Steel City Underground presents our 2024 Steelers Recall: a look back at Pittsburgh Steelers games and storylines from last season.
The NFL loves built-in storylines to build drama, so it was little surprise that the Pittsburgh Steelers would be facing the Atlanta Falcons early in the 2024 season as the latter’s former head coach signed on as the offensive coordinator with the former.
Arthur Smith’s return to Atlanta in Week 1 would be bittersweet, however, as Pittsburgh’s offense sputtered throughout. Part of the early-season jitters was due to the sidelining of veteran QB Russell Wilson, who was not healthy enough to participate. This led the coaching staff to flip to backup Justin Fields to face the Falcons.
Fields, who played a significant number of reps in training camp and throughout the preseason, operated in a relatively safe scheme with few risky plays and good time management. The Steelers didn’t ask Fields to do anything crazy in this game. Smith dialed up a mix of ground-and-pound behind an offensive line that wanted to show the Falcons who they were in the trenches.
Najee Harris, as the primary ball carrier, gained 70 yards on 20 carries, often grinding through the loaded box Atlanta’s defense presented. Pittsburgh added 21 more carries with a mix of Jaylen Warren, Cordarrelle Patterson, and Fields. The result was 137 yards on the ground, which helped game management.
Fields made some nice passes as things opened up. Receiver George Pickens was his favored target, but he spread the ball around to eight total targets in a game that saw Fields complete 17-of-23 passes for 156 yards. Pickens accounted for 6 receptions for 85 yards.
Placekicker Chris Boswell was the big star of the afternoon, though, by single-handedly putting the Steelers’ points on the scoreboard with his strong leg for a surprising 18-10 win in Atlanta in NFL Week 1 of the 2024 regular season.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Steelers were stellar. They limited Falcons QB Kirk Cousins to 155 passing yards. Bijan Robinson was held to just 68 yards on 18 carries; his longest run went for 13 yards. The Steelers also limited Drake London to two receptions and Kyle Pitts to three.
Cousins was also terrorized by Pittsburgh’s pass rush, led by again, no surprise, T.J. Watt. Watt continued to prove he is an elite, generational athlete in the NFL.
Fans recalling this game will remember that the referees cost Watt two sacks. One of those sacks would’ve been a strip-sack and recovery by the Steelers defense. The play was nullified by an offside penalty on Watt, who was later apologized to by the referee who flagged it as a “mistake”. The resulting plays ended with Pittsburgh giving up seven points and kept the home team Falcons in the game.
The Steelers defense was relentless, though, snagging two interceptions against Cousins. Both picks were made by newcomers: the first pick by DeShon Elliott and the other by Donte Jackson.
It wasn’t the only big play negated by an egregious call. A deep pass from Justin Fields to George Pickens for 36 yards was called back due to ticky-tack hand fighting between Pickens and Atlanta CB A.J. Terrell. It would’ve been Fields’ biggest play of the evening.
Instead, those big-play honors went back to Watt, who had a “walk-off” sack that ended the game. Statistically, it was his only sack, but his presence was felt all afternoon.
Yet, for the defense being the team’s calling card, the offense failed to produce a touchdown. The Steelers slogged through clock management and field position to see Chris Boswell take center stage. Boswell put all 18 points on the scoreboard, converting 6 field goals. Those included three kicks from 50 or longer, a Steelers franchise record.
Boswell also had a career-first following an injury to punter Cameron Johnston, who left the field with an injury. Boswell stepped in to punt and nailed his attempt for 43 yards. Unfortunately for Johnston, the injury would strip him of the rest of the season.
Making Boswell’s day even more impressive was the contributions of another former Falcon, WR Scotty Miller. Miller’s first big play was a key special teams tackle following Boswell’s emergency punt. With Johnston out, Miller subbed as the holder on Boswell’s final field goal attempt, a 25-yard conversion.
Regardless of the hurdles, the Steelers would leave Atlanta with an 18-10 victory to open their season with a 1-0 record. Next up would be another road trip, this time to Russell Wilson’s former team, the Denver Broncos. Stay tuned as we cover that game and more in our next Season Recall column.
2024 Steelers Season Recall: 2024 kicks off with Arthur Smith return to Atlanta appeared first on Steel City Underground.