The Falcons are around field goal betting favorites over the Steelers this Sunday, but if you’d just read the headlines, Atlanta has already beaten Pittsburgh.
However, the Falcons have only “won” the offseason. Raheem Morris has won over the city, fan base, players, and everyone associated with the organization. There’s tangible excitement in Atlanta again for professional football. But that’s all noise.
The Falcons are squaring off with a Mike Tomlin coached team. He’s one of the best to ever do it and somehow extended his streak of never having a sub-.500 season with Kenny Pickett and Matt Canada leading the offense.
Now, I’m not saying Russell Wilson and Arthur Smith are the second coming of Joe Montana and Bill Walsh, but they might as well be when looking back at Pickett and Canada’s time in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers’ strength, for as long as I can remember, has been on the defensive side of the ball. That won’t change in 2024 either. And there’s one matchup, in particular, that should frighten Falcons fans — T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith lining up against Atlanta’s tackles Jake Matthews and Kaleb McGary.
The Falcons offense has sky-high expectations with Kirk Cousins and Zac Robinson joining all five returning starting offensive linemen, Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Bijan Robinson. I’ve talked a lot about how I think this unit can be a top 5 offense in football, but this Steelers defensive front, especially Watt and Highsmith, have the ability to completely wreck Robinson’s gameplan.
Watt logged 17 sacks last year. Because he plays opposite of the guy some consider to be the best player in football, people forget how dangerous Highsmith, who put up 10 sacks last year, can be.
The Falcons have to plan for those guys. Getting the run game going is key in setting up the play action passing game to neutralize the Steelers’ pass rush as much as possible. Throwing different looks blocking-wise will help too.
It’s a tall task, and Falcons fans trust Matthews a lot more than McGary, but don’t forget about Cameron Heyward in the middle of that defense. The Falcons offensive line is going to have their hands full on Sunday.
—
Photographer: Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire
You must log in to post a comment.