Arthur Smith is in rare territory. Fired in January, he still won’t have missed an Atlanta Falcons game by the time Week 1 is through. Hired by the Pittsburgh Steelers as their next offensive coordinator, Smith is travelling down to Georgia this weekend to coach on the visiting sideline. Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden can relate facing your former team and offered the mindset Smith is working with this Sunday.
“I gotta go back and play my ex-team. Even Super Bowl 37, going back up against my old team, the emotions are just freakin’ awesome,” Gruden said via his YouTube channel. “And don’t think for a second that the Atlanta Falcons don’t want to kick Arthur Smith’s butt. And don’t think for one second either that Arthur Smith wants to go in there about put about 40 points on Atlanta and kick their butt.”
Super Bowl XXXVII was Gruden’s current team against his former one. He coached the Oakland Raiders for four seasons before being traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, taking them to the Super Bowl in his first season. The confetti came down on him, Tampa Bay blowing out Oakland thanks to a stout defense with multiple defensive scores.
Smith is hoping for a similar outcome. He’ll be tasked to make the Steelers’ offense look at minimum respectable after the unit has flailed and failed three years running. There’s plenty of “new” in Pittsburgh, Smith included, but change was needed.
If you’re curious about Gruden’s hyperbole becoming reality, it’s been six years since Pittsburgh put up 40 points in a game, beating the Carolina Panthers 52-21 in 2018. The last time the Steelers scored that many in an opener? When they welcomed the Cleveland Browns back to the NFL in 1999, a 43-0 shellacking.
Still, Gruden believes the Steelers’ defense is the key to winning this game.
“They’re led by Cam Heyward…he’s a pain in the ass. You can’t block him. The guy’s a freakin’ load. They’ve got good players around him. They’ve got [Alex] Highsmith and [T.J.] Watt, we know that. They added Patrick Queen, an every-down linebacker from the Ravens. That’s a great pickup. And the young [Joey] Porter kid and Minkah Fitzpatrick give them a really good secondary.”
Despite talking up the Steelers’ talent, Gruden showed the Falcons just as much love.
“This is my sleeper team to maybe go to the NFC Championship Game,” he said. “And the reason is, I don’t like [Kirk] Cousins. I love him.”
Atlanta made the splash move to add Cousins this offseason, signing him to an $180 million deal. They made waves by drafting QB Michael Penix Jr. eighth overall but for now, Cousins is the starter. Gruden praised their stout and stable offensive line and called WR Darnell Mooney a sleeper in this game, a speedy wideout from Chicago.
He also noted the impact defensive additions EDGE Matthew Judon and S Justin Simmons can have on this game along with a healthy DT Grady Jarrett, who was limited to just eight games in 2023.
“I like the Falcons in this game,” Gruden said of his pick. “I’m catching the Falcon fever, baby.”
