The Pittsburgh Steelers’ first game of the year wasn’t pretty, but it sounds like they don’t want to play pretty. Their only concern is winning. Tight end Pat Freiermuth recently reinforced the idea that the Steelers want to be a tough, physical football team and that they knew they were wearing out the Atlanta Falcons.
On Chalk Talk, a show he co-hosts on radio station 102.5 WDVE alongside Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Freiermuth spoke about how the Steelers could tell that the Falcons were tired.
“That’s why we go to Latrobe,” Freiermuth said. “We’re so highly conditioned. Coach [Tomlin] put us through a tough camp, and throughout the game, we could see the Falcons get tired. When we’re in the fourth quarter, we’re leaning on trying to close out the game. We’re able to run the ball, able to move guys off the ball, and really control the outcome of the game.”
The Falcons certainly did look tired during the second half. The Steelers’ first drive of the fourth quarter looked particularly grueling on the Falcons. The Steelers had a 13-play drive that saw them run the ball 10 times. Unfortunately, that drive didn’t end in points, but it did tire out the Falcons defense.
The game’s final drive showed that, with the Steelers bleeding out the rest of the clock running the ball. By the time the Falcons had a chance to try to tie the game, the game was basically over. That’s exactly the style of offense the Steelers want to play. They imposed their will on the opposition, smashing their way to victory.
The Steelers’ defense played just as strong, if not stronger. They crushed the Falcons offense in the second half, not allowing them to score at all. T.J. Watt wrecked the game and some of the new additions on defense made splash plays. It’s a formula that the Steelers will likely try to employ multiple times this year.
The only real issue the Steelers had was finding the endzone. They won despite that struggle, but they’ll need to improve in that area if they want to continue winning. With Justin Fields potentially getting a full week’s work as the starter, that could be solved sooner rather than later. Let’s hope the Steelers can continue employing this brand of football.
