Week 1 is finally here, and the Pittsburgh Steelers open the season at home against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET on September 13, 2026, with partly sunny skies and temperatures around 80 degrees expected at game time. The surface is natural grass, and the Steelers enter as 3.5-point favorites with the over/under set at 42.5.
FOX will carry the broadcast with Joe Davis on play-by-play, Greg Olsen on analysis, and Pam Oliver reporting from the field. On the radio side, the Steelers Audio Network will feature Rob King, Max Starks, and Missi Matthews.
Brad Rogers will head the officiating crew. Rogers is in his eighth season as a head official and, in his “real life,” works as a college professor.
His last Steelers game came in 2025, when Pittsburgh lost 25-10 in Los Angeles to the Chargers in a game that featured 12 penalties. His crews have drawn scrutiny for missed “illegal formations,” and they tend to throw more flags on the road team than the home team.
The injury report gives the Falcons the bigger headaches. Tua Tagovailoa is out with an oblique injury, Michael Penix Jr. is out with a knee injury, Billy Bowman Jr. is out with an Achilles injury, Cameron Williams is out with an ankle injury, and Za’ Darius Smith is questionable with a shoulder injury. Joey Porter Jr. is questionable for Pittsburgh with a back issue.
That means Cooper Rush gets the start for Atlanta with both Penix and Tua unavailable.
The Steelers and Falcons arrive with very different statistical profiles from 2025. Pittsburgh finished 25th in total offense, 22nd in passing offense, and 26th in rushing offense, while ranking 26th in total defense and 29th against the pass. Atlanta landed 14th in total offense, 19th in passing, and 8th in rushing, while finishing 15th in total defense, 13th against the pass, and 24th against the run.
There’s also the bigger-picture backdrop in Pittsburgh. The Steelers have gone 22 straight seasons without finishing below .500.
They are 49-39-5 all-time in season openers, 31-19-3 when opening at home, and 52-38-3 in home openers. Against Atlanta, they’ve opened the season twice before and won both games.
Overall, Pittsburgh leads the series 16-2-1 and is 7-0-1 against the Falcons at home. The last meeting came in Atlanta in 2024, when the Steelers won 18-10.
Atlanta’s roster still has plenty of names to watch, including Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Cooper Rush, Christian Harris, Avieon Terrell, A.J. Terrell, Jr., Jahan Dotson, Kyle Pitts, Sr., and Nick Folk.
For Pittsburgh, the three biggest things are pretty straightforward. The offense needs explosive plays, whether those come on the ground, through screens, or on deep shots.
The team can’t live on long, grinding drives forever. The trenches have to matter, too.
Pittsburgh has invested heavily up front on both sides of the ball, and that needs to show in the run game and in run defense. Keeanu Benton, in particular, has to be better against the run.
And if the Steelers don’t look sharp after sitting so many of their regulars in the preseason, there should be no excuses about rust, timing, or communication.
The X-factors point to the line play as well. For Pittsburgh, Troy Fautanu has to settle in on the left side and give Aaron Rodgers confidence there, especially with concern on the right side involving Dyland Cook and/or rookie Max Iheanachor. For Atlanta, Kyle Pitts, Sr. becomes the key outlet for Cooper Rush, who will need a safety valve if the Steelers crowd the box to slow down Bijan Robinson and Brian Robinson.
As for the prediction, the expectation is that this one is tighter than a blowout but not as dramatic as last year’s opener, when Rodgers threw four touchdown passes in his first game as a Steeler and Chris Boswell had to nail a 61-yard field goal to finish it. The Steelers should have the edge, but the offensive line is still a work in progress, so it figures to be a fight.
In Other News...
Mike Tomlin Just Reopened One Painful Steelers Debate
Mike Tomlin has put a fresh spotlight on one of the franchises long-running debates, saying in a recent interview that the best team he ever coached in Pittsburgh was the 2015 Steelers rather than the Super Bowl-winning group from 2008. It is the kind of comparison that tends to stir up old arguments fast, because the 2008 squad has the ring and the legacy, while the 2015 team was built with a different kind of firepower and expectation.
The 2015 Steelers went 10-6, survived a wild card playoff game and then ran into Denver in the divisional round. Tomlin pointed to the talent on that roster and the injury issues that left them short-handed in the postseason loss, which only adds another layer to the what-if conversation around a team that was good enough to make people wonder how far it really could have gone. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Suddenly Have A Week 1 Cornerback Problem To Watch
The Steelers had to make a little extra room in the secondary heading into Week 1, elevating cornerback Doneiko Slaughter from the practice squad before Sundays game against the Falcons. Its a depth move with obvious meaning: Joey Porter Jr. is questionable because of a back injury, and Pittsburgh is giving itself another option in case the spot opposite the rest of the cornerback group needs to be filled on short notice.
Slaughter has not appeared in a regular-season game yet, but he did see significant preseason action, which at least gave the coaching staff a chance to evaluate him in something closer to game conditions. For a team already trying to sort out its opening-week lineup, the question now is less about whether Slaughter can dress and more about how much the Steelers might need him right away. [Read more 🡒]
Aaron Rodgers Just Created Another Steelers Headache Off The Field
Aaron Rodgers has already given the Steelers plenty to sort through on the field, but his latest public comments have turned into an awkward off-field distraction too. On Cam Heywards podcast, Rodgers revisited his past engagement to Shailene Woodley and offered his version of how the relationship unraveled, adding another layer to a breakup that had largely stayed private since it ended.
The reaction has only widened the gap between the two sides, with Woodleys friends pushing back on his account and describing the remarks as out of line with the person they knew. For Pittsburgh, it is the kind of headline that has little to do with game plans and everything to do with the attention that follows Rodgers wherever he goes, even when the conversation is supposed to be about football. [Read more 🡒]