— By Katie Mayock, Journalism Intern
The Pittsburgh Steelers opened the 2024-25 season with an 18-10 road win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Sept. 8th.
With starting quarterback Russell Wilson out with a calf injury, the Steelers relied on kicker Chris Boswell and their defense to pull out the win. Boswell made all six of his field goal attempts and the defense forced three Atlanta turnovers as the Pittsburgh offense was unable to score a touchdown.
In the first quarter, the teams traded field goals to go into the second tied 3-3. Just over two minutes into the second quarter, the Steelers notched another field goal to take their first lead, 6-3. That would be all the scoring until Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins found tight end Kyle
Pitts for a nine-yard touchdown with 32 seconds to go in the half. That would be just enough time for the Steelers to add another field goal as time expired to cut their halftime deficit to 10-9.
In the second half, the Steelers defense shut out the Falcons. On Atlanta’s first drive of the half, Steelers linebacker TJ Watt recovered a fumble, which the Steelers converted into a 57-yard field goal, Boswell’s longest of the day, to retake the lead, 12-9. In the fourth quarter, cornerback Donte Jackson intercepted Cousins and returned it 49 yards with about 2 1⁄2 minutes left. Boswell then made his sixth field goal of the day to seal the 18-10 win with 28 seconds left.
In his first start for the Steelers, Justin Fields completed 17 of 23 passes for 156 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. Running back Najee Harris rushed for 70 yards on 20 carries to lead the run game while wide receiver George Pickens led the team in receiving with six catches for 85 yards.
Up next, the Steelers will travel to Denver to take on the Broncos on Sunday, September 15th at 4:25 PM.
