Falcons fall to Steelers 20-13 in Week 1: Bijan is a one-man show, the rest was a mess

Atlanta's 2026 season opened with a 20-13 loss at Pittsburgh on Sunday, and for the second straight offseason program the questions are all upstream of the running back. Cooper Rush started with Tua Tagovailoa out, and the Steelers' T.J. Watt turned a garbage dump-off into the game's deciding score.

The Falcons have now never won in Pittsburgh. They're 0-1. The good news is the best player on the roster isn't the problem. The bad news is almost everything around him was.

Bijan was the only offense

Bijan Robinson finished with 173 of Atlanta's 238 total yards — the highest-paid running back in the league looked the part from the first snap. He scored the Falcons' lone touchdown on a swing pass, splitting three defenders and racing to the end zone. Rookie coach Kevin Stefanski was blunt about it: "We're going to keep leaning on him in all these games, and we have to."

That's not a compliment to the rest of the offense. Atlanta ran one pass-catcher's worth of output out of everyone who touched the ball Sunday, and even Bijan's day wasn't spotless — a 25-yard catch-and-run ended with a fumble that landed right in Steelers safety Amani Hooker's grasp. The talent is real. The margin for error is not.

Cooper Rush, running in place

With Tua (oblique) ruled out Friday, Rush got the road start and immediately found himself playing Jacoby Brissett football: check downs, some scramble survival, and nowhere to throw deep. Pittsburgh sacked him four times, swatted six passes, and never let him get comfortable.

The killer was the fourth quarter. On a dump-off intended for Bijan, Watt read it, leapt, and returned the pick 35 yards for the score that put the game away — after stumbling over his own feet for good measure. Rush wasn't the only problem, but he was the guy under center when the game turned.

Notably, Michael Penix Jr. — the guy most of the league was still guessing about in camp — never got the call, even with the game slipping away. The QB1 situation is more unresolved on Sept. 15 than it was on Sept. 6.

Self-inflicted wounds, again

The Falcons beat themselves in the ways they've made a specialty. Nick Folk — who missed just one field goal in each of the last three seasons — was off target on his first two kicks while the game was still winnable, before drilling a 51-yarder and a 43-yarder when it no longer mattered. Atlanta racked up 96 yards in penalties. That's an 0-1 recipe before you even mention the turnovers.

Defensively there were bodies. Aaron Rodgers threw for 221 and a touchdown to Pat Freiermuth in what's supposed to be his final season, but the Falcons made him work. A.J. Terrell got popped breaking up a pass in the third quarter and returned, and De'Shawn Hand left with a knee injury in the first half. The unit was fine. The offense kept sending it back out too soon.

Up next: Carolina at home

The Falcons get a quick reset, hosting NFC South rival Carolina on Sunday at 1 p.m. It's the earliest possible meaningful game — a home opener against a divisional opponent, and the schedule doesn't get softer from there (Green Bay on a Thursday night in Week 3, then New Orleans on the road).

This is the part of the season where 0-1 at Pittsburgh isn't fatal. It only becomes fatal if the Falcons prove Sunday's version of the offense was the only version they have.

Bird Gang bottom line

Bijan carried 173 yards' worth of this franchise on his own in Week 1, and the highest-paid running back in the game deserves a quarterback who doesn't hand the Steelers points. He won't get that until Penix or Tua is actually ready. Home against Carolina, it's a coin flip, which means it's a perfect first lock to argue over with your crew at pickembaby.com. Build the league now, before the NFC South race turns into a real problem.

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