ATLANTA (AP) — After six straight losing seasons, nothing less than a trip to the playoffs will do for the Atlanta Falcons.
They sure didn't look like a postseason contender in Week 1.
Kirk Cousins had a dismal debut with the Falcons on Sunday, throwing a pair of interceptions that brought back ugly memories of the Atlanta quarterbacks that came before him — Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke.
The team gave Cousins a four-year, $180 million contract to fix the most important position on the field, but it's clearly still a work in progress based on an 18-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“We know he has to play better, there’s no doubt about that,” said Raheem Morris, whose first game as Falcons coach was a huge disappointment. "He’s played in the league for a long time. I look forward to him bouncing back from a rough game and a rough outing. I’m not overly concerned with that.”
The defense kept the Steelers out of the end zone, which usually would be a formula for victory.
Chris Boswell accounted for all of Pittsburgh's scoring with six field goals, three of them beyond 50 yards.
The Falcons allowed only a couple of Steelers' possessions to even reach the red zone, halting their deepest drive with no points when Nate Landman stuffed Justin Fields on a fourth-and-1 sneak at the Atlanta 6.
The defense did have one major slipup. George Pickens got free between cornerback A.J. Terrell and safety Jessie Bates on the next-to-last play of the first half, hauling in a 33-yard pass that set up Boswell's 44-yard field goal heading to the locker room.
The Cousins-led offense looked out of sync most of the day.
The Steelers sacked the quarterback twice and pressured the pocket much of the game, making it difficult for the Falcons to find any sort of rhythm.
Cousins was supposed to beef up a passing game that was stagnant the last two years, forcing Atlanta to rely heavily on its running attack.
But the Falcons' longest play was a 20-yard completion to Ray-Ray McCloud — hardly the sort of dynamic production that was expected after handing Cousins $100 million in guaranteed money to run an offense that features top-10 picks Bijan Robinson, Drake London and Kyle Pitts at the skill positions.
Robinson showed flashes with 68 yards rushing and 43 yards receiving, but Pitts didn't do much beyond hauling in a 12-yard pass for Atlanta's only touchdown. As for London, Atlanta's leading deep threat, he was targeted just three times and finished with two catches for a measly 15 yards.
“We need to play better. That’s the bottom line,” Cousins said. “I thought our defense played very well. I thought our special teams played very well. We didn’t complement that enough on offense.”
Returning from a knee injury that cut short his 2023 season, Grady Jarrett looked like himself again with some dominating play on the defensive line.
He had 1 1/2 sacks and three hits on Fields, who got the start for the Steelers after Russell Wilson was forced to sit with a calf injury.
Jarrett has 117 QB hits in his career, passing John Abraham (115) for the most in team history.
“Really?" Jarrett said after the game when told of the record. "That’s awesome. I wish more of those QB hits were sacks, but that means a lot. I take a lot of pride in that one. I’ll continue to raise that number and keep them from scoring.”
It's only one week, but the Falcons already are facing scrutiny for doling out a huge contract to the 36-year-old Cousins, especially when they used their first-round draft pick to grab another quarterback, Michael Penix Jr.
Cousins looked shaky most of the game, completing 16 of 26 passes for just 155 yards to go along with that pair of picks.
But let's not forget this was the first game action for Cousins — regular season or preseason — since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for the Minnesota Vikings. He was understandably rusty, and it didn't help to go against T.J. Watt and one of the league's toughest defenses.
The Falcons came into Week 1 in good health and appeared to get through the game largely unscathed.
The only player who didn’t suit up because of injury was No. 5 cornerback Antonio Hamilton (groin). The only report during the game was OG Chris Lindstrom being evaluated for a possible head injury, but he was cleared to return.
3-0 — In addition to Cousins throwing two interceptions, the Falcons lost a fumble on a botched snap and were fortunate to have another fumble overturned by a dubious penalty.
The Steelers, on the other hand, didn't have any turnovers.
“You can’t expect anything else when you turn the ball over three times,” Morris said. “Basically, that’s the story of the game.”
Considering their upcoming schedule, the Falcons sure could've used a victory on opening day.
They'll face a hostile environment next Monday night when they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Eagles (1-0).
Then it's back home on Sept. 22 for another prime-time game against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs (1-0), the two-time reigning Super Bowl champions.
___
AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL