How Zach Frazier and Beanie Bishop Performed in Their NFL Debut

A solid start to the NFL career of a pair of former Mountaineers.

Schuyler Callihan | Sep 9, 2024

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West Virginia Mountaineers

The Pittsburgh Steelers surprisingly took down the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon with backup quarterback Justin Fields getting the starting nod late in the week due to Russell Wilson nursing a calf injury.

A pair of former Mountaineers, center Zach Frazier, and cornerback Beanie Bishop, made their official NFL debuts and did so as starters.

It wasn't an ideal start for Frazier, who had a bad center-to-quarterback exchange on the first drive of the day and was put on skates trying to protect against a pass rush. Justin Fields had a few bad exchanges with center Nate Herbig in the preseason as well, so it's something that could be placed on him rather than Frazier. Following the shaky start, Frazier bounced back to have a really strong afternoon especially late in the game when the Steelers were attempting to milk the clock.

On the other side of the ball, Bishop recorded the third-most tackles of any Steeler defender with four. He was, however, wrongly criticized by some Steeler fans after Kirk Cousins found a wide-open Kyle Pitts in the end zone for a touchdown late in the first half.

Can someone who knows Xs and Os tell me what Beanie Bishop is doing here???? Who is passing Kyle Pitts off to? The pylon? Looks like terrible rookie mistake. pic.twitter.com/c6AtzgggfG
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) September 8, 2024

The Steelers appeared to be in Cover 2 and with running back Bijan Robinson rolling out of the backfield into the flat, Bishop was put in no man's land. He either comes up and takes Robinson out of the play leaving Pitts open, or drops back giving Robinson a clear path to the end zone. From all the angles I've seen, he made the right decision. He should have help over the top in this coverage, it just wasn't there.

Frazier and Bishop will look to build on their week 1 performance when they travel to Denver next Sunday for a date with the Broncos. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:25 p.m. EST on CBS.

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