The Atlanta Falcons will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in their Week 1 home opener this Sunday. After an eventful offseason of new big-name additions, the most critical individual to their team’s success will take the football field in a meaningful contest for the first time since October 29th of last year.

A season-ending Achilles injury ended Kirk Cousins’s season and his five-year tenure with the Minnesota Vikings. Now, the 36-year-old is at the helm of not only the Falcons offense but organization as well. 

As one of four team captains, Cousins’s expectations should be high yet tempered, because he has not seen ‘full speed’ NFL action in 11 months following a severe injury. In his debut, he will not have a straightforward ‘welcome back.’  Here are three reasonable expectations for Atlanta’s new star. 

Kirk Cousins may initially look ‘rusty’ against a defense looking to rebound after a disappointing 2023 season. 

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been known to field some of football’s best defenses. Last year, they had an underwhelming season as both a pass and rush defense. However, with defensive stars in Cameron Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Patrick Queen, and T.J. Watt, the Black and Gold’s defense is poised to leap back to top ten status as they were in years prior.

With Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin bringing back eight of 11 defensive starters from last season, the unit already has chemistry.

Contrarily, for Captain Kirk, it could take a few possessions for him to get into a rhythm on offense with his new teammates. Before his injury last season, the former Minnesota Viking was lethal when finding his ‘rhythm.’

However, putting the game out of reach may not take a lot once he gets going.

Expect Cousins to be aggressive against a relatively unproven cornerback group.

Without a doubt, Atlanta’s opposition possesses a better defense than offense. However the strength of that defense lies in the front seven. Of the five cornerbacks on their roster, only Donte Jackson has more than two years of NFL experience.

Standout receiving threats in Darnell Mooney, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, and his new quarterback will look to isolate Pittsburgh boundary corners. It remains to be seen who his security blanket will be, but his star-tight end seems to provide many options. 

Should the home team’s new signal caller be able to exploit this group early, it will put pressure on former head coach Arthur Smith and a Steelers offense that has lacked an identity since the Ben Roethlisberger days. 

Cousins’s stat line may not win fantasy matchups, but it should be efficient.

With running backs Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier in the backfield, no one should expect the team to rely solely on his arm to win the game. While some quarterbacks will attempt 50-plus passes in certain games, that should not be the expectation in Cousins’s debut. Moreover, expect between 20 and 30 attempts, with him potentially throwing two touchdowns against a talented veteran defense.

Above all, the Falcons should see a glimpse of the best quarterback play since Matt Ryan’s days.

ATLANTA – Dragon Con made a significant impact on Atlanta over the Labor Day weekend, drawing tens of thousands of pop culture enthusiasts to the city.

PHOTOS: 2024 Dragon Con in downtown Atlanta

Organizers reported that 72,000 fans attended this year’s convention, with attendees coming from all 50 states and six continents. The event, known for its celebration of sci-fi, fantasy, and pop culture, also served a charitable cause, raising more than $210,000 for the Georgia chapter of the Arthritis Foundation.

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The annual convention continues to be a major attraction, both for fans and the local community.

ATLANTA – In an ongoing effort to clean up Atlanta’s streets, city leaders are now considering plans to purchase blighted properties from owners who’ve failed to upkeep them over the years.

Last week, council members approved a “blight tax” that would penalize those property owners. The other idea that came up was using city funds to take the abandoned properties off their hands completely.

“There are a lot of options on the table for the city when it comes to property development,” Atlanta City Member of council Michael Bond said.

Bond says first responders being called to emergencies at abandoned properties is a common and costly occurrence.

“Responding to vagrants on the property, responding to fires, responding to illegal dumping…that’s a real cost to the city of Atlanta,” he explained.

That’s why he and other members of the city council are considering buying those properties back from neglectful owners.

“What has been discussed is that the city of Atlanta will make an offer to these property owners just to do a general transaction…if someone is not able or willing to maintain their property to keep it in a productive use, the City of Atlanta would try to acquire that property,” Bond said.

Atlanta’s blight tax on properties passes | What you need to know

Bond says it could save the city millions of dollars in the long term and give lower income residents more options for housing that’s within their means.

“Depending on the shape of the property and how much it might cost to rehab…that might be a site we could use for the development of more affordable housing throughout our city,” he stated.

One potential plan is to place the properties in the possession of urban housing authorities or go through the bidding process to select private developers.

Bond says the city cannot use eminent domain to take the old housing properties and redevelop them into new housing because of Georgia state code. City leaders will continue discussions about this at their next meeting.