The Pittsburgh Steelers went down to Georgia to open the 2024 NFL season against the Atlanta Falcons. They came away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium with an 18-10 victory. All 18 points came courtesy of K Chris Boswell’s leg.
The Steelers’ defense hounded Falcons QB Kirk Cousins all afternoon in his Atlanta debut. They sacked him twice, grabbed 2 interceptions and had multiple other sacks negated by penalties (real and otherwise). OLB T.J. Watt was the centerpiece of the disruptive defense, and the defense led the way in the victory.
It may not have been the offensive outburst the Steelers and offensive coordinator Arthur Smith would have loved. The Steelers held QB Russell Wilson out on Sunday due to calf tightness. So rather than Wilson, it was Justin Fields leading the Steelers onto the field Sunday. And the Steelers still won.
“Apparently, it doesn’t matter who plays quarterback for the Steelers,” John Breech wrote in his Week 1 NFL grades for CBSSports.com. “All they need is their kicker and their defense. The Steelers defense terrorized Kirk Cousins and a big reason for that was because the Falcons couldn’t block T.J. Watt, who had one sack and a lot of pressures (He also had two big plays called back due [to] penalties). Offensively, Justin Fields wasn’t flashy, but he did just enough to get the job done with 213 total yards (156 passing and 57 rushing). The offense spent most of the day setting up Chris Boswell, who tied a franchise record with six field goals, including three that came from beyond 50 yards.”
The Steelers held the Falcons to only 10 points. That kind of defensive effort will lead to a lot of wins. And as Breech pointed out, Watt had a phenomenal day. He only had one official sack, but penalties (including one that wasn’t actually a penalty) negated two strip-sacks. He also put the emphatic seal on the win with a 9-yard sack of Cousins on the final play of the game.
And Boswell scored every point for the Steelers. He even stepped in as an emergency punter after P Cameron Johnston suffered a leg injury during the game. Even S DeShon Elliott, who picked off Cousins once, gave all credit to Boswell for the Steelers’ win.
As for Fields, he did not have a dominant Steelers debut, but he played largely mistake-free football. He also made plays when they were most needed. When the Falcons scored a touchdown with less than a minute left in the first half, Fields got the Steelers into scoring position quickly.
The highlight play? Fields rolled out to his left on a bootleg as WR George Pickens went from right to left. Fields reset and dropped a rainbow in the bucket for what ended up a 41-yard gain to set up a Boswell field goal.
Fields didn’t blow anyone away with his performance, but he did everything he needed to do to help the Steelers win. Analyst Dan Orlovsky came away impressed with Fields’ game management and how well he threw the ball.
Regardless of who was playing quarterback, the Steelers’ defense and Boswell were the main story on Sunday in the win.
