Nine Big Takeaways from Atlanta Falcons 20-13 Loss to Pittsburgh Steelers

The Atlanta Falcons opened their season against the Pittsburgh Steelers with the hopes that they could get a mistake-free game from emergency starting quarterback Cooper Rush, limit the penalties, and steal a win on the road.

While they got a heroic effort from All-Pro running back Bijan Robinson and their defense, they weren't able to overcome their deficiencies at quarterback in a 20-13 loss.

Rush Fails First Test

After the Falcons drove the ball to midfield on the team's second possession, a holding penalty from Matthew Bergeron set the team back to second and 19. On the ensuing play, tight end Kyle Pitts got behind Steelers cornerback Jalen Ramsey, but Rush underthrew the ball, allowing Ramsey to recover and register the pass breakup.

FOX play-by-play announcer Joe Davis rightly called it a microcosm of the Falcons' problem: Lots of talent, but no one to consistently take advantage of it at quarterback.

However, after a Steelers turnover, the Falcons cashed in with the touchdown pass to Robinson.

Rush started the first three drives 4 of 7 passing, with a touchdown and an interception. All four completions went to Robinson, and he was 0/3 with an interception beyond the line of scrimmage. He finished the first half 9 of 14 for 17 yards and a passer rating of 73.2.

It didn’t get better in the second half, including a pick-six on a screen pass by TJ Watt that gave the Steelers what looked like an insurmountable 20-10 lead in the fourth quarter.

The takeaway here is that the Falcons can't afford another game with Rush behind center.

The Special Teams Curse

The Falcons had one of the worst special teams units in the NFL last year. There wasn’t one culprit; everything but punting was poor. They had a pair of penalties on returns, but the coverage units looked better.

The most obvious move they made was signing kicker Nick Folk, who led the NFL in field goal accuracy the last three years in a row. He’s only missed three total field goals in the last three years combined, two of which were over 50 yards.

He missed his first two as a Falcon (the first was 54 yards).

He hit his third attempt of 51 yards, helping to bail out Rush, who took a sack on second down that pushed the team out of field goal range.

Just Beej It

During training camp, Michael Penix Jr. joked that the quarterback room knows if they get in trouble, “just Beej it,” find Bijan Robinson.

Rush was paying attention. Robinson touched the ball on five of the Falcons’ first six plays, including an outlet pass that was thrown behind him. Robinson bailed out Rush with a one-handed catch and turned it into a seven-yard gain that led to the team’s first first down.

Bijan is way too smooth 😮‍💨

FOX | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/SNgoySxwKP
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 13, 2026

Robinson got the first touchdown of the season for the Falcons with a 23-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass.

Let Bijan be Bijan

FOX | NFL+ pic.twitter.com/CrmKBbfGOI
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) September 13, 2026

The Falcons had 238 total yards on the day. Robinson had 173 yards from scrimmage.

The Defense Does Its Job

The Falcons were hoping their defense would be able to keep them in the game on the road, and they absolutely did their job. The Steelers' first two touchdowns came off of turnovers, one of them being a pick-six.

They held the Steelers to 25 yards on 12 rushes before wearing down in the fourth quarter. They still ended up giving up just 52 yards on 17 carries on the day.

Atlanta's defense also won the third-down battle. The Falcons were 16th last season at 39.9% on third down. They held Rodgers and the Steelers to 3 of 12 (25%) on third down on Sunday.

The Turnover Battle

For the Falcons to win the game with Rush as a starter, they were going to have to win the turnover battle. They got off to a good start in that regard with a forced fumble that led to Robinson’s first touchdown.

But Rush’s ill-advised pass over the middle in the second quarter was intercepted and led directly to the Steelers' first touchdown.

Turnovers in the first half were tied 1-1, and the points off turnovers were tied 7-7.

Rush's pick-six gave the Steelers the lead in the turnover battle... and the game.

The Penalties, Ugh

The turnover battle is one thing, but seven penalties for 87 yards in the first half is unacceptable. The Falcons have a lot of new players on the field, but it wasn’t the newcomers who were to blame. The highest-paid guard tandem in the NFL got flagged for three holding penalties in the first half.

Zachariah Branch had a long kickoff return negated on special teams.

They finished with 9 penalties for 96 yards

And on defense…

Rough Start for Terrell

2nd-round draft pick Avieon Terrell was scheduled to make his first start of his career, and starting a rookie is always a concern. However, it wasn’t that Terrell who had a first half to forget.

A.J. Terrell gave up two big penalties in the first half. First, a holding penalty that negated a sack, and then he was beaten by Roman Wilson and rightly chose pass interference over the touchdown. Rodgers went at Terrell on that same drive with a slant to DK Metcalf in front of Terrell.

He was lucky to get away with another play in the third quarter when Metcalf beat him up the left side. The sideline judge was blocked and missed an obvious pass interference that would have been a huge gain.

Welcome Back Z

Za'Darius Smith came out of retirement to join the Falcons, and he had two sacks in his first appearance. His second sack dropped Rodgers for an eight-yard loss and caused a longer field goal attempt for Chris Boswell. He missed the 56-yarder, keeping the Falcons within a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Winning the Trade

I really hate the knee-jerk “who won the trade” narratives that get bandied about on social media. In theory, a good trade should benefit both teams. One team trades a surplus to another team for a surplus of theirs. Opportunity cost, especially with draft picks, is your competition, not the other team.

That said, the Falcons and Jaguars pulled off a rare player-for-player trade this summer, and it was even more unique because it was players from the same position.

The Falcons received defensive tackle Maason Smith, and they sent the Jaguars Ruke Orhorhoro. Smith is a starter for the Falcons and was a menace on an active Falcons defensive line that kept Rodgers and the Steelers’ running game in check.

Orhorhoro is listed on the third team for the Jaguars behind Matt Dickerson, who played in six games for a talent-starved 2022 Falcons team.

In this case, at least, there appears to be a clear winner of this trade so far.

What's Next?

As unbelievable as it seemed that Cooper Rush was going to be the starting quarterback on Sunday, it's probably just as hard to picture him starting next week against the Panthers.

All eyes will be on Tua Tagovailoa's oblique and Michael Penix Jr.'s knee. And if they can't go, expect the shouting for rookie Jack Strand to reach new heights.

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