Another road trip, another home-like environment for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was the case in Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the 18-10 win to open the season.
Much like it has been previously in Atlanta, Steelers fans flocked to the ATL, ultimately forcing the Falcons to go to a silent count in their own stadium in the second half.
For Steelers star defensive lineman and team captain Cameron Heyward, those types of moments never get old. Appearing on the latest episode of his podcast “Not Just Football w/ Cam Heyward” the veteran defensive lineman praised Steeler Nation.
“The cool thing is it wasn’t just fans for me, it was fans for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And Steeler Nation was in full effect all over that stadium. So, we were very lucky to make them go on a silent count at home,” Heyward said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “Man, that is special. When a team doesn’t have the wherewithal or the advantage of using your home stadium, man, we can really thrive with that as a defense.”
Indeed, Pittsburgh allowed just 220 yards of total offense, including just 54 yards in the second half, putting the clamps on Atlanta and winning the game the way they have quite often recently: leaning heavily on a star-studded defense, creating turnovers and doing just enough offensively.
It could have been an even bigger day for the Steelers’ defense if not for some poor calls from officials that negated two T.J. Watt strip-sack fumbles. The offsides call on Watt late in the first half led directly to the Falcons’ only touchdown of the game, so without that it might have been only a field goal game for the Falcons, which would have been rather impressive from the Steelers’ defense.
In the second half, after the bogus touchdown, the Steelers’ defense regrouped and controlled the rest of the game. It helped that the Falcons, with a new face under center in Kirk Cousins, really had their hands tied when it came to communication at home.
“It’s very huge. There’s a lot of communication that goes on between the offensive line and the quarterback in the entire offense,” Heyward said of the use of the silent count by the Falcons. “But if they’re not able to use their cadence and go, ‘Set hut, hut, hut, hut’ or move it around or talk about a call in and out of plays, then you’re mostly on silent count. If you’re in a tough position where you gotta throw the ball, man, it’s gonna be tough for you to block a guy like T.J. Watt.”
The Falcons found that out the hard way.
Watt wrecked the game and was able to time up some of the snaps based on film study he had done throughout the week, learning a tell-tell sign from Falcons center Drew Dalman on what he does just before he snaps the football. It backfired late in the first half, but in the second half the Steelers, led by Watt, got after the Falcons and Cousins, disrupting the entire offense.
It was huge to have the Falcons on a silent count inside their own stadium. Now, the Steelers are hoping for more of that in Week 2 on the road against Denver, another place where Steelers fans travel well.
Check out the full episode of “Not Just Football w/ Cam Heyward” below.
