PITTSBURGH — As he lifted himself from the Acrisure Stadium grass, Falcons quarterback Cooper Rush angrily pushed the football into the ground, looked toward the scoreboard and raised his right arm with a blend of fury and annoyance.
Rush didn’t know it yet, but the nine-yard sack he took with five minutes left in the fourth quarter — a third-down sack that pushed the Falcons, trailing the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-13, out of field goal range — was his final play of a self-proclaimed special day.
That was the lasting image.
Rush’s frustration poured out, and the Falcons’ defense, strong all day, couldn’t make one final stand. The Steelers took a 20-13 win over the Falcons on Sunday afternoon, a byproduct of a challenging offensive day under painful circumstances.
The 32-year-old Rush became the team’s starter Friday after Tua Tagovailoa suffered an oblique injury in Thursday’s practice. The extent of Rush’s practice time with the first-team offense beforehand was a two-minute drive during the first week of training camp.
Rush, entering his 10th NFL season, made his first career Week 1 start Sunday in Pittsburgh. He said no matter the reason, it was a “cool moment” to start the season opener, but he left Acrisure Stadium with remorse from an outing he feels could’ve had a much better ending.
“You always watch the tape, and it’s never as good, never as bad (as you think),” Rush said postgame. “So, we’ve got to watch it. Obviously disappointing. Wish I played better right now. That’s how I feel. Wish I put us in the right position to win.”
Rush went 12-for-22 passing for 143 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while taking four sacks. Both of the Steelers’ touchdowns came off Rush’s giveaways, one being a 35-yard pick-six by outside linebacker T.J. Watt, who Rush said has made a habit of delivering such plays.
The Falcons had a bit of a scare Saturday, when Rush had back spasms, but coach Kevin Stefanski said the veteran quarterback was “close” to 100% healthy. Rush echoed he was good to go, and he’s proud he preserved.
As for the efficiency, Stefanski said it was “hard to say right this minute” how Rush played without the benefit of watching film.
“He battled like I knew he would,” Stefanski said postgame. “Proud of him for how he fought through the end. Obviously, we don’t want to turn the ball over and those type of things, but we’ve got to look at ways we can help him.”
Quarterbacks often lean on the run game, and the Falcons largely had an effective day on the ground, rushing for 120 yards on 31 carries. Bijan Robinson led the Falcons with 21 carries for 83 yards, and he was also the team’s leading receiver with eight catches for 90 yards.
All of Robinson’s catches were underneath, in large part because the Falcons’ offense centered around quick-hitters. Receiver Drake London caught two passes for 29 yards, and receivers Jahan Dotson and Olamide Zaccheaus made one grab apiece. Tight end Kyle Pitts saw only one target and, for the third time in his 79-game NFL career, didn’t catch a pass.
Of Rush’s 22 pass attempts, only five went beyond 10 yards in the air.
“I think it’s just kind of the way it played out,” Falcons receiver Chris Blair said the of Falcons’ short-heavy passing attack. “Just trying to take what they gave us. Credit to Pittsburgh. They’ve got a good defense.”
The Falcons didn’t have to change much of their game plan despite a late-week shift from Tagovailoa to Rush. There were a few natural alterations given the former is left-handed and the latter is right-handed, but the team kept much of its original plan, Stefanski said.
Robinson felt Rush “did a good job” adapting, understanding the situation and executing within the system.
“Things happen, and you have to have the next man to step up and Coop, that’s what he did,” Robinson said postgame. “I give him credit, man. Like he came into fire. Well, he may not expected it, and he took advantage of it. So, I appreciate him for what he did this game.”
Blair said the past three days — which featured Tagovailoa’s oblique injury, two lengthy practices to get Rush acclimated, a Saturday walk-through, Rush’s back spasms, a flight to Pittsburgh and a game against a difficult defense — were “tough.”
“We had our faith in Coop,” Blair said. “We still do. The ball didn’t roll our way today, but it’s 18 weeks in this league, man.”
Through the first 10 games of the NFL’s Week 1 slate, Rush had the second-fewest passing yards by a starting quarterback, beating only the Tennessee Titans’ Cam Ward.
Stefanski attributed some of the Falcons’ pass-game woes to things not entirely within Rush’s control.
Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward batted three of Rush’s passes at the line of scrimmage, and that, coupled with five penalties by the Falcons’ offense, took away a few opportunities. But of the team’s penalties, only one — an eight-yard pass to London — negated a completion from Rush.
The Falcons did, however, put themselves behind schedule and saw multiple drives end prematurely because of penalties.
“This league is hard enough,” Rush said. “We get penalties, put us behind the sticks, it’s hard. For the most part, I thought we were resilient, kept playing ball. We have to clean those up to win in this league.”
Stefanski didn’t have any updates about Tagovailoa or Michael Penix Jr., and if neither plays next week against the Carolina Panthers, Rush figures to get the nod once more over undrafted rookie Jack Strand.
The Rush-led Falcons offense kept pace with the Steelers. Atlanta had more time of possession and picked up 16 first downs to Pittsburgh’s 15, while the Steelers held a narrow edge in total yards, 264-238.
Rush entered an unenviable situation, given three days to build chemistry with a new group of pass-catchers and execute an offensive system he’s been forced to learn on the fly since being signed July 29.
The frustrations of Sunday — the ball-slamming, arm-raising, postgame sayings — weren’t necessarily unexpected. But the Falcons feel they have the pieces to be a complete offense, and third-string quarterback aside, they believe they left Pittsburgh with plenty more to show.
Lessons learned, a foundation built, and belief — with better quarterback play — that brighter offensive days may come as soon as next Sunday.
“I think we have so much to improve on,” Robinson said. “We have a lot of talent on this team, on this offense and we realize that the defense played their butts off, man. So, it’s really on us to capitalize off that so we can put the ball in the end zone and play complementary football.”
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