With another football season upon us, it’s time to revive my “3 & Out” column, where I look at three key aspects of the most recent Steelers game. Today, we examine contributions by the offense, defense and coaching staff in Pittsburgh’s 18-10 Week 1 victory in Atlanta.

Defense Wins Championships?

That saying used to ring true. I’m not so sure it remains relevant in this age of high-powered offenses and a rule-book tilted to increase scoring. Still, what Pittsburgh’s defense did in Atlanta on Sunday was eye-opening.

Let’s start with the pass rush. As the game progressed, coordinator Teryl Austin became increasingly confident in his ability to get to quarterback Kirk Cousins with just four rushers. This allowed him to drop seven defenders in coverage, which meant he could mix-and-match his schemes and incorporate an array of disguises. The Steelers played some base looks, like cover-2 and cover-3, some hybrid looks, like cover-6, and threw in plenty of post-snap rotations from one coverage shell to another. Between trying to diagnose coverage and trying to avoid the relentless pass rush that bore down on him every time he dropped back to throw, Cousins seemed in a constant state of near-panic. Whenever the Fox television camera crew showed a close-up of the pocket, Cousins, the veteran playing his first game with the Falcons after coming over as a free agent from Minnesota, could be seen grimacing in anticipation of the hits that were coming. T.J. Watt, Montravious Adams, Cam Heyward, Larry Ogunjobi, Nick Herbig and Alex Highsmith provided relentless pressure. The Steelers sacked Cousins just twice but had two other sacks, both by Watt, who had a monster game, wiped out because of penalties. A host of other hurries forced Cousins, who is normally smart with the football, into poor throws, including two uncharacteristic interceptions where he tossed the ball into coverage like a confused rookie.

Contributing to Cousins’ miserable day was Pittsburgh’s revamped secondary, which played stellar football. Minkah Fitzpatrick was his normal All-Pro self, leading the defense in tackles and roaming all over the field to provide constant disruption. Joey Porter Jr. shadowed Atlanta’s best receiver, Drake London, for much of the game and held him to just 15 yards on two catches. The new additions made immediate impacts as well. Safety DeShon Elliott and cornerback Donte Jackson both nabbed interceptions. Rookie slot corner Beanie Bishop had one breakdown when he failed to account for tight end Kyle Pitts on a Sail route and allowed Pitts to slip behind him for a touchdown. Overall, though, Bishop was solid. With three new pieces among the five major contributors in the secondary, it was possible the Steelers would be vulnerable on the back end. Instead, that group was a strength and appears much improved over last season.

The linebacking corps was solid, too. Rookie Payton Wilson got plenty of reps as he partnered with both Elandon Roberts and Patrick Queen. The trio made just five tackles combined but were active in coverage and helped spill many runs to the edge, where Fitzpatrick and the safeties cleaned them up. This group also looks better than last year’s unit.

Pittsburgh was good on defense last season. This year, they might be great. Are they championship great? That remains to be seen. But the early returns are encouraging.

Justin Time

When it was announced that quarterback Russell Wilson re-aggravated the calf injury that dogged him for most of the pre-season in practice on Thursday, and would likely miss the Atlanta game, a friend sent me a text that read, “Justin Time!” Turns out that “Justin Time” came Just-in-Time, as Fields, on short notice, stepped into the starting lineup and delivered a solid if not spectacular performance that should leave fans encouraged about his prospects in Pittsburgh.

From a statistical standpoint, that may not seem to be the case. Fields was a pedestrian 17-23 for 156 yards and totaled 57 more with his legs. The offense as a whole gained just 270 yards and produced 18 points, numbers that feel Matt Canada-esque. Pittsburgh’s inability to reach the end zone was maddening, especially on the 13-play, 72-yard drive that consumed almost half of the fourth quarter and ended in no points when the Steelers stalled on 4th-and-1 at the Falcons’ 6-yard-line. There is certainly room for improvement, from both Fields and the offense in general.

But Fields did not turn the ball over once, which was huge in a close game like this. After a shaky first drive where he fumbled two snaps and made two off-target throws, he was accurate and decisive with the football. He uncorked three beautiful deep balls to George Pickens, two of which were complete and a third which was wiped out on a ticky-tac offensive pass interference call. When Fields left the pocket, he did so in calculated fashion, running only when he had to. He extended several drives with his legs, including a beautifully-designed counter run by coordinator Arthur Smith that picked up a first down in the red zone just before the two-minute warning and essentially iced the game. Pittsburgh held the football for nearly 36 minutes and produced points on six of ten drives, with one of those being the long march that ended inside Atlanta’s 10. Fields also outplayed Cousins, which not many saw coming. In a word, both he and the offense were efficient, which is exactly what Pittsburgh would have wanted had Wilson been at quarterback.

What this means going forward is anyone’s guess. For me, Fields did enough to merit the nod as the team’s starter next week when the Steelers travel to Denver. I’m a bit biased, however, as I’ve been an advocate for Fields to start all along. I think he may be the future at quarterback in Pittsburgh, and I’d rather find out sooner than later if that’s the case. That’s Mike Tomlin’s call, though. For now, Fields showed he can win as a game-manager, and he showed enough flashes to make you think Smith can put more on his plate. Those are encouraging signs as well.

Experience Pays Off

In my game preview article from last week, I wrote about three matchup advantages I thought the Steelers enjoyed heading into this contest. The biggest was Pittsburgh’s defensive staff, namely Austin and Mike Tomlin, against Atlanta offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, who was in his first game ever as a professional play-caller.

Drawing a Steelers’ defense orchestrated by the highly experienced Austin was a tough ask for Robinson, and it showed. After an impressive opening drive where the Falcons moved 64 yards on 12 plays and kicked a field goal, Robinson’s unit did very little. Robinson had all summer to script that opening series. Once Austin began to make adjustments, though, he had no answers. Jackson, the Steelers’ cornerback whose fourth-quarter interception played a crucial role in the game’s outcome, told reporters afterwards that the defense knew exactly what was coming on the play and that they recognized the route by the alignment of Atlanta’s receivers. That tells you all you need to know about where the coordinators stood in this matchup. Robinson was good when he was on script and struggled when he had to adjust. Austin got better as the game progressed, figured Robinson out and capitalized.

With Smith and Austin at the helm, the Steelers have their most experienced coordinating duo since 2017, when Todd Haley called the offense and Keith Butler ran the defense. That team went 13-3. Coaching makes a difference, especially in the NFL where the talent disparity among teams isn’t as great as it is at the lower levels of football. The Steelers have arguably their best staff in place in years, and it may have them set up for success.

And Out…

No wrap-up of the Atlanta game could be complete without a shout-out to kicker Chris Boswell, whose six field goals, including three from 50+ yards, provided all of Pittsburgh’s points. Equally impressive was Boswell’s fourth-quarter punt that he was forced to make after Cameron Johnston was injured. Boswell calmly stepped in and hit a 43-yarder that was returned for no gain. Netting 43 yards on a possession change in that situation was huge. Kickers don’t get much love around the league, but Boswell is more than worthy of it from Steelers’ fans. He’s been great for a long time in Pittsburgh, and on Sunday, he was one of the biggest reasons this team stands alone atop the AFC North at 1-0.

Follow me on Twitter @KTSmithFFSN and @CoachsCallSheet, and check out my “Call Sheet” podcast that drops every Thursday.