Can the Steelers bring home a Week 1 win? Pittsburgh’s three keys vs. Atlanta Falcons

The Pittsburgh Steelers will head to Atlanta on Sunday in hopes of claiming their first win of the season. The matchup is primed to be tough, with the Falcons looking like a much-improved team overall.

However, the Steelers still have some advantages they could exploit against the Falcons, who did not play their starters in the preseason. Here are the Steelers’ three keys to beating the Falcons:

1. Keep Grady Jarrett and Matt Judon in check

While the Falcons have a wonderful secondary with Jessie Bates, Justin Simmons, and A.J. Terrell, the Steelers will lose this one from the jump if they can not stop Grady Jarrett and Matt Judon from taking over the game up front. If you want, feel free to throw David Onyemata in here, too. The Steelers will have to keep Russell Wilson or Justin Fields upright to win this game. They need to give their wide receiver and run game a chance. Spencer Anderson is starting at left guard with rookie Zach Frazier at center. That matchup feels like one where Jarrett should dominate, but Anderson and the team feel up to the task.

“Well, he’s definitely a twitchy rusher,” Anderson said. “We know who he is and how great he is. But there, you focus on yourself and your technique. You play with good pad level and hand usage. You have to focus on yourself just as much.”

If the Steelers can run the ball between the tackles and force Atlanta’s linebackers to make plays, the Steelers might have a chance to ride Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren in this game. That has to be the plan, but it all starts up front.

2. Beanie Bishop balls out and proves himself

The Steelers, defensively, have one glaring hole in this game. Yet, it is actually a hole, or is it just an unproven player? Slot cornerback Beanie Bishop played well in the summer but looked just okay against the Houston Texans in his first starting spot in the preseason.

The Steelers know the Falcons will have an X-crossed right towards No. 31. Until he proves he can stop guys like Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and Darnell Mooney, the Falcons will go right to them in the slot.

“You never know. I just look at it like this. Like most things, we always prepare our guys so that if you’re a young guy out there, you just have to be ready. You will be tested and if you, if you handle the test, then they’ll go away from you. But if you don’t handle the test, you can expect it to keep coming,” defensive coordinator Teryl Austin said about Bishop.

The Falcons will try to attack him, but Bishop will not shy away from the challenge that the Falcons will likely bring him. If he can back up the challenge and show what he is made of, the Steelers can slow down this talented Falcons offense.

3. The ‘other eligibles’ step up

The Pittsburgh Steelers have two standouts in the passing game that will stick out in George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth. Yet, with Terrell, Bates, and Simmons in the secondary, they can erase the two of them through coverages. The Steelers might have to win their other matchups.

As stated above, the other obvious outlet is the running game. Warren and Harris figure to be the two big time players featured. However, the Steelers might need one big play from someone else. That could be Van Jefferson, Calvin Austin III, or someone else. The Steelers do not have the juice in the passing game to expect those two to be enough against a secondary like this on paper. Someone else has to step up, and if one player does, it might be enough to crawl the Steelers over the finish line.