It is the eve of the first Sunday of the NFL season, and the Pittsburgh Steelers will host a beat up Atlanta Falcons team that will be playing its third quarterback and is without its top two edge rushers. Anything can happen in the NFL, though, especially when you have one of the league’s top players in the form of Bijan Robinson. Will Atlanta pull off one of the upsets of the week? Or will the Steelers prevail? Here are our Week 1 staff picks.
Joey Bray: The Pittsburgh Steelers begin the Mike McCarthy
era at Acrisure Stadium against the already hampered Atlanta Falcons. After an oblique injury to Falcons “starter” Tua Tagovailoa in practice on Thursday, it will be Cooper Rush taking the field for Atlanta.
Stopping Bijan Robinson is much easier said than done, and there will likely be some growing pains for the Pittsburgh secondary which is already down a starting safety, and their star corner in Joey Porter Jr. has not fully participated in a practice in several months.
At the end of the day, this is a game that the Steelers should win. I’ll bank on Aaron Rodgers and the offense to get enough going to hold off whoever the Falcons have playing QB and get to 1-0 on the season. Steelers 24, Falcons 20
Ryan Parish: We still have so many questions about how this roster will come together under Mike McCarthy. We hardly saw the first team offense this summer, and the part we did (the offensive line) still looked to be ironing out the kinks when we saw them last. On the other side of the ball, I still have major concerns about the state of the secondary and the Steelers struggles at times to stop the run.
Fortunately, the Falcons are without their top pass rushers from a year ago, and have one of the worst quarterback rooms in the league. For a Steelers roster that is still finding itself and shaking off some rust, that presents a favorable enough match-up that they should be able to get by with a win, even if this game is a sloppy one. Steelers 23, Falcons 16
Ryland Bickley: The Falcons have some pieces and what should be a competent coaching staff in 2026. Still, it’s hard to expect too much from team down its top two pass rushers and starting a Cooper Rush at quarterback Week 1.
The Steelers aren’t without their own flaws, however, and given the team’s at-times sloppy preseason, I’d expect a good amount of rust from the starters in the opener. Much like the last time these two teams faced in Week 1, I expect Pittsburgh to earn the win, but without many style points. Steelers 20, Falcons 13.
Mike Nicastro: Although the Falcons are battered and bruised, I don’t anticipate the Steelers to come out guns blazing. I’m worried about the lack of preseason reps for DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. – and the offensive line at the moment is less than inspiring.
But the difference will be the Steelers pass rush against a statue in Cooper Rush. I’ll predict Nick Herbig and Alex Highsmith each record a sack/fumble. Aaron Rodgers and the offense start slow but click in the second half, and Pat Freiermuth will be the star of the show on that side of the ball. Uninspiring, but mission accomplished. Steelers 23, Falcons 16.
Jason Aponte: It doesn’t matter who starts for the Falcons on Sunday. Kevin Stefanski is set up for a rough debut and the Steelers roll to an easy victory to begin the Mike McCarthy era in Pittsburgh. Steelers 27, Falcons 10.
Jarrett Bailey: I’m not going to pick this game scared. This is a new era of Steelers football that (hopefully) won’t constantly play down to their competition. The Falcons are on their third quarterback, are without their top two edge rushers, and have less talent than the Pittsburgh roster. Make a statement and beat a team you should beat convincingly. If it’s close, that’s a disappointment. Steelers 27, Falcons 9.
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