The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to grab a victory in Week 1 as the team took down the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 20-13. The game was closer than it should have been as the Steelers struggled on the offensive side of the ball. The Falcons were an inferior opponent, and Pittsburgh would have liked to win the game by more, but a win is a win. The offensive game plan seemed to rely heavily on quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The veteran threw the ball a lot in the matchup and the run game struggled to get going. There are some things that need to be cleaned up, including the connection with wide receiver DK Metcalf.
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Steelers' DK Metcalf drops a pass during a win over the Atlanta Falcons to open up the 2026 season at home.
Rodgers threw the ball 40 times in the win over the Falcons, but he struggled a bit as he completed just 24 of his attempts. He targeted Metcalf on 10 occasions, but the wide receiver could only come down with four of those and had just 40 receiving yards on the day. Metcalf had some drops on the day that were disappointing to see as that was a problem for the veteran during the playoff loss to the Houston Texans to end the 2025 season as well.
The veteran quarterback spoke to the media after the contest, and he discussed his connection with Metcalf. He seemed to focus on the officials calling the game, though. He seems to believe there were a number of blown calls throughout the contest.
"We had a lot of chances." Rodgers said. "I mean Roman [Wilson] gets interfered with; that's going to be a touchdown. DK gets interfered with; they don't call it. DK gets interfered with in the end zone, almost makes a heroic catch; they don't call it. We had some opportunities. Oh, first third down of the game, DK in the slot, beats him, getting held, no call. So, it was interesting. There were a lot of flags, but some of those where we had a chance weren't the flags. But, I like the plan from Mike, I like the play calling. We took some shots."
The NFL has a strict policy when it comes to players and coaches criticizing officials publicly, which Rodgers definitely toed the line of doing. He has done this before, and he notably did it following Pittsburgh's win over the New York Jets to open up the 2025 campaign. Rodgers may be at risk of being fined by the league for some of these comments he made after the win.
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Steelers' Aaron Rodgers embraces Cooper Rush after a win over the Falcons to open the 2026 season.
Overall, Metcalf had a rough game. He had some drops, and he was called for offensive pass interference on two occasions. There were also some clear no calls that would have benefitted him and the Steelers.
On one third down attempt Rodgers looked for him down the left sideline, and the defender clearly got to him early and held his arm which prevented Metcalf from catching the football. That is probably the call that is at the top of Rodgers' mind when he was criticizing the officials after the win.
Steelers Had Opportunities To Score More Than 20 Points In Win Over The Falcons
The Steelers should have won this game by more. The team botched two field goal attempts, and there were several no calls that could have kept drives alive. The missed calls on Metcalf were the most evident, as the calls would have come in areas of the field that would have set Pittsburgh up to score.
The scoreboard and the stat sheet may be hard to look at for fans in Pittsburgh that had higher hopes for the offense in 2026, but the opportunities were there. If a few went differently, the win would have looked a lot better on paper. There are certainly things to build off of.
What did you think of Rodgers comments after the win? Do you think he is at risk of being fined? Let me know on X, @brogannoey!
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