The Pittsburgh Steelers were able to hold off the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1 for a 20-13 win as Head Coach Mike McCarthy made his regular season debut with the organization. The anticipation was high as there was a lot of intrigue to see how much would be different with a new regime taking over in the Steel City. One thing that remained the same from the latter part of the 2025 season was Dylan Cook having a job starting on the offensive line. This comes after rookie Max Iheanachor dealt with an injury that only allowed him to play in one preseason game.
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Steelers' Mike McCarthy speaks to the official during Pittsburgh's Week 1 over the Atlanta Falcons in 2026.
On Monday, former Steelers offensive lineman Trai Essex was joined by former quarterback Charlie Batch for an episode of The Snap Count. Among the things they discussed was the offensive line play for Pittsburgh during their Week 1 victory. While Cook did allow two sacks during the game, Essex explained why his performance was more solid than it looked on paper.
“Obviously, everybody was looking at Dylan Cook to see how he would perform knowing that Max Iheanachor was breathing down his neck,” Essex said. “I thought he was solid. He gave up two sacks. They're going to be attributed to him. They’re not all his fault. Both I would consider coverage sacks. The first one, [Aaron Rodgers] went underneath. Za'Darius Smith went all the way around, A-Rod tried to scramble, Za'Darius got his ankles. That’s on Dylan Cook. He has to finish. That’s just the name of the game when you play offensive line. But obviously it would have been better if Aaron could have thrown the ball away or someone could have got open. He played solid outside of that.”
"Solid" is one of the best ways to describe the undrafted offensive lineman. Last season, Cook was just that when filling in for the now traded Broderick Jones, who sustained a season-ending injury in Week 12.
While it is easy to overreact to the two sacks Cook allowed, that is where Essex felt it was important to explain how he saw his performance on Sunday. As a former offensive lineman in the NFL himself, it was encouraging to hear these comments through his lens. The Pittsburgh offensive line was one of the bigger stories surrounding the team heading into the 2026 NFL season, especially given the moving parts on the unit. Cook was an integral part in stabilizing the offensive line last year once the severity of Jones' injury became official. Now he has a chance to build off a Week 1 performance that did leave some room for improvement.
Steelers Will Live Or Die By Their Offensive Line In 2026
The offensive line has a tall task this season as they look to protect 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers as he works to take the offense to new heights under McCarthy. Despite the win on Sunday over Atlanta, the offense definitely left much to be desired on the field. This was especially true as wide receivers DK Metcalf and Roman Wilson combined for several drops in the game on passes from Rodgers. The offensive line as a whole also has plenty of room for improvement and can start by doing a better job keeping Rodgers upright.
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Steelers offensive tackle Dylan Cook warms up ahead of OTAs (organized team activities) in 2026 offseason.
With the offensive line being a work in progress through the preseason, they have not had much time to work together as an ironed out unit and build that chemistry. Given Cook's solid play last year as well as ability to step right in when the team was in need, he will have a lot of eyes on him to see if he builds off his Week 1 performance. If he is able to do so, that can go a long way in the offensive line blossoming in the 2026 season. However, if he begins to struggle, the calls for the rookie Iheanachor to take over in his place will become louder.
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