Week 1 of the 2024 NFL regular season is officially upon us, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to play the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. As is customary, fans will want to take a look at the upcoming opponent and try to make an educated guess as to what their favorite team is going to be facing on Sunday.

When the Falcons are looking at the Steelers, they’ll be able to see plenty about certain positions based on their performances during the preseason performances. How the rookies look in certain situations, quarterback tendencies under duress, just to name a few. However, this won’t be so easy for the Steelers when they prepare for the Falcons this weekend.

Why? Because the Falcons haven’t played their starters at all this preseason.

Not at all.

In fact, Michael Penix Jr., the team’s top draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, played in one preseason game and then was shut down for the duration of the preseason.

Sure, Steelers fans will suggest Arthur Smith will have a good knowledge of the Falcons team he coached the past three seasons, but the Atlanta roster has been remade since Smith was calling the shots. In other words, this Falcons team remains a mystery from top to bottom heading into Week 1. If Raheem Morris’s plan was to keep the league, and the Steelers, in the dark as long as possible…

Mission accomplished.

Is Kirk Cousins fully recovered from his ruptured Achilles tear?

Will the Jessie Bates and Justin Simmons duo at safety be as good as it sounds on paper?

How will the new-look Falcons offense use weapons like Bijan Robinson, Kyle Pitts and Drake London?

You get where I’m going with this, but it is the truth. The Falcons have kept their cards as close to the vest as humanly possible this preseason, and it makes for even more intrigue heading into the regular season than most. When you look at the Falcons’ roster on paper, it absolutely will be a tough test for the Steelers in Week 1, especially with the game being on the road. Nonetheless, there will absolutely be a “feeling out” period of this game where the Steelers new-look offense tries to get their footing, and the Falcons will be trying to do the same.

Such is life in Week 1 of the regular season, but with so much uncertainty in this contest it makes you wonder how anyone can predict these type of games this early in the season.