Feats of Strength/Airing of Grievances: T.J. Watt, Chris Boswell, Justin Fields drive Steelers' victory

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had Georgia on their minds since the NFL schedule was released in May. Then everybody’s minds got scrambled late last week.

That’s when we found out Russell Wilson’s bothersome calf flared up, and Justin Fields may start in Atlanta to open the 2024 campaign.

That’s what ended up happening, and Fields was good enough to help the Steelers beat the Falcons on the road 18-10. After the Steelers got throttled at home in their opener last year against San Francisco, I’ll gladly take just “good enough” to win in Week 1.

It was far from perfect, though. That’s why we give you “Feats of Strength” and “Airing of Grievances” every week so you can celebrate and vent all at once.

FEATS OF STRENGTH

Terrific T.J.

T.J. Watt was a force throughout the afternoon. One sack and two tackles for loss is a good day for most. But it’s a piddly representation of how dominant Watt really was Sunday.

The All-Pro outside linebacker was in Kirk Cousins’ face all day and influenced a few bad passes, including Donte Jackson’s crucial fourth-quarter interception.

Not only that, but Watt had two strip sacks that were overturned by penalties, which we will discuss in depth momentarily.

In all, Watt was credited with three quarterback hits, but it was really more like five (at least) if you account for the erased plays.

‘D’ digs in

After a shaky first drive that resulted in a Falcons field goal, the defense settled down and allowed just one more scoring drive the rest of the afternoon.

It also forced three turnovers and could’ve had two more if the ones Watt created were allowed to stand.

Aside from Watt, other individuals who stood out included defensive back DeShon Elliott. The former Baltimore Raven carried over a strong training camp to have a nice pass breakup and an interception.

Jackson dropped what could’ve been a pick on the first drive, then atoned with the huge interception late. He added a second pass breakup and two tackles.

Minkah Fitzpatrick made some fine plays in the run game and helped to largely limit any ideas the Falcons may have had to go up top with any real purpose. Falcons top receiver Drake London only had two catches for 15 yards, so credit Joey Porter Jr. for the job he did on him when they were matched up as well.

Meanwhile, the entire front seven worked as a collective to limit running back Bijan Robinson to just 63 yards on 18 carries for a mundane 3.8 yards per attempt.

Wizard of Boz

Chris Boswell kept the Steelers afloat with six field goals. Three of them were beyond 50 yards.

Boswell also came in for an injured Cameron Johnston and delivered a clutch 43-yard punt.

If you have Boz as your fantasy kicker, he may have won you your game as well. He accounted for 26 points in a standard-scoring league.

That may happen a bunch early in the season while the weather is good and while this offense sorts itself out. It appears coordinator Arthur Smith’s unit is just good enough to get decent drives going and nowhere near good enough to finish them.

Sound familiar?

Also, keep in mind that Boz kicks in Denver next week and inside twice more before Week 6 is over.

Fields was fine

Actually, he was probably better than that.

In a last-minute start to replace the injured Russell Wilson, Fields avoided making any turnovers (although there were two more botched snaps), and he was only sacked twice. The fourth-year quarterback added 57 yards on 14 carries.

While some of Fields’ incompletions were noticeably off the mark, overall he was accurate enough to go 17 of 23 for 156 yards and a 91.9 passer rating.

Also, credit Fields for being on the money when throwing to his top targets. He completed 10 of 11 attempts when trying to hit George Pickens and Pat Freiermuth. Pickens caught six balls on six targets for 85 yards, including one for 40 yards.

Now, if Wilson gets healthy enough to play in Denver next week, the question is, who will start versus the Broncos?

“I’m not worried about that,” Fields said after the victory. “I just came in wanting to win. I’m glad we are leaving here with the win. In terms of who is starting and who is not, all I want to do is win at the end of the day.”

We’ll talk about it more during the week, but my hunch is coach Mike Tomlin is going to give Wilson a shot in Denver, and if it doesn’t work out early, they’ll pull him quickly and go with Fields.

After a winning effort that featured more good than bad for Fields, some people may not like hearing that. But remember, it’s still a win that happened without an offensive touchdown.

• Chris Boswell kicks Steelers to opening win vs. Falcons

• Steelers notebook: Pat Freiermuth gets action in Week 1

• Steelers place rookie DL Logan Lee on IR, promote veteran WR Ben Skowronek to active roster

AIRING OF GRIEVANCES

The Steelers’ first trip into the red zone didn’t happen until half of the fourth quarter was gone.

Once it happened, it was enough to drive you crazy. Harris got 8 yards on two carries. That brought up a third-and-2 from the Atlanta 7-yard line.

Somehow, the Steelers managed to complete a pass short of the sticks in that situation, and Van Jefferson got tackled after gaining just 1 yard. Calvin Austin and Pickens were defeated on blocks.

Then Fields tried to run a hurry-up QB sneak on fourth-and-inches. It blew up. So Atlanta got the ball back.

Personally, I would’ve preferred to see Tomlin kick the field goal there.

“We’re going to live that life. We don’t live in our fears. We play and play to win. If you can’t get fourth-and-1, sometimes you don’t deserve to win. That’s just a philosophical approach we live by,” Tomlin said.

That blood-and-guts, tough-guy football stuff looks good in print. However, strategically, it probably made more sense to take the three points and make it an eight-point game.

Speaking of the receivers, that was Jefferson’s only catch. The only other reception by a wideout was Calvin Austin for 7 yards. That confirms concerns about the lack of depth beyond Pickens.

Props to Scotty Miller, though. He made a big tackle on special teams when Boswell had to punt for Johnston. Then Miller had to step in for Johnston as the backup holder on Boswell’s last field goal.

Typically terrible

When it comes to the officials, a nice person would say, “It’s Week 1 for everybody.”

A mean person would say, “The zebras are already in midseason form.”

I guess I’m a mean person, then, because that was some lousy officiating.

Both teams got away with egregious holding along the offensive lines, and a blatant facemask penalty against Atlanta’s Jessie Bates III was missed.

However, the officiating crew decided to get anal-retentive and throw an offensive pass interference flag against Pickens to wipe out a 36-yard gain in the second quarter.

Then they flagged Watt for offside to erase a strip-sack fumble recovery. A second strip sack from Watt was eliminated in the third quarter thanks to an illegal hands-to-the-face call against Jackson. That call, however, was at least more worthy of a flag.

By the way, Atlanta wasn’t called for a penalty until more than 37 minutes had elapsed, and the officials allowed for a snap to happen before the down markers were properly set in the first quarter.

Pressley Harvin on Line 1

Speaking of dicey calls, there also was the Miles Killebrew hold when Johnston was injured. Regardless of that interpretation, Johnston’s kicking leg was hurt when an Atlanta special teamer crashed into it without a roughing the punter call.

Mike Tomlin said the injury was believed to be serious. He was hit, and he needed to be taken off on a cart.

“It’s a shame for him. This guy has been spectacular through team development. He is an absolute stud, not only in his talents but his approach to business. My heart goes out to him,” Tomlin said.

That’s incredibly unfortunate news because it looked like Johnston was going to be a significant upgrade on Pressley Harvin III from last year. Now it sounds like the Steelers are going to need a new punter — and holder.