Falcons Offense Rues 'Self Inflicted' Mistakes in Loss vs. Steelers

Inside the Atlanta Falcons' offensive struggles in Sunday's season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins had a difficult team debut Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Falcons' first drive in Sunday's season-opening 18-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium went almost exactly how head coach Raheem Morris hoped it would.

Atlanta, which won the toss and elected to receive the opening kick, marched down the field with a balanced attack.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins hit passes to three different players -- receivers Drake London and Darnell Mooney and running back Bijan Robinson -- while Robinson and fellow runner Tyler Allgeier each had efficient runs.

But when the Falcons reached a 1st and Goal, their momentum stopped. Steelers edge rusher TJ Watt sliced into the backfield, dropping Robinson for a three-yard loss. Atlanta failed to overcome the play and ultimately settled for a 24-yard field goal from kicker Younghoe Koo.

Still, the 12-play, 59-yard drive was promising. It was also, quietly, the start of the next 54 minutes of Pittsburgh suffocation.

Atlanta had only one series go more than 22 yards over its final nine attempts. The Falcons ran only 11 plays over their final four possessions. They finished the day with 226 net yards but had three turnovers and converted only 2-of-9 third downs.

The Falcons' offense was penalized three times for 24 yards, but those penalties negated 32 total yards, including an illegal hand to the face penalty on left tackle Jake Matthews that removed a 17-yard catch-and-run for tight end Kyle Pitts.

But after eight months of anticipation, such an underwhelming performance leaves one prominent question: What happened?

"That's a question everyone's trying to figure out," Matthews said.

At its simplest form, the primary reasoning provided by Morris, quarterback Kirk Cousins and several members of Atlanta's offense centered around turnovers and penalties.

Allgeier noted the penalties put the Falcons off track, while Morris said the turnovers took snaps -- and, thus, opportunities -- away from the offense's playmakers.

Part of it, too, is the caliber at which Pittsburgh's defense played. Watt finished with one sack, two tackles for loss and three quarterback hits. Defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi added two hits, while Montravius Adams pitched in another sack.

Cousins was hit seven times total in his first game back since rupturing his Achilles in Week 8 last season. Morris said Watt causes problems and deserves plenty of credit, as does the rest of the Steelers' defense.

Still, the Falcons need to reach the point where they can execute against any opponent, Morris said, and the team plans on finding solutions in practice throughout the next week.

"Those guys made plays," Morris said. "We turned the ball over in the second half, hitting people in their face and doing some of the things of that nature, and we can't do that. We've got to play better all across the board -- some of the blocking, the protection, being comfortable -- all those things come into play."

The Falcons' final drive of the first half was their most fruitful. A nine-play, 85-yard march culminated in a 12-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Pitts. The series gave Morris optimism the second half would consist of much of the same -- but it didn't.

Over the final 30 minutes, Atlanta's offense mustered only three first downs, none of which came through the air. The Falcons gained 51 net yards, and Cousins was hit as many times -- three -- as he had completed passes.

Atlanta had one net yard through the air; Cousins went 3-of-8 for 19 yards and an interception while taking two sacks for a loss of 18 yards. Cousins attributed the offense's overall lack of success to an inability to sustain drives, be it due to flags or turnovers, and the frequency of 3rd and long's the group faced.

To Matthews, the story of the second half was one step forward, two steps back.

"It just seemed like a lot of, we would get going, and then there would be a penalty or something that would set us back," Matthews said. "It's hard to dig yourself out of a 2nd and 15 or 3rd and 12 or whatever it may be.

"That's a really good defense, and when you put yourself at a disadvantage, it's hard to get out of it."

Still, the Falcons had a chance down to the final snap. Their defense held the Steelers to six field goals -- three in each half -- and the deficit never extended beyond one possession.

Atlanta's defense was on the field for over 19 minutes of game action in the second half. It bent, but never broke. The offense failed to deliver. For Allgeier, reversing course moving forward starts with fixing the miscues.

"Our defense did a great job just keeping us in the game," Allgeier said. "I think just cleaning up those little errors -- what can we as running backs can do better to really help eliminate those turnovers, or even those errors? So I think looking at ourselves and then what we can do."

Cousins admitted postgame at least some, if not a lot, of the Falcons' miscues were self-inflicted. He had two of them.

The four-time Pro Bowler threw his first interception on Atlanta's second offensive drive. Under pressure, he wanted to throw the pass away and knew London would be somewhere in the middle of the field.

