3 Winners (and 5 losers) in Atlanta Falcons miserable season debut

Winner: Atlanta's defense

The Steelers won 18-10 but that doesn't tell the full story of how impressive this defense was. Continually left on the field in the second half they made stops and gave Kirk Cousins a chance. It was almost as if Desmond Ridder and Arthur Smith were still running the Atlanta offense. Watching the Atlanta defense play as hard as you could reasonably wish for and it still didn't matter.

Atlanta's defense was consistently put in bad field position or thrown back onto the field after a big play. Each time they responded and gave the offense a chance to turn the game. While Justin Fields and the Steelers aren't the best measuring stick for your defensive talent it was a positive sign.

Arthur Smith without question gave Atlanta his best shot and Atlanta's offense continually created chances for Fields and the Pittsburgh offense. The pass rush is still a concern but Grady Jarrett and Matthew Judon both showed signs of life.

Jarrett had a key sack that created another chance the Falcons would again fail to take advantage of. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come this season for the Atlanta defense.