve got to have context.”
I think the defense will be fine against the Falcons, but the offense is a legitimate worry, especially on the O-line. It might have to be an ugly low-scoring win. With the daunting late-season schedule, the Steelers really can’t afford a Week 1 loss to the Falcons.