Cousins saw the color of a Steelers jersey but intended to throw the pass far in front of London. Instead, Steelers safety DeShon Elliott flew in for the takeaway. Cousins said he should've thrown the pass lower or simply taken the sack.

On his second interception, Cousins again had pressure in his face and was hit as he threw. He couldn't get anything on the pass as a result, and Atlanta's best chance at salvaging a win -- possessing the ball just past midfield, trailing 15-10 with three minutes remaining -- went down the drain as Steelers corner Donte Jackson picked it off.

If he could do it over, Cousins said he would've held the ball and taken the sack or progressed one read further to avoid the critical error. Atlanta's third turnover was a fumble in which center Drew Dalman's snap hit tight end Ross Dwelley, who was darting across the formation, and led to a scrum that Pittsburgh ultimately won.

Cousins, who signed a four-year, $180 million contract this spring, finished his Falcons debut 16-of-26 for 155 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. As a result, the offense's overall production suffered.

"I was disappointed," Cousins said. "Certainly disappointed. You always go out there with an expectation you're going to play at a high level, and we didn't play up to our standard today."

Cousins averaged only six yards per attempt, and his longest pass play -- a completion to receiver Ray-Ray McCloud in which Cousins was hit as he threw, resulting in a floating pass that fell fortunately into McCloud's hands -- went for just 20 yards.

Mooney cited the Steelers' defensive approach as the root of Atlanta's lack of explosiveness.

"The defense, they were falling off on everybody," Mooney said. "So, it was hard to get some things deep. They were sitting at like 25 yards, so it's kind of hard to get deep shots in there. Kind of have to just take what they give you, throw it to Bijan and those guys."

Robinson benefitted, catching a team-high five passes for 43 yards. He added 18 carries for 68 yards, and his 23 total touches matched his career high from last season.

The Falcons ran 50 plays, meaning Robinson touched the ball on nearly half the team's snaps. Morris was asked afterwards if he likes that percentage, and he responded by saying he likes winning -- which Atlanta didn't do.

Still, Morris exited Mercedes-Benz Stadium instilled with confidence in what he saw from the 22-year-old Robinson.

"He's a guy, and I was really pleased with the way he played the game," Morris said. "Just with the mental toughness and ability to go out there and continue to try to make us win and putting us in a winning position, although we were not able to come out with it."

For as involved as Robinson proved to be, London and Pitts were not. Touchdown aside, Pitts saw only two other targets -- both catches -- and gained 14 yards. London received three targets, resulting in two receptions for 15 yards.

Morris said after the game he sensed frustration from London and Pitts, citing each player's competitiveness, and added he views it not as a negative but as competitors wanting to help their team win. Pitts dubbed it "competitive excellence."

The Falcons have many mouths to feed. Morris doesn't think they satisfied everyone's hunger Sunday -- in large part due to the group's overall sloppiness.

"We didn't get the ball to Drake enough," Morris said. "But hey, you want to get the ball to Bijan more, you want to be able to run the football a lot, 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. So, that's always going to hurt your production with turnovers."

Mooney said he felt the offense ran smoothly but simply has to lower the "unnecessary" turnovers. Allgeier believes the means to doing that revolves around details and technique.

Effort and finishing is present, Allgeier said, but the Falcons have to iron out the small details.

"It was the first time [playing] live ball, getting the cadence," Allgeier said. "Started off pretty fast, but I think turnovers -- the turnover margin, that's really the biggest difference between winning and losing games. It's a lot of stuff we can clean up, so excited to learn from it this week."

The Falcons now face an important week of film review before heading to Philadelphia for a Monday Night Football contest with the Eagles. Cousins said Atlanta has to be strategic in the answers it finds with hopes of preventing the self-inflicted miscues from becoming a recurring problem.

And perhaps nothing better summarizes the mood of Atlanta's postgame locker room than that -- an urgency to find answers, because the offense saw glimpses of what it can be and is determined on making that the new normal.

"When we do that and go out there and execute the right way, then I think the sky's the limit for us," Robinson said. "But we have to do the little things right first. Secure our blocks, let nobody free -- when we do that, I think we have the talent, speed and physicality to get it done."

At his introductory press conference in March, Cousins said he hoped by Week 1, the offense would look like it had been together for five years. By all accounts, it didn't.

But Sunday was just Part 1 of a 17-chapter book, and the Falcons are steadfast on righting the wrongs of a season opener far from what many expected.

"If we hang on this loss, it's never good for a team," Robinson said. "We know we have what it takes, but on Monday, we've got to go in there and make our presence felt."