The first game of the 2024 NFL season finally saw the Atlanta Falcons trot out their starters, and to say the offensive starters looked rusty would be an understatement. The new offensive coordinator, the new system, and the $180 million new quarterback certainly disappointed, leading the Falcons to lose to the Justin Fields-led Pittsburgh Steelers at home.
Falcons Week 1 Analysis vs Steelers
The Merry
The Defense
Despite curiously sitting their top two rookie defenders, this unit held the Steelers to just six field goals and no trips to the end zone. Pittsburgh was held to 3.3 yards per carry in the running game – despite Najee Harris ripping off a 20-yard run and Fields having a 12-yard scamper. Fields averaged less than 9.2 yards per completion and less than 6.8 yards per attempt. Aside from wide receiver George Pickens, no Steeler offensive playmaker really made any plays. Pittsburgh was 8 for 17 on third downs, but they were stuffed on their one fourth-and-short attempt, went 0 for 2 in the red zone, and 0 for 1 in their lone goal-to-go situation. All of that despite controlling time of possession (35:36). The pass rush was still mostly absent, but the total defensive effort by the Falcons was more than solid.
The Return of Grady Jarrett
Grady Jarrett looked like he had never missed any time to injury. He had two solo tackles, an assist, one-and-a-half sacks, two tackles for loss, and three QB hurries. His tackle for loss on an end-around attempt by Pickens was textbook relentless hustle.
Bijan Robinson
Bijan Robinson averaged only 3.8 yards per carry, but he was one of the few bright spots on offense for Atlanta. He flashed both power and agility with the ball in his hands. Robinson led the team with five catches for 43 yards, snagging every ball thrown his way. He also showed well in pass protection when called upon.
The Messy
Kirk Cousins
For all the money invested in the guy to turn this offense around, Kirk Cousins didn’t look much better than the Desmond Ridder/Taylor Heinicke combination of 2023. He looked rusty and hesitant, perhaps not fully confident in his allegedly healed Achilles. He was tentative to plant his back foot and drive into his throws. The two interceptions he threw were incredibly ill-advised. He was never going to be confused with Michael Vick, but on this day he looked like he was wearing cement shoes. There were moments – on the opening drive and on the lone touchdown drive of the day at the end of the first half – where he and the offense looked like they were in a rhythm, but those moments were few and far between.
Kaleb McGary
Nobody on the offensive line exactly covered themselves in glory, but Kaleb McGary in particular was simply eaten for lunch facing T.J. Watt. Yes, Watt is a seemingly perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate, but McGary is a former first-rounder who was given a three-year, $34.5 million contract at the start of last year. He was given a 38.1 pass-blocking grade by Pro Football Focus as he allowed Watt to ring up two solo tackles, two assists, a sack, two tackles for loss, the QB hurries, and a fumble recovery. Watt had at least a couple more big plays taken away from him by penalties against the Steelers. Watt would wind up being the highest-graded defender in the entire league by PFF with a 95.3 overall grade and a 94.6 pass-rushing grade.
Offensive Coaching Decisions
Why was Cousins in the pistol or shotgun virtually the entire game? Where was the play-action passing attack? Cousins thrives under center and running play-action. Is he more hurt than we know? Why wasn’t McGary given help blocking Watt, especially as the game went on? How did Ray-Ray McCloud wind up leading the team in targets and the receivers in catches? Where were the plays designed for Drake London and Kyle Pitts?
The Meh
The Fan Base
This was the home opener on Opening Day. There was supposedly new excitement about the Falcons. New coaches. New systems. The big money invested in bringing in Cousins. Many media experts had the Falcons as the preseason favorites to win the NFC South this year. For the first time in almost two decades, the team had sold out all their season tickets. The official attendance for the game was listed at 72,291, but the TV screen showed an awful lot of empty seats, and a lot of the ones that were filled were twirling “terrible towels.”
Main Image: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
