It’s never a bad thing to start an NFL season 1-0. Wins are hard to come by at this level, and any team can win on any given Sunday. But it’s fair to have expected the Pittsburgh Steelers to handle the Atlanta Falcons a little more than they did in Week 1. The Steelers held on for 20-13 win, but it wasn’t the most convincing performance we’ve seen. To ESPN’s Chris Canty, it was actually worrisome.
“You needed the pick six to seal a win against a team whoes quarterback got there late to camp, at the end of July. And then, oh by the way, we still don’t have an end to the Joey Porter contract negotiation saga,” Canty said Tuesday on ESPN’s First Take.
Cooper Rush is certainly not one of the better quarterbacks in the league, but the Steelers did bottle him up. It took him a long time to complete a pass beyond the line of scrimmage. The Steelers completely contained the passing game, and the entire Falcons offense revolved around Bijan Robinson. He had a pretty solid game given the circumstances, but it’s hard to be upset with how the Steelers’ defense played.
Offensively, things are a little different. With a mind like Mike McCarthy taking over, there is a lot of hope for that side of the ball. But Sunday looked like a game the Steelers might have won under Mike Tomlin. The defense carried the team to a win while the offense did just enough to crawl over the finish line. The Steelers had far too many drops and unforced penalties which derailed a few different drives.
Canty is worried how they’ll fare against the rest of the division.
“Have you seen the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals? Have you seen what those teams look like? I don’t know how you can feel better about the Pittsburgh Steelers after Week 1,” Canty said.
There’s no doubt that both Baltimore and Cincinnati looked impressive. Baltimore scored 41 points in a win over the Colts that never felt close. And while Cincinnati beat Tampa Bay 33-27, that game didn’t feel as close as the final score indicated. Both of those opponents are pretty formidable, so the Ravens and Bengals made their statements.
However, it is still mid-September. Things can be very herky-jerky, to borrow a word from Mike McCarthy, at this time of the year. The way the Steelers looked in Week 1 could be completely different to how the rest of the season plays out, as it could be for Baltimore and Cincinnati as well. But Canty has seen enough to start writing Pittsburgh off.