T.J. Watt looked like he’d hit rewind on Sunday, and the Steelers were glad to ride the tape.
Pittsburgh opened the season with a 20-13 win over Atlanta, and Watt was at the center of it all. He finished with two sacks, three tackles for loss, and the moment that swung the afternoon: midway through the fourth quarter with the Steelers up 13-10, he read a screen intended for Bijan Robinson, snatched it out of the air, and took it back for the first pick-six of his career. After the interception, Jaquan Brisker, Keeanu Benton, and Payton Wilson escorted him into the end zone.
That pick-six came in a game where Watt also became the first player with two sacks and an interception in two different season openers.
The Steelers got plenty from the rest of their defense, too. Alex Highsmith added two sacks of his own, while Cam Heyward knocked down three passes at the line.
Brisker, making his Steelers debut, picked off a Cooper Rush pass and helped set up Pittsburgh’s only offensive touchdown. Wilson was everywhere, finishing with a team-high 13 tackles, including two for loss.
The offense, though, never really found its rhythm.
Atlanta bottled up Pittsburgh’s run game, holding the Steelers to 58 yards on 21 carries. Aaron Rodgers threw it 40 times, but the production was modest, as he averaged just 5.5 yards per attempt. Pittsburgh finished only 3-of-13 on third down and managed 4.1 yards per play, which is not the kind of line you want to post against a Falcons defense missing its top two edge rushers.
DK Metcalf had a rough one. He was flagged twice for offensive pass interference, including one call that wiped out a third-down conversion. He also dropped a clean throw from Rodgers over the middle on another third down and later failed to get both feet down on a 4th-and-3.
Pittsburgh’s lone offensive touchdown came after Brisker’s interception. Rodgers extended the play and found Pat Freiermuth in the back of the end zone to put the Steelers ahead 13-7.
There was at least some encouragement in the passing game. Rodgers showed he could still drive the ball deep, but too many chances slipped away because of dropped passes.
Roman Wilson dropped a potential long touchdown in the end zone, and Metcalf’s mistakes left more yards sitting on the field than the box score showed. The arm talent is there; the receivers have to finish the job.
Week 1 usually comes with some mess attached, and Pittsburgh will happily take the win and the 1-0 start into next week’s road trip against the defending AFC champion New England Patriots, who are trying to avoid an 0-2 start.
In Other News...
Terry Bradshaw Just Said What Steelers Fans Are Thinking About This Era
Terry Bradshaw had the kind of blunt take Steelers fans could relate to on FOX NFL Sunday, saying the one thing he was most interested in this season was watching Mike McCarthy in Pittsburgh. Bradshaw pointed to McCarthys track record with Aaron Rodgers and the simple reality of a new coach taking over after Mike Tomlin, making it clear this was the change he wanted to watch closest.
Bradshaw did not try to hide his lean toward the Steelers while the rest of the studio crew was previewing the NFL slate. For Pittsburgh fans, the interest is obvious: any coaching switch invites questions about style, quarterback play and whether a new voice can shift the direction of an era, and Bradshaws comments captured that curiosity without pretending the transition will be easy to sort out. [Read more 🡒]
T.J. Watt Just Answered The Steelers Question Fans Feared Most
T.J. Watt opened the season the way the Steelers needed him to, flashing the kind of disruptive play that can change a game in a hurry. Against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1, he piled up two sacks, two quarterback hits, three tackles for loss and even took an interception back for a pick-six, giving Pittsburgh exactly the sort of defensive spark that has long been central to its identity.
For a defense built around pressure up front, Watts early showing mattered as much for reassurance as it did for the win itself. There had been questions after last season about whether he could still be the same dominant force, but this was a reminder that he remains the player opponents have to account for every snap, and that the Steelers ceiling on defense still runs through him. [Read more 🡒]
Steelers Win Came With One Clear Reason For Concern
The Steelers opened the season with a win over Atlanta, but the victory was shaped as much by what happened on defense as anything on offense. Aaron Rodgers handled the passing game with a heavy workload, while Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle never got much room to establish the run, leaving Pittsburgh to lean on a unit that came out fast and kept the Falcons from taking control.
T.J. Watt was the headline act with two sacks and a touchdown interception, and Payton Wilson added a busy day with 13 tackles and two tackles for loss. The concern is harder to ignore on the other side of the ball, where the ground game never really found traction, and the Steelers may already be facing questions about whether that balance will hold up once the games get tighter. [Read more 🡒]