Falcons Regret Small Role for Drake London vs. Shade-Throwing Steelers

The Atlanta Falcons' passing game struggles left star receiver Drake London frustrated -- and less productive than expected.

Atlanta Falcons receiver Drake London had a quiet performance in Sunday's season-opening loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

ATLANTA -- Atlanta Falcons receiver Drake London darted over the middle, his arms away from his body, his hands corralling a seven-yard reception from quarterback Kirk Cousins early in the second quarter in Sunday's 18-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The play marked London's third target and second catch of the game. Over the final 42 minutes Sunday, it proved to be his last of each.

"We didn't get the ball to Drake enough," Falcons coach Raheem Morris said after the game.

Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was a significant reason as to why. Pittsburgh entered the game with plans of having the 6-foot-2, 193-pound Porter shadow the 6-foot-4, 213-pound London due to body type similarities.

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The seven-yard reception London hauled in over the middle was his lone grab against Porter, who asked postgame about London's statline and smiled when he heard the final numbers.

"Yeah, he did a little warm up today," Porter said, via Steelers.Com. "It was good."

London, a first-round pick in 2022, has been Atlanta's No. 1 receiver since entering the league. Across 33 games in his first two seasons, London compiled 141 receptions for 1,771 yards and six touchdowns.

Expectations grew for London entering 2024, as the arrival of four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins figured to bode well for London's production -- but in Week 1, it didn't.

Cousins had a difficult afternoon in his Falcons debut, going 16-of-26 for 155 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. In the second half, he went just 3-of-8 for 19 yards while taking two sacks for a loss of 18 yards, giving Atlanta one net yard of offense on passing plays over the final 30 minutes.

Morris said postgame he felt frustration on the sideline from London and tight end Kyle Pitts, who caught a combined five passes for 41 yards.

"Of course you're going to sense frustration from really competitive people wanting to get the ball in their hands to make a difference," Morris said. "I don't look at that as a negative, I look at that as competitors wanting to go out there and help their football team win any way they can."

The Falcons' aerial attack was led by running back Bijan Robinson, who caught all five of his targets for 43 yards. Receiver Ray-Ray McCloud added four receptions for 52 yards on a team-high seven targets.

No other player saw more than three passes head their way. To Morris, the lack of involvement for London and Pitts was a byproduct of several factors -- including Atlanta's three turnovers.

"You want to get the ball to Bijan more. You want to be able to run the football a lot," Morris said. "You’ve got to maintain possessions. You’ve got to keep some possessions. You can't turn the football over.

"When you do that, you limit the chance to get your playmakers the ball, and all those things hurt you. That's always going to hurt your production -- the turnovers."

And perhaps nobody's production suffered more than London.