On a Week 1 schedule with start-to-finish heavyweight matchups, the Steelers-Falcons opener at Mercedes-Benz Stadium might fall through the cracks. But the game is loaded with storylines.
Each club has a big-name starting quarterback making his debut, Pittsburgh’s Russell Wilson and Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins, and each has a unique backup who could see planned action on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX). Atlanta also has Wilson’s former Denver teammate, All-Pro safety Justin Simmons. But the coaching connections are what leap from the media guides. Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer D. Orlando Ledbetter called Sunday a “wrestling death match of coaches.”
In contrast, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris will put his friendship aside when he faces Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. While Morris and Tomlin were assistants on Tony Dungy’s Buccaneers staff more than 20 years ago, Morris called Sunday business and nothing else.
“I’m probably a little different when it comes to that,” Morris told reporters Wednesday, per Ledbetter. “I’m old. I’ve been coaching a long time. I turned 48 yesterday. I’ve been around a long time. I’ve been fired; I’ve been hired.”
It’s also an Atlanta return for former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith, now the Steelers’ offensive coordinator. Well-liked by Falcons players he’ll see in pregame for the first time since last season, Smith was fired by Atlanta hours after their season finale Jan. 7 following a three-year stint. Morris said he expects Tomlin to award Smith a game ball should Pittsburgh win, but both sides also see Sunday as business.
“I don’t feel any resentment toward Arthur Smith or any of the guys,” Morris said. “And I don’t really think he will, either. I think he’s really just kind of go on to his next win. I think you get to the point that you just focus. I think you just focus on getting a win, whoever you’re going against.”
Whoever Cousins goes against on the Pittsburgh defense, which includes T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward, it’ll be his first live contact since rupturing his Achilles’ tendon Oct. 29 with Minnesota. The quarterback added Wednesday that he wants to get it out of the way.
“Yeah, you do,” said Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million deal this offseason. “In a sick way you do. I’ll probably tell the first guy that hits me, ‘thank you.’”
And after exchanging those pleasantries, Morris expects him to return to pre-injury form.
“It’s hard to say that you’re worried about Kirk getting hit,” said Morris, who mentioned Cousins’ 13-year career. “The guy’s done it a bunch within the deal. Definitely there’s always some stuff with injury, but guys in this game are built for that. That’s why they’re a different breed, different animal. There are different type of guys that go out and play this game and he’s one of those.”