What if the Falcons win/lose against the Pittsburgh Steelers

And we are back, once again. Following another long spring and summer, another training camp, three more preseason games and then everything in between, we have finally reached the starting point to another NFL season.

The Atlanta Falcons have been busy since last year’s season finale in New Orleans. They started things off by firing head coach Arthur Smith and eventually replacing him with former interim head coach turned Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.

In free agency they made a massive splash by signing quarterback Kirk Cousins and wide receiver Darnell Mooney. Following that initial wave after FA opened, general manager Terry Fontenot did not make anymore high profile signings until August came around, and Justin Simmons’ signature was secured. Just for good measure, a big trade was swung for pass rusher Matthew Judon, as well.

The Falcons seem primed to reach new heights after suffering through the mediocrity of their fifth 7-win season in the past six years, and third consecutive 7-10 campaign. The division is ripe for the taking and it has some fans asking “if not now, then when?”

This is now the sixth year in which I will be doing this article series and the concept is really quite simple — we will look to answer the basic question of what the scenario will be if the Falcons win the upcoming game and what it will be if they lose.

What this article ultimately ends up becoming is always up to the team. In just about every single season I have written it so far, it has become a series looking at draft scenarios, since Atlanta has always fallen out of contention in the latter stages. Last year was an exception, and not because they were good but because the NFC South was so bad. The hope is that the team will be good enough to turn this into an exercise looking at playoff scenarios, all year.

Let’s kick off this year’s rendition of the series by looking at the circumstances surrounding the Falcons if they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1, and also looking at the fallout from a scenario in which they lose.

If the Falcons win

They will win their second consecutive season opener, after triumphing over the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 last year, which is a decent bounce-back after going five straight years of starting 0-1 dating back to 2018.

The fanbase is clearly excited and has high expectations, given that Arthur Blank’s team has sold out all season tickets for the entire season for the first time in nearly two decades. A victory would be a great way to justify that excitement in the early going. It would also see the Birds do something incredibly rare, which is beat the Steelers. Atlanta is 2-15-1 all time against the Steel Curtain, which is their worst record head-to-head against any NFL team.

Former head coach Arthur Smith is making a very early return, coming back to the building as the new offensive coordinator of the Steelers. Following what was a sour ending in Atlanta, I don’t doubt that Smith will want to send a message to his former employers. Likewise, the Falcons and the fanbase will be eager to do the same by triumphing over the former boss.

The Kirk Cousins era will get off on the right foot on the team’s journey to a first playoff appearance since 2017. Cousins will also be looking to make the fifth playoff appearance of his career, now with his third team.

If the Falcons lose

They will get off on the wrong foot and set themselves up for what could be a very rough September. Looking ahead, they will have to travel to Philadelphia in Week 2 and will play host to the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in Week 3, with both of those games being in prime time. This home game against Pittsburgh is on paper their easiest game in the early going, and defeat could potentially have them looking at 0-3 if things start to go wrong early.

The fanbase will not enjoy losing to Arthur Smith in his first game back, and given not only how well Steelers fans travel in general but how they have specifically taken over the last couple of games in Atlanta, there could be danger of that happening again if Pittsburgh gives them reason to make their voices heard.

Given that (on paper) the toughest part of the schedule is in early September, I would not panic, even if the team gets off to the roughest of starts. Nonetheless, they will be guaranteed to fall behind someone in the early NFC South standings with the New Orleans Saints facing the Carolina Panthers in Week 1.