The Falcons open their season by making the journey up to Western Pennsylvania to face one of the NFL’s blue bloods and a team that has absolutely owned them throughout their respective histories.
The Steelers are on the shortlist of the most successful NFL franchises in history — tied with the New England Patriots with a league-high six Super Bowl triumphs — while the Falcons have mostly been a punching bag for the rest of the league since their inception in 1966, and the head-to-head record between
these teams reflect each of those realities.
The Falcons and Steelers have faced off 19 times, and Atlanta has come away the victor just twice, sporting an abominable 2-16-1 record. The .132% win percentage is the lowest the Birds have against any other franchise, and the two victories are their joint fewest against anyone else, along with the Ravens against whom Atlanta has played 12 fewer games. Any way you slice it, the Steelers have always kicked the Falcons’ butts.
That makes it even more impressive that Michael Vick went undefeated in his two meetings against Pittsburgh, as Atlanta’s quarterback, lighting up the scoreboard in each game. The first was a 34-34 tie at Heinz Field in 2002 (the only game in Pittsburgh the Falcons ever played without suffering defeat). The second, a dramatic 41-38 triumph at the Georgia Dome in 2006, where Vick had a career high four touchdown passes (three of them going to Alge Crumpler).
Atlanta’s only other victory came in 1970. The last time they opened the season in Pittsburgh was a slugfest in 2010, which went to overtime and was ultimately decided by a 50-yard Rashard Mendenhall run for the win. That marked the first of five straight victories over the Falcons that the Steelers have enjoyed as an active streak.
When did the Falcons and Steelers play each other last?
The Falcons opened the 2024 season and the soon to be short lived Raheem Morris tenure by debuting new major free agent signing Kirk Cousins at home against a Steelers team employing Arthur Smith, whom Atlanta had just fired at the end of the previous season.
Normally when one team keeps the other out of the end zone all afternoon it’s a recipe for success, but the Falcons achieved the rare feat of accomplishing this and still losing the game. Atlanta’s first half was far from perfect but was passable, and highlighted a Cousins to Kyle Pitts touchdown pass which was the difference in them having a slender lead at the break.
The second half was where disaster struck, as TJ Watt routinely abused right tackle Kaleb McGary and Atlanta saw their best chance at putting up points go up in smoke on a fumble which resulted from the snap hitting a man in motion, as Cousins never looked comfortable in the newly debuted pistol formation. The Falcons defense bent but never broke, but Pittsburgh bent it just enough to the tune of six field goals as Atlanta’s offense suffered a second half shutout.
The game was poetically ended and the door shut with TJ Watt finally getting to Cousins for a sack on the final play, after living in the backfield all afternoon. The writer of this article woke up at 2 a.m. to watch every moment of this disaster while vacationing in Kyoto.
