Steelers Review.. One Down, 16 to Go!

The 2024 season for the Pittsburgh Steelers opened in grand fashion as the Black and Gold extended their NFL record for current longest opening day victories on the road by shutting down the Falcons in Atlanta by a score of 18-10. 

It was a massive defensive effort on the part of T.J. Watt and his fellow defensemen allowing just a single first half touchdown and a field goal the dominating the Dirty Birds the rest of the way. Offensively, this is supposed to be a renewal this season where we will see more points on the board and further production. With Russell Wilson named the starter, a calf injury held him out in Atlanta, so Justin Fields got the start and more than held his own. While he could not lead the team to a touchdown drive, he was able to engineer drives that led to six Chris Boswell field goals, tying his personal best, and becoming the first Pittsburgh Steelers kicker in history to nail at least three field goals of more than 50 yards. The dude is a super star kicker and a stud.

Fields finished with a nice 91.9 QB rating and missed only six of 23 passing attempts for a decent 156 yards through the air. He did get sacked twice one of which he definitely held the ball too long and could have thrown it away and his opening drive muff of the snap from Zach Frazier was a bit unnerving. But the ex-Chicago Bears signal caller did settle down and simply made the quarterback situation in Pittsburgh very questionable. It’s a luxury any head coach would want but Mike Tomlin has a difficult decision to make heading into week two in Denver. If Wilson is healthy, does he get the start against a Broncos team that no longer wanted him after the 2023 season, or did Justin Fields do enough to warrant another start? We should know once the game gets closer to kickoff.

Helping the offense was Najee Harris the only running back in the league right now to have rushed for at least 1,000 yards in his first three seasons. Harris helped the offense win the time of possession battle 35:36 to Atlanta’s 24:24. Pittsburgh finished with 66 offensive plays to the Falcons 50 and had 44 more yards on offense than did Atlanta who had 226. The Steelers also converted nearly half of their 17 third down possessions (8), but penalties hurt them offensively and defensively committing nine for 60 yards in losses. One was an offensive pass interference on George Pickens that wiped out a great catch he made, and the penalty was definitely borderline. 

What can you say about the Pittsburgh defense other than AWESOME. Playoff ready even. They sacked new Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins twice, picked him off twice, had five passes defensed, and added seven quarterback hits. Minkah Fitzpatrick is comfortable again roaming the field and led the team with seven tackles, six of them solo. But the fresh faces on defense stood out. Patrick Queen, Donte Jackson, and DeShon Elliott all were huge in this game. Beanie Bishop who missed the 2023 season due to an injury is healthy this year and made four solo tackles in Atlanta. 

The rookie whiz kid with all the collegiate honors, Payton Wilson made his impact with three tackles, all solo. When looking at the defensive stats, so many players contributed with at least one tackle (Nick Herbig; DeMarvin Leal; Scotty Miller; Tyler Matakevich; Larry Ogunjobi; Montravius Adams who also had one big sack; Cameron Heyward fresh off a big new contract put in four tackles; and Alex Highsmith got his share with five). Any future Steelers opponents be afraid…very afraid.

Back on offense, George Pickens showed why he is quite capable of being the #1 receiver. Another player awarded a nice contract was tight end Pat Freiermuth who pitched in with four receptions. Jaylen Warren caught two passes for 13 yards and ran the ball twice for another 13. Add images of “Slash” Kordell Stewart as Justin Fields used his legs effectively to pick up 57 yards rushing for a 4.1 yards per carry average. New Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith got revenge on his old team and showed Steelers Nation what his philosophy is going to be. Grind it out football and wear down an opposing defense which was evident in Atlanta just by seeing Falcons defensive players gasping for air in the fourth quarter. 



Make no mistake, this team will absolutely be a better squad than what we witnessed in 2023. Mike Tomlin has been blessed with a tricky situation that other coaches would welcome in a heartbeat. Two veteran quarterbacks with plenty of starts in their careers. New veterans added to the mix who made a significant impact in just the opening game. Rookies that have already shown they belong in the NFL. This could be an incredibly special season in Pittsburgh and believe you me, this team will be in the playoffs. In fact, judging from one game alone, they are going to be a difficult out once they get there and that is if they continue to play as well as they did in Atlanta where this team will probably even get better.