Cooper Rush
Cooper Rush
The Pittsburgh Steelers thought they would be facing QB Tua Tagovailoa on Sunday when the Atlanta Falcons come to town. That all changed Thursday when Tagovailoa’s back flared up during practice.
On Friday, the Falcons made it official: Tagovailoa is out for Sunday and QB Cooper Rush is the starter.
Last-minute quarterback changes can throw off a team’s preparation, whether they’re changing quarterbacks or their opponent is. Could the Falcons and head coach Kevin Stefanski heavily alter their offensive approach with Rush in the game? Would they rely more on Falcons RB Bijan Robinson?
“I think they were gonna do that even with Tua, because Bijan gives them the best opportunity to win,” former Steelers CB Bryant McFadden said Friday on 93.7 The Fan’s The PM Team. “He’s the best playmaker on their team… He’s an offensive weapon that plays the running back position. You know what I mean? You just get the football in his hand. So, I think that has to be the ideal game plan for Atlanta regardless of who the quarterback is.”
McFadden does acknowledge that the Falcons have more than just Robinson, with WR Drake London and TE Kyle Pitts Sr. both being quality receiving weapons. However, the Falcons lack the high-end quarterback needed to make London and Pitts the focal points of the offense. When you factor in that Robinson led the league in yards from scrimmage and is coming off his second-straight season of 1,400+ rushing yards, you understand why Robinson is the focus of the Falcons’ offense.
That doesn’t change whether it was going to be Tua Tagovailoa or now Cooper Rush at quarterback. Either quarterback would hand the ball off plenty of times to Robinson. It means the Steelers’ gameplan doesn’t change all that much, either. Former Steelers DL Chris Hoke said stopping Robinson has to be the priority, and that was true even when we all expected Tagovailoa to still be the starter.
McFadden did say, in no uncertain terms, that this game is a should-win for the Steelers. Even if the gameplan for the Falcons is the same, the expectation changes a bit with the quarterback change.
“Even though Cooper Rush is an ideal quarterback target, you still got to go out and play the game the right way and make sure you get this win because you got to get this win,” McFadden said. “You cannot allow Cooper Rush to come into Acrisure Stadium and get a win. That cannot happen.”
The Steelers certainly have a favorable matchup Sunday to kick off the 2026 NFL season. However, we’ve already seen some unexpected results in the first two games of the year. Would anyone have expected the Seattle Seahawks to beat the New England Patriots after QB Sam Darnold went down so early? And who saw the San Francisco 49ers dominating the Los Angeles Rams?
Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy knows Cooper Rush. He coached Rush with the Dallas Cowboys. He won’t underestimate Rush, and he’ll do his best to make sure the Steelers don’t either. Steelers RB Rico Dowdle was in Dallas at the same time, too. He expects that Rush will “take what the defense gives him.” That’s a call to not take Rush lightly.
The Steelers cannot overlook Cooper Rush and the Falcons, but they should also win this game if they take care of their business.