SCOUTING THE FALCONS
Last meeting
Steelers beat Falcons, 18-10, on Sept. 8, 2004, in Atlanta
Key matchup
Falcons RB Bijan Robinson vs. Steelers run defense
Robinson is coming off a season in which he led the NFL in yards from scrimmage with a Falcons’ franchise-record 2,298. Particularly with Atlanta’s issues at quarterback, it would be reasonable to assume Robinson will be even more a focal point of their offense than he was when he had the third-most touches in the NFL (366) in 2025.
The Steelers’ front seven is largely unchanged from last season, with the most notable changes the addition of free-agent defensive tackle Sebastian Joseph-Day and release of reserve, run-stopping inside linebacker Malik Harrison.
Key injuries
The Steelers had a clean injury report for Week 1. The only player listed throughout the practice week was CB Joey Porter Jr., whose contract dispute had his status in question anyway. Porter was listed as having a back injury.
The Falcons, conversely, had a long list (10 players) on their injury report. And that does not include edge rusher Jalon Walker, who is out for the season. Most notable among Atlanta’s injuries are those to the top two quarterbacks on their depth chart — Michael Penix (knee) and Tua Tagovailoa (back). If Tagovailoa cannot play, Cooper Rush will start Sunday.
Series record
Steelers lead 16-2-1
Series notes
The Steelers have never lost at home to the Falcons, going 7-0-1, including an unbeaten record in three meetings versus Atlanta at what is now called Acrisure Stadium. … The Steelers have won five in a row in the series since a 2006 defeat to a Michael Vick-led Falcons team in Atlanta. … That loss was in overtime, the middle of three consecutive Steelers-Falcons games that went to overtime. The teams split those — there was a tie in 2002 at then-Heinz Field in addition to a Steelers’ home win in the 2010 season opener. … Counting the game two years ago at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, three of the past five Steelers-Falcons games have come in Week 1. Three of each team’s past 17 season openers have come against each other — despite that as inter-conference rivals they rarely meet. For context, the Steelers have had only three season openers against the division rival Baltimore Ravens — even though they play twice every season. The Steelers and Bengals have met in Week 1 only once, despite playing the same division for more than 50 years. … In addition to the current five-game winning streak in the series, the Steelers additionally won nine in a row against the Falcons spanning the 1970s until 2006. … The 2002 tie came during an era where ties were exceptionally rare while the rules were a 15-minute extra period and a “sudden death” format. The Falcons scored 17 points over the final 8 minutes of regulation to force that 34-34 tie in a game that included almost 1,100 yards of offense: 645 from the Steelers and 447 from Atlanta. … The most recent meeting featured six Chris Boswell field goals, including three of 50 or more yards.
Notable
The Falcons hired Kevin Stefanski as coach in January. Stefanski was coach of the Cleveland Browns the past six seasons, going 5-5 against the Steelers in the regular season. … Atlanta has had eight consecutive losing seasons. For context, the Steelers have had seven losing seasons since 1971. … This game joins the Las Vegas Raiders-Miami Dolphins — also on Sunday — as the lone Week 1 matchups involving each team having a head coach making his team debut. But unlike Stefanski and the Steelers’ Mike McCarthy (a veteran of 18 NFL seasons), the Raiders’ Klint Kubiak and Dolphins’ Jeff Hafley are each making their NFL coaching debuts. … McCarthy and Stefanski have split two previous meetings, each coming when McCarthy coached the Dallas Cowboys. Cleveland beat Dallas in 2020 but McCarthy’s Cowboys beat Stefanski’s Browns in the 2024 season opener. … This is the Steelers’ 94th season opener. They are 49-39-5 (.554) in prior openers, including 31-19-3 (.613) at home. … This is only the second time the Steelers have opened at home since 2014. … This is the third time over the past four seasons the Steelers have played against an NFC team in Week 1. … The Steelers are 5-1 over their past six season openers and have lost only three of their past 12 season openers. … McCarthy has an 11-7 record in Week 1 games. … The Steelers have lost four of their past five and six of their past eight home openers.
Fantasy tip
Robinson has ranked among the top six in overall fantasy points (using standard scoring) during each of the past two seasons. Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs is the only other player who ranked so high in both 2024 and 2025. However, the Steelers’ defense last season allowed the fifth-fewest fantasy points by opposing running backs.