PITTSBURGH — After a week of quarterback news and fluctuation, the Atlanta Falcons relied on the run against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Their Week 1 performance, however, was punctuated by penalties, turnovers and possessions without much production.

We take a look back on the organization's first showing of 2026.

Final score: 20-13, Steelers

Why it's important: The Falcons now start the year 0-1, with a home opener against an NFC South foe on tap.

This game continues the quarterback conversation in Atlanta. Cooper Rush, who was named the starting quarterback Friday when Tua Tagovailoa was ruled out with an oblique injury, went 12 of 22 through the air. He had two interception and touchdown pass on a screen. He was sacked four times and had a passer rating of 51.9.

Not much is known at this point what Tagovailoa's or Penix's availability in Week 2 will be.

Key takeaway: There were too many self-inflicted miscues for the Falcons on Sunday.

Atlanta was penalized seven times in the first half against Pittsburgh, and they made it difficult for any kind of consistent momentum to develop—especially on offense.

There were multiple occasions where Atlanta crossed midfield and seemed destined to put points on the board, but a holding penalty erased any positive yardage and set the team back 10 yards. The Falcons did not score on any drive that included a penalty against them in the first half. They scored a touchdown on their cleanest drive before halftime.

Defense and special teams each had a costly miscue in the first half as well. We'll get to the special teams penalty in the next section. A.J. Terrell's pass interference early in the second quarter gifted the Steelers 37 yards and flipped the field, moving the offense from Pittsburgh's own 37-yard line to the Falcons' 26-yard line. Terrell was in a tough position on the play and seemingly stumbled while trailing Steelers receiver Roman Wilson. Had he not interfered, Wilson could have potentially caught a long touchdown. Still, the miscue led to a Steelers field goal after Atlanta's defense had been playing very well to that point.

In the lead-up to Sunday's game, head coach Kevin Stefanski discussed the importance of playing a clean game and coming out ahead in the turnover margin. Atlanta managed to create a turnover of its own, but gave two away, including a 35-yard pick-six to T.J. Watt early in the fourth quarter. The turnover created a big swing in momentum for the Steelers and contributed to a theme of self-inflicted mistakes in Week 1. The miscues extended to special teams as well. The normally reliable Nick Folk, who was the league's most accurate kicker in each of the last three seasons, missed his first two field goal attempts as a Falcon. There were some things the Falcons can build upon from Sunday, but it was a tough task to overcome both the Steelers and their own setbacks.

Key moment: For the first time as an Atlanta Falcon, Zachariah Branch lined up as the return man. The ball punted to him, he streaked down the sideline. A big gain that would put the Falcons with great field position in a tight game in the second quarter. A holding call on Josh Woods, however, brought the ball back to the spot of the foul.

Not the end of the world, though. The Falcons were up ever so slightly. However, the game tilted when Rush overshot Jahan Dotson. The ball sailed into the waiting arms of Jaquan Brisker. He returned it to the Atlanta 31-yard line, and four plays later, Aaron Rodgers connected with Pat Freiermuth for the touchdown that put the Steelers ahead.

Despite chances, the Falcons never took the lead back.

Standout performance: Who else? Bijan Robinson.

The Falcons' dynamic star was a true workhorse in Pittsburgh. He touched the ball 14 times in the first two quarters, accounting for more than half of the team's 27 offensive plays. He caught all seven passes thrown his way in the first half for 66 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown on a screen.

Robinson picked up right where he left off in the second half, looking fast and decisive in the Falcons' redesigned run scheme. It's no great secret that Atlanta is going to feature Robinson a lot during the 2026 season, and Week 1 provided a look at the variety of ways in which they plan to do it.

The good news for offensive coordinator Tommy Rees is that however they got Robinson the ball, he looked as dangerous as ever with it in his hands.

In total, Robinson touched the ball 29 times on Sunday and gained 173 scrimmage yards. That total was the sixth-most by a Falcon in a season opener all-time.

Number(s) to know:

88 - 87

• The first number was how many yards the Falcons had of total offense in the first half. Bijan Robinson made up for nearly 50% of said production. The second number is how many yards the Falcons were penalized as a team in the first half.

2

• This is how many field goals Nick Folk missed in the Falcons' Week 1 season opener. This comes after Folk missed just three field goals total in the last three seasons. It is also how many interceptions Rush threw, as well as how many fumbles Robinson had despite his otherwise standout performance.

23

• The Steelers converted just three of their 13 third down opportunities, which rounds out to just a 23% conversion rate. Despite the offense's shortcomings, the defense stood tall when they needed to, and were bailed out by some dropped passes by the Steelers in some critical moments. The defense held their opponent under 25% on third down conversions in three games last season. Overall, the defense did enough to keep the game manageable. Za'Darius Smith made his Falcons debut by sacking Aaron Rodgers twice.

Injury updates:

• DT Da'Shawn Hand sustained a knee injury on Sunday and was ruled out for the remainder of the game during the second quarter.

• CB A.J. Terrell landed hard after breaking up a pass down the left sideline in the third quarter. He was quickly attended to by trainers and walked off the field with them and into the blue medical tent.

• RB Chris Lindstrom sustained an injury early in the fourth quarter while attempting to tackle T.J. Watt on his 35-yard interception return. He went into the blue tent and was replaced by Kyle Hinton on the Falcons' next drive. Lindstrom was later ruled out of the game with a concussion and did not return.

Looking forward: The Falcons will return home to Atlanta for Week 2. They'll host the reigning NFC South champions, the Carolina Panthers, inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the team's home opener.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 20.