ATLANTA (AP) — With Russell Wilson’s Pittsburgh debut put on hold by a calf injury, Justin Fields stepped in to lead the Steelers to a 18-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday — with a big assist from Chris Boswell’s strong right leg.
Boswell booted six field goals, three of them longer than 50 yards, and the Steelers made life miserable for Kirk Cousins in his first game as Atlanta’s big-money quarterback.
Boswell connected from 57, 56, 51, 44, 40 and 25 yards to account for all the Steelers’ scoring.
Wilson was ruled out before the game and worked the sideline as the inactive third quarterback. Pittsburgh kept the play-calling close to the vest under new coordinator Arthur Smith, who was fired in January after three seasons as Atlanta’s head coach.
Smith certainly got a bit of payback against his former employer, while new Falcons coach Raheem Morris endured a tough start to a season of high expectations in Atlanta, which has endured six straight losing campaigns.
Cousins hardly looked like a quarterback worthy of the four-year, $180 million deal the Falcons gave him in free agency, including $100 million in guaranteed money. He didn’t play at all in the preseason while coming back from an Achilles injury that cut short his final season with the Minnesota Vikings.
In his first game since Oct. 29, Cousins was just 16 of 26 for 155 yards with two interceptions, including a pick by Donte Jackson and 49-yard return with about 2 1/2 minutes that finished off any hopes of an Atlanta comeback. In an appropriate finish, Cousins was sacked on the last play of the game.
One week into the season, and Atlanta is again facing questions about its long-troubled quarterback position, which is sure to heat up even more with first-round pick Michael Penix Jr. sitting on the bench.
Fields, the former first-round pick who was dumped by the Chicago Bears, was 17 of 23 for 156 yards. He fumbled his first snap of the game — and quickly jumped on it — but didn’t make the sort of major mistakes that plagued Cousins and the Falcons.
Atlanta also lost a fumble when Ross Dwelley went in motion, with Cousins appearing to indicate for him to stay put, and ran right in front of the shotgun snap. T.J. Watt, who seemed to be everywhere, recovered it for the Steelers.
That was only appropriate, since Watt also caused two other fumbles — recovering one of them — only to have both plays overturned by penalties.
On the very next play after one of those flags, Cousins found Kyle Pitts wide open in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass that gave the Falcons a 10-6 lead with 32 seconds left in the first half.
Fields responded with a 41-yard pass to George Pickens, who stepped out of bounds with just 3 seconds remaining. Boswell came on to boot his third field goal of the half.
INJURY REPORT
Steelers: P Cameron Johnston hobbled off the field late in the game with an apparent right leg injury after an Atlanta player was blocked into him, actually resulting in a penalty on the Steelers. Pittsburgh was forced to punt again, with Boswell handling the duties. … In addition to Wilson, Pittsburgh also was missing OG Isaac Seumalo (pectoral) and WR Roman Wilson (ankle).
Falcons: OG Chris Lindstrom was cleared to return after being evaluated for a possible head injury in the first half.
UP NEXT
Steelers: Play their second straight road game to open the season when they face the Denver Broncos next Sunday. If Wilson is able to play, it’s a chance for redemption against the team where he spent two miserable seasons before being cut loose and signing with Pittsburgh.
Falcons: Travel to Philadelphia for a prime-time game against the Eagles next Monday night.
