5 Takeaways From Falcons' Loss To Steelers In Nfl Week 1

It was a hard-fought battle, but the Atlanta Falcons came up seven points short in Sunday's 20-13 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. While both teams played good defense, the Steelers had the advantage at quarterback and made fewer overall mistakes.

Falcons head Kevin Stefanski has plenty to clean up, but there were a few bright spots. Here are five takeaways from Atlanta's Week 1 loss to the Steelers on the road.

Falcons defense kept them in game

It was easy to see why the Falcons kept defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich around. The team held Pittsburgh to just 264 yards and turned Aaron Rodgers into an inefficient quarterback. The Falcons forced 16 Rodgers incompletions and made him look uncomfortable all afternoon.

Linebacker Divine Deablo stood out, Kendal Daniels made a few nice plays, and Sydney Brown played solid as the starting nickel. Edge rusher Za'Darius Smith recorded two sacks in his team debut. And last but not least, Atlanta held Pittsburgh to just 58 yards rushing on Sunday.

Quarterback play

Cooper Rush went 12/22 for 143 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Rush's second pick was returned for a touchdown by T.J. Watt. The veteran backup struggled with batted balls all game and while he did make a few decent throws, Rush rarely pushed the ball down the field. It's easy to pile on Rush, but truthfully, there doesn't seem to be anyone (aside from a half-dozen rambling insiders) that truly has an idea of what the Falcons are doing.

Is Michael Penix Jr. healthy? Was Tua Tagovailoa seriously injured? If Jack Strand is on the roster, why wasn't he an option with Rush dealing with back spasms? With no timeline in site, and a head coach unwilling to make a season-long commitment, it's tough to see this situation clearing up any time in the near future.

Offensive line issues

Just because Bijan Robinson put up numbers doesn't mean the offensive line played well on Sunday. The fourth-year running back racked up 173 all-purpose yards, but he only had 83 rushing yards on 21 carries. For most of the day, there was very little running room. Plus, Atlanta didn't do a great job in pass protection, allowing four sacks.

The real issue, which we'll get more into in our next takeaway, was the amount of penalties that this group committed. Center Ryan Neuzil was the only starting offensive lineman not to record a penalty on Sunday. We expect that from Jawaan Taylor, but Matthew Bergeron, Chris Lindstrom and Jake Matthews are all well-compensated to be the strength of this team. Lindstrom also suffered a concussion and did not return.

Penalties, penalties and more penalties

The Falcons committed an abysmal nine penalties for 96 yards on Sunday. The Steelers weren't great either (seven penalties for 52 yards), but Atlanta was extra sloppy in Week 1. As mentioned above, the offensive line committed numerous penalties. The defense committed some critical blunders, including A.J. Terrell's 37-yard pass interference penalty.

Most teams are a little out of sorts in Week 1, but Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski needs to get his team on the same page. If you're going to win games without your starting quarterback, penalties simply can't happen. And if they do happen, they can't be the type of drive-killing penalties that they were on Sunday.

3rd-down futility was the real story of Week 1

Atlanta's offense converted just two out of 12 third-down attempts, while the Steelers went 3/13. The two teams combined to go 5/25, which shows how bad the Falcons were on offense and how good they were defensively. It was at least somewhat encouraging to see the Falcons hang around in a game they had no business hanging around in. Of course, the Steelers could also just be mediocre. Atlanta won't have to wait long to find out, though.

What's next for the Falcons?

In Week 2, the Falcons will return home to host the Carolina Panthers in their 2026 NFC South opener. The Panthers lost a 59-37 thriller to the Chicago Bears Sunday in one of the wildest Week 1 games we've seen in some time. Carolina gave Atlanta fits last season, and unless there's a quarterback change, it could be even worse this time around. The game is on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: 5 takeaways from Falcons' loss to Steelers in NFL Week 1