While Arthur Smith has downplayed his return to Atlanta, CB Dee Alford, who played under Smith with the Falcons, thinks the Week 1 matchup matters more to Smith than the Steelers OC is letting on. Speaking to reporters via the Falcons’ YouTube channel, Alford said he thinks Smith is preaching the importance of this matchup to the Steelers.
“I’m pretty sure he telling his guys like, ‘Hey man, we don’t win any other game, we want to win this one.’ He’s a very competitive coach.”
While Smith said he’s focused on the Steelers, this game probably does mean just a little bit more to him given that Atlanta let him go at the end of last season. Granted, Alford’s purported message comes off pretty strong, and I think Smith understands the importance of Pittsburgh winning this season and a message that includes winning one game probably isn’t in the cards.
But it’s a game that matters for both sides. The Falcons wants to beat their former head coach and turn a new page under Raheem Morris, and the Steelers are looking to get their season off to a strong start with Russell Wilson at quarterback and Smith as their new play caller. While Smith won’t outwardly say it, beating his former team would be a nice measure of revenge, even if it isn’t his primary focus.
At the end of the day, every coach wants to win no matter who the opponent is. Particularly in Week 1, getting the season off to a strong start is important, especially when you had as much roster turnover as the Steelers did this offseason. Playing Atlanta Week 1 is, as Smith put it earlier, an “unusual” circumstance for him to face his former team Week 1, and it does add a little extra juice to the matchup.
For Smith though, it’s important to balance the thought of beating his former team with just approaching the game as if it’s any other. That’s what it seems like he’s doing, and that’s a good thing. Getting too emotionally invested in one matchup can lead to issues, and Smith sounds like he’s treating it as if it’s any other game. The onus will largely be on the players on Sunday to play well and get one for their coach, and maybe even get him a game ball at the end of the game.
It’ll be a good start to Smith’s tenure if the offense can play well and the Steelers can start 1-0 with a win over Atlanta, and it would be just a little bit sweeter knowing he got one against his former team.
