According to Gregg Rosenthal, the Atlanta Falcons' Week 1 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers has the potential to be wild. On a recent episode of NFL Daily, Rosenthal predicted that the Falcons will light up the Pittsburgh Steelers behind a quick-strike offense led by Tua Tagovailoa.
“I think Tua Tagovailoa comes out Week 1 in Pittsburgh… him and Stefanski take it back to [Mike] McDaniel and Tua. They don’t get to 70 [points], but they get to like 42. And it’s just, they’re playing this quick-strike offense, the Steelers look old.”
Given the Falcons' winless history in Pittsburgh, it's the kind of prediction that sounds outrageous, until you look at what’s actually happening in Atlanta this offseason.
Rosenthal’s comment was rooted in a specific idea: that Kevin Stefanski can recreate the rhythm and spacing that once made Tagovailoa deadly in Miami under Mike McDaniel. At his best, Tagovailoa has incredible pre-snap reads and quick decisions as he tends to get the ball out in under 2.5 seconds.
The Falcons' best chance of starting 1-0 is if Tua Tagovailoa starts Week 1
That profile fits Stefanski’s offense far more naturally than many realize. Stefanski has always leaned on structure, play-action, layered route concepts, and defined reads. If there’s a coach built to help Tagovailoa rediscover his 2023 form (when he led the NFL in passing yards), this might be it.
And Week 1 could be the perfect storm for that style to explode before defenses have film on how Atlanta plans to deploy it.
Despite Michael Penix Jr. throwing during Falcons' Phase 2 workouts, Tua Tagovailoa is still the favorite to start Week 1 over Michael Penix Jr., implying roughly a 58% chance he takes the first snap in Pittsburgh.
That number reflects two realities: Penix is still working back from his third ACL rehab in eight years. And the Falcons signed Tagovailoa for a reason (to give themselves a legitimate starting option without rushing their young quarterback).
Even if Penix is ahead of schedule, Atlanta has zero incentive to force him into a hostile road opener when they have a veteran who has proven he can operate a high-efficiency offense at a Pro Bowl level.
If Tagovailoa walks into Pittsburgh and the Falcons hang 35 to 40 points with explosive efficiency, the conversation around the quarterback competition changes immediately. Not because Penix isn’t the future, but because Tua would have proven he can unlock the present until he's ready to return.
And suddenly, what sounded like a wild prediction starts to look like a very real possibility for how Atlanta’s 2026 season and the Stefanski era could begin… With a bang.
Add us as a preferred source on Google