T.J. Watt’s Pick-Six Saves McCarthy’s First Steelers Win

T.J. Watt returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown Sunday, and the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons 20-13.

It was Mike McCarthy’s first game as Pittsburgh’s coach and the last season opener of Aaron Rodgers’ career. Atlanta started third-string quarterback Cooper Rush and still hung around until the final minutes at Acrisure Stadium.

T.J. Watt Stole a Game Pittsburgh Could Not Finish

The play arrived 55 seconds into the fourth quarter, with the Steelers clinging to a 13-10 lead. Rush tried to dump the ball to Bijan Robinson in the flat. Watt, a former high school tight end, left right tackle Jawaan Taylor, jumped the throw, hit the turf, then got up and ran it in.

Officially it was 35 yards, and it was his first career pick-six. The extra point made it 20-10 with 14:05 left. Watt finished with four tackles, two sacks and a pick-six, three tackles for loss, and a pass breakup. He was later named Steelers Player of the Week.

THE WATT LINE

• The return: A 35-yard interception touchdown on a dump-off intended for Robinson.
• The rush: Two sacks, matching Alex Highsmith, as Pittsburgh dropped Rush four times.
• The year before: Seven sacks in 14 games in 2025, the down season that followed him into September.
• The career math: Ten interceptions now, 117 sacks, and one pick-six in a 10th season at age 31.

He did not play in the preseason. Cam Heyward sat those games too, then batted down three throws at the line. Highsmith had three tackles and two sacks. New safety Jaquan Brisker added six tackles and the other interception. Payton Wilson led the defense with 12 tackles and two for loss. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr., the only Steeler on the injury report, was inactive.

In practice I just try to tip passes as much as I can, trying to be as ball-aware as possible. But I don’t practice stuff like that.

T.J. Watt, Steelers linebacker, after the win

The down-year talk does not survive a tape of that dump-off. Watt still had to score because the offense kept leaving the door open.

Atlanta Started Its Third Quarterback

Rush was never supposed to be the story. Michael Penix Jr. is still working back from a torn ACL in 2025. Tua Tagovailoa won the job on Monday, then strained an oblique at Thursday’s practice and was ruled out Friday. That left Rush, on a one-year deal signed in July, and undrafted rookie Jack Strand as the emergency.

HOW THE JOB FELL TO RUSH

• Penix: Cleared to play, but told coach Kevin Stefanski he was not where he needed to be, and he was inactive.
• Tagovailoa: Named the Week 1 starter, then listed with an oblique injury and scratched on Friday.
• Rush: Dealt with back spasms on Saturday and still started, with Strand behind him.

Atlanta posted both starting quarterbacks inactive before kickoff. Rush went 12 of 22 for 143 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, with a 51.9 rating. Pittsburgh turned both picks into touchdowns. Drake London caught two balls for 29 yards on four targets. Kyle Pitts Sr. was targeted once and finished with nothing.

Stefanski did not dress it up.

If you look at the penalties, the turnovers… It’s just hard to win on the road when you do those things. Those are the things we feel like we can learn from.

Kevin Stefanski, Falcons coach, postgame

Forty Passes and 58 Rushing Yards

McCarthy called a pass-first game in a stadium that spent years watching Mike Tomlin lean on the run. Rodgers threw 40 times, completed 24, and gained 221 yards with a 6-yard touchdown to Pat Freiermuth and a 83.4 rating. He did not throw a pick. He also spent long stretches throwing into drops, flags, and a run game that finished with 58 rushing yards on 2.8 yards per carry.

Jaylen Warren had 10 carries for 46 yards and five catches for 27. Rico Dowdle added eight carries for 15 yards. The Steelers converted 3 of 13 third downs and went 0-for-2 on fourth. Only four of 13 possessions picked up more than one first down. Za’Darius Smith, in his Falcons debut, sacked Rodgers twice.

Michael Pittman Jr. led the receivers with three catches for 58 yards. DK Metcalf had four for 40 and dropped balls that would have changed the math. Freiermuth caught five for 46 and the only offensive touchdown. A 37-yard pass-interference call on A.J. Terrell, trailing Roman Wilson, set up Boswell’s 28-yard kick after Wilson might have scored if Terrell had not grabbed him.

TEAM TOTALS, WEEK 1

Rodgers said the group had a chance to be explosive and instead stacked drops, off-target throws, and flags he thought were missed. He mentioned a 40-yard pass-interference no-call that could have been a touchdown. The box score backs the complaint more than it backs the reunion hype: 4.1 yards per play, 264 yards, one offensive trip to the end zone.

Bijan Robinson Did the Work of a Whole Offense

Robinson touched the ball 29 times and piled up 173 yards from scrimmage, the sixth-most by a Falcon in a season opener. He ran 21 times for 83 yards and caught all eight of his targets for 90, including a 23-yard screen for Atlanta’s only touchdown. That score came after Mike Hughes forced a Warren fumble, recovered at the Pittsburgh 25, with 1:13 left in the first quarter.

In the first half he touched it 14 times, more than half of Atlanta’s 27 offensive plays, and caught seven balls for 66 yards. Brian Robinson Jr. added nine carries for 31. Together with a 6-yard London run, that was the Falcons’ 120 rushing yards. The problem was everything around him. Atlanta had 88 yards of offense in the first half and 87 penalty yards. Seven flags before the break. The Falcons did not score on any first-half drive that drew a penalty.

THE SCORING

• First quarter: Chris Boswell hits from 43 yards, then Robinson’s 23-yard catch makes it 7-3.
• Second quarter: Boswell from 28, then Freiermuth from 6 for a 13-7 lead. Nick Folk misses from 54.
• Third quarter: Folk misses from 45, then hits from 51 at 1:50 to cut it to 13-10.
• Fourth quarter: Watt’s pick-six makes it 20-10. Folk from 43 makes it 20-13. Boswell misses from 56 with 6:58 left.

Folk had missed three field goals across the previous three seasons, when he led the league in accuracy each year. He missed two on Sunday. Robinson also lost two fumbles. Jamel Dean and Jalen Ramsey