Good morning Falcoholics. I was hoping to be able to kick off today’s post with a “happy victory Monday,” but after learning of Cooper Rush’s back spasms late last night (after Arthur Smith gave me flashbacks to his Falcons offense in Ohio State-Texas), I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have the opportunity.
Sadly, I was right, and the Falcons lost to the Steelers, 20-13. Yes, it’s not an ideal way to start of the season. But Week 1 is always a little weird, and we did see some reasons for optimism. Below,
I’ll go through three reasons we shouldn’t overreact to this loss, and I’ll also give you one valid reason people still might overreact to this loss.
As always, we’ll take a trip around the beat to learn more about what Kevin Stefanski and Falcons players had to say after the loss and what this loss means for the Falcons, and don’t miss our question of the day: What’s your good, bad, and the ugly from the Steelers game?
Falcons Opening Drive: Week 1 is not the time for panic
Week 1 of the NFL season is always full of surprises, and in many cases, disappointments. The Falcons’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers fits into the latter category.
It wasn’t surprising that the Falcons lost given the pure chaos of its quarterback situation. Cooper Rush isn’t just third on the quarterback depth chart; he became the third injured guy in the quarterbacks room during the team’s Saturday walk-through before flying to Pittsburgh. Still, he got the start, and it wasn’t great. Rush finished the day completing 12 of 22 attempts for 143 yards, one TD, and two picks.
The Falcons finished with 9 penalties for 96 yards, which is just abysmal, but at least some of that can likely be attributed to normal Week 1 sloppiness, and sloppiness can be corrected. I’m hoping that also explains Nick Folk’s bad day.
Bijan Robinson was basically the entire offense, and that’s not sustainable — but Rush won’t be the long-term starter. Either Tua Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr. should be healthy enough to start soon — and we should all cross our fingers that’s the case.
Setting all those things aside, there are definitely reasons to take this loss in stride.
It’s Week 1
And Week 1 is generally weird. I’d argue it’s been weirder for the Falcons this season than it is for most teams, which is even more reason to not put too much stock into it.
Even if starters did get some preseason action, they’re often on a stricter pitch count than players down the depth chart. Teams don’t want to risk injury to their top players for a scrimmage, which I do get. But it means that many starters are still knocking off some rust in Week 1. And for players who did get plenty of run in the preseason, the overall caliber of competition is different once roster cuts are finalized. It’s just different.
Jeff Ulbrich’s defense
This game shouldn’t have been as close as it was given how poorly Rush played, but credit definitely goes to Jeff Ulbrich’s defense. The Falcons have a lot of last year’s sacks sitting on IR or the Commissioner’s Exempt List, plus several key players left this past offseason. But newcomer Za’Darius Smith had two sacks of Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, and he added two of the Falcons’ six quarterback hits. Mike Hughes had two pass breakups, while AJ Terrell, CJ Henderson, and Maason Smith each added one.
The Falcons had a beautiful forced fumble by Cameron Thomas that was recovered by Divine Deablo, and Atlanta limited Aaron Rodgers to 24 completions out of 40 attempts, 221 yards, and one touchdown.
Michael Penix Jr. will be ready to play soon
He’s been physically cleared, and according to the Falcons’ media calendar for the upcoming week, the unnamed “starting QB” is on the Wednesday schedule, just like it was last week. Here’s hoping it’s this week that Penix Jr. feels ready to start. Maybe that will be the boost the team needs.
But … we’re talking about the Atlanta Falcons
So if you’re doubting them after Sunday’s loss in Pittsburgh, I don’t blame you.
Now let’s get to the Falcons coverage you absolutely must read, watch, or listen to today.
- From our own Tre’Shon Diaz: Snap Reactions from Sunday’s loss to the Steelers. Special teams struggled, as did the offense, unsurprisingly. But the defense was a bright point.
- From Daniel Flick at the AJC: The Falcons were still in this game until TJ Watt snagged that pick-six. Instead of sneaking out a win, they took home a Week 1 loss for the ninth time in 11 years. (gift link)
- ESPN’s Marc Raimondi breaks down why a Week 1 loss to the Steelers isn’t the end of the world for the 2026 Falcons.
- Josh Kendall at The Athletic explains why the Falcons won’t have real hope for the 2026 season until they have a starting quarterback. (gift link)
- D. Orlando Ledbetter of Bowtie Sports shares what Steelers players had to say about Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson.
- AtlantaFalcons.com’s Will McFadden covers Kevin Stefanski’s postgame comments, including, “Hard to win on the road when you do those things.“
From the Falcoholic Community
I understand why the Falcons didn’t want to put Strand out there — he’s a rookie UDFA who had taken zero practice snaps with the starters, he’s an UDFA out of a small program, and that Steelers defense was bringing it. Atlanta doesn’t need FOUR banged-up QBs. But I can’t argue with the fact that he couldn’t have been worse than Rush. From Falcon’66:
The Falcoholic’s Question of the Day
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Steelers game: Let’s share ‘em. I’ll get us started:
- The Good: Bijan Robinson and the Falcons defense
- The Bad: Special teams
- The Ugly: Cooper Rush and the overall QB depth chart.
Share your Good, Bad, and the Ugly from the Steelers loss in the comments.
