Steelers Falcons Keys
Steelers Falcons Keys
Are you ready for some football? In their home opener, the Pittsburgh Steelers begin the 2026 NFL regular season by taking on the NFC South Atlanta Falcons. With the start of the Mike McCarthy era, many questions remain about this team. But the time for speculation is over, and the answers will come quickly.
Below are five key things I believe the Steelers will need to do to come away with their first win of the year.
Come Together, Right Now – It has been the talk of the offseason. One of the first things McCarthy did to start his tenure was to rearrange the offensive line. Troy Fautanu and Mason McCormick moved to their more natural position on the left side of the line with Zach Frazier still anchoring in the middle. Spencer Anderson is expected to man the right guard position.
The right tackle position can go one of two directions. Dylan Cook filled in at left tackle late last season and played better than expected. Switching to the right side has given him some trouble in the preseason. First-round pick Max Iheanachor is the heir-in-waiting but didn’t do much preseason work. Cook is listed first on the depth chart and expected to start.
With four of five positions changing, this is where the biggest question is in this offense. How long will it take for them to become a cohesive unit? For this game, they are lucky in the fact that the Falcons will be without their best edge rushers.
The offense depends on the front five. If they play well, the running game is better, and Aaron Rodgers will have time to find his receivers. If they don’t work together, the offensive rhythm will be nonexistent. The offensive engine won’t start if this key doesn’t work.
Hold the Mustard – Not only is he a creator of gourmet Dijon mustard, but he is also an elite running back. Bijan Robinson is coming off his first All-Pro season in which he amassed 2,298 yards from scrimmage, which led the NFL. Nearly 1,500 yards came on the ground. He was also second on the team with 79 receptions. He is a juggernaut.
The Steelers’ defense over the last couple of seasons has struggled to stop the run. No need to bring up those bad memories any further. The team has added to their defensive line, and it is one of the deepest position groups on the team. Linebackers Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson will be under the microscope, with their primary role being to limit Robinson.
Wilson has spoken about being able to be less anxious about making mistakes and allowing him to play more freely. If they can slow Robinson, it will put that much more pressure on the passing game.
New defensive coordinator Patrick Graham has brought an aggressive attacking style to this defense. He has talked about waves of defenders coming to the ball, and it will take a team effort to stop Robinson.
Don’t Rush to Judgment – Like Pittsburgh, Atlanta was one of a few teams that kept four quarterbacks on the active roster. Michael Penix Jr. is still recovering from an ACL tear that occurred last season. That led the Falcons to name Tua Tagovailoa the starter. However, in practice this week, Tagovailoa injured his oblique, forcing Atlanta to turn to veteran Cooper Rush.
Rush played for McCarthy in Dallas and has sixteen starts over his eight seasons. He is 9-7 in those games and has more touchdowns than interceptions in his career. That’s pretty solid considering that’s not always the case with veteran backup quarterbacks. However, he does have 13 fumbles to go along with 14 interceptions.
Producing turnovers, however, has not been a strong suit of Graham’s defenses. They must force the quarterback into tight window throws, muddy his vision, and apply pressure from all angles.
This is the type of game that the Steelers would play down to their opponent. Atlanta has playmakers on offense, but with a third-string quarterback and missing their top pass rushers, this looks like an “easier” game on paper.
This should be a statement game right out of the chute. Don’t take this team lightly and come out firing on all cylinders.
Be Efficient on Offense –Aaron Rodgers has returned for his final season, but like the offensive line, there are a lot of moving parts to the offense. Michael Pittman Jr. has yet to put on the uniform in a game. Rico Dowdle played ten preseason snaps with his new team. Roman Wilson has yet to show he can consistently produce during games. Germie Bernard is a rookie, and rookies haven’t meshed well with Rodgers in previous years.
Frankly, we have no idea what this offense can do. The hope is they play as they did in the first preseason game, where all the quarterbacks looked good. In that game, they moved the ball well, averaging six yards per play and accumulating 25 first downs.
Jaylen Warren and Dowdle are interchangeable, physical runners who both catch the ball well. Pat Freiermuth is poised for a strong season based on the history of tight ends in McCarthy’s offense. Add in a trimmed-down Darnell Washington, and from top to bottom you have a very talented group of offensive skill players.
Pittsburgh needs to generate more opening-drive touchdowns and more first-quarter points in general. McCarthy is an offense-minded coach. Let’s hope he can get this offense humming from the start.
Win the One-on-One Matchups – Pass rush has been a trademark of the Steelers defense for as long as anyone can remember. It has primarily come off the edge from guys like James Harrison, Jason Gildon, Joey Porter, and Greg Lloyd. The defensive line has done their share as well. Joe Greene, L.C. Greenwood, and Keith Willis produced pressure.
This team currently has the top two sack leaders in team history: T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward. Alex Highsmith has 45 career sacks, and Nick Herbig just got a big payday for his contributions.
Graham gets to work with the deepest group of defenders he has ever coached, and he brings creativity to the scheme. He has talked about scheming to get one-on-one matchups. We saw in the preseason that he likes to get everyone involved, including the corners and safeties. During the preseason, however, the pass rush overall was lacking.
Atlanta returns four starting offensive linemen. They lost right tackle Kaleb McGary to retirement in April. This defense is too talented not to put pressure on the quarterback every week. Graham must set the tone right away.