ATLANTA — Nothing about it was that pretty, well at least offensively, but the Pittsburgh Steelers ground out an 18-10 victory against the Atlanta Falcons to start the season 1-0. It was a spirited game that started out sloppy for both sides, but as the game went on, the Steelers started to impose their will on the defensive side of the ball, which allowed them to surge ahead for the win.

With all that in mind, who on the team were the winners and losers from the game? Here are a few in each category:

Winner: New secondary players

Both Donte Jackson and DeShon Elliott earned every bit of their week’s pay for the Steelers on Monday. Elliott made a great interception and was everywhere. The Steelers ended up bottling up Kyle Pitts and he was a huge reason why they did that. Elliott showed why the Steelers like him as a complement to Minkah Fitzpatrick since he can do most of what Fitzpatrick did last year while getting Fitzpatrick back into his old role.

Meanwhile, Donte Jackson played a stellar game. His interception was a perfect read by him, and he should have had two interceptions. Overall, he proved to be a willing tackler and made more than a few plays in that area of the game, too. Those new players stepped up for the Steelers big time.

Loser: Spencer Anderson

Initially, on first watch, I thought Anderson played well, but going back to the tape, he was thoroughly dominated by both Grady Jarrett and David Onyemata when facing the veterans. It was a tough test for someone in his first start, but Anderson has to be much better moving forward if he wants the Steelers to have confidence in him. His pad level was the main issue on Sunday, and by playing so high, he allowed two quarterbacks hits, both of which Jarrett was able to get underneath him and uncork him out of the way for significant plays.

Winner: T.J. Watt

Honestly, you could put the entire defensive line on here, but T.J. Watt deserves this distinction on his own. He dominated this game and took it over against a solid right tackle in Kaleb McGary. Watt has incredible instincts and playmaking ability and is the lifeblood this Steelers runs on every single year. Watt does not have much to do when he gets out onto the football field. He is a joyous watch and continues to prove why he is an elite player.

Loser: The Middle of the Field

Remember when the Steelers wanted to attack the middle of the field more? When you look at Justin Fields’ passing chart, there is a gaping hole right in the middle of that area. Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith did call plays to that area of the field, but they were either not the primary read, not open, or Fields did not rip them. Either way, there was not even a target in that area of the field, and the Steelers won mostly by creating explosive plays through there, even if George Pickens was able to wiggle his way to a few explosive plays down the sideline.

Winner: Scotty Miller (and Chris Boswell, of course)

Miller did not register a stat as a wide receiver, but made two critical contributions to the team’s special teams. He was the backup holder after Cam Johnston’s knee injury, and then made a great tackle as a gunner on Chris Boswell’s lone punt of the game. While Boswell rightfully gets a lot of praise for going six for six and putting up a solid punt, Miller made two great plays that were winning football. He deserves his own flowers, too.

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HAMPTON, Ga. — A sense of relief pervaded over pit road for many after Sunday’s playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Because, quite frankly, it could have been worse.

They could have been Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Briscoe. All three finished 35th or worse.

While Joey Logano — who entered the playoffs seeded ninth — celebrated the victory and moved on to the second round of the playoffs, even Ty Gibbs could crack a brief smile after watching a chance to win turn into a 17th-place finish.

Gibbs holds the final transfer spot with races left at Watkins Glen and Bristol in the first round. Those are viewed by many as wildcard races because of the tire wear that is expected at both events.

Even sitting on the cutline is a move up for Gibbs. He had entered the race last among the 16 playoff drivers in the standings.

Gibbs led with four laps to go to the scheduled distance and was in position to give the series its second first-time in the past three weeks.

But one wrong move changed everything.

“I was a little frustrated in myself because I didn’t block and just kind of put myself to the back,” Gibbs said. “So it’s my fault. Frustrated about that, but I’m just glad that we got good points and finished the race, honestly.”

Gibbs left the track with a one-point lead on Brad Keselowski, the first driver below the cutline.

Joey Logano advances to the second round of the playoff with his victory.

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Daniel Suarez was in position to sweep the Atlanta Cup races but finished second. After celebrating at this track in February, standing on pit road didn’t feel as good. Still, he went from 11th in the standings entering the race to ninth. He’s 22 points ahead of Keselowski.

“Honestly, right now, I don’t care about points,” Suarez said. “It’s just hard that we’re not in Victory Lane, but that’s part of it. Maybe there is a couple of things I could have done better.”

Ryan Blaney finished third, scoring a race-high 53 points and went from fifth in the points entering the event to first afterward.

“Even though we don’t advance automatically, we had a great day,” he said. “Winning a stage, second in the other, running … third today. That’s a really good day.”

Joey Logano scored his second victory of the season.

It was much better than others. Larson entered as the points leader because he had more playoff points than anybody else. But he finished 37th after an early crash and fell to 10th in the points. He’s 15 points ahead of Keselowski.

Chase Briscoe couldn’t avoid Larson and damaged his car beyond repair. Briscoe finished last in the 38-car field and fell to last in the playoff standings. He’s 21 points behind Gibbs.

“We just have to go win,” Briscoe said. “That’s what we had to do at Darlington and I know we’re capable of doing it again, so we’ll just have to go to Watkins Glen and Bristol and try to do the same.”

Truex is in a similar position after an awful day. He is 19 points behind Gibbs after finishing 35th. Truex was among three Joe Gibbs Racing cars that started at the rear after changing plug wires before the race. He had a pit road speeding penalty and his car was damaged when he hit Ryan Blaney’s car after Chris Buescher had hit Blaney on Lap 206.

ATLANTA – The Atlanta Falcons went into their home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers with respect, paying homage to the victims of the Apalachee High School shooting.

The players wore Apalachee Wildcats t-shirts on the field during pregame warm-ups.

They also held a moment of silence for math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie, and 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo who were killed on September 4. Nine others were injured in the gunfire, according to the GBI.

How to help Apalachee High School shooting victims

The Falcons’ new quarterback Kirk Cousins said Coach Raheem Morris told the team about the deadly shooting the day it happened.

SEE ALSO: Apalachee High School accused shooter’s mother called the school, Washington Post reports

“It was very sobering,” Cousins said, as reported by Falcons senior reporter Tori McElhaney. “We’re praying for the families affected. The school, the community. It’s a tough deal. Going to go home tonight and hug and kiss my kids.”

Apalachee High School is about 20 miles away from the Falcons’ Flowery Branch training facility.