Immediate Post Game - Defense

The Pittsburgh Steelers started the 2024 season 1-0 by beating the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday September 8th. The accomplished this with an identity that is rooted in defense. The defense played a dominant game that both on the stat sheet and telecast will fail to tell the whole story. Coming into this game, the story line focused on Atlanta’s retooled offense. Many pundits and journalists believed that Atlanta was a quarterback and playmaker away from a playoff contending team. In the offseason they signed Kirk Cousins and many speculated that he was going to be the missing piece to get the likes of Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Bijan Robinson the ball. The Steelers defense changed this narrative quickly. The Steelers defense allowed just 51 total yards to the Atlanta offense in the second half, resulting in shut out over the final 30 minutes. The Steelers offense still has some strides to make but showed enough capabilities in ball possession and clean ball to win games; however, the real benefit of the offense staying on the field was that the Steelers elite defense was rested each time they came back to play. This allowed TJ Watt to look as fresh on the final sack of the game as he did in the first possession. TJ had several splash plays in this win and several were negated by penalty (both fair and unfair); however, many players on the defense made significant contributions at big moments to add to the final result. I suspect to see on the all-22 a lot of Minkah stalking and interrupting routes. I suspect to see Cam, Larry O, and Keanu Benton stuffing running lanes and keeping the LB free. I suspect to see Alex Highsmith in his right spot on every play as they knew Atlanta would try to run to his side, thus allowing TJ to trail and limiting gains to 4-5 yards instead of 8-10. Donte Jackson’s interception was perfectly timed in the play and in the game. It was a turning point that I think makes up for his facemask penalty earlier that negated TJ strip sack. Beanie Bishop’s tackle on the final drive to keep the Falcons receiver in bounds also was huge play that cost Atlanta 12-14 seconds. This is a collection of great plays and unsung plays that made this one of the most dominant defensive performances I have seen in a while in the NFL. There is a lot to be excited about with this team. If the defense continues to play this way, and the offense can start punching it in for TDs, this team will be looked at much differently than most pundits did during the preseason. Overall, this is a fantastic start to the season with a win on the road. I am excited about where this team can go as the season progresses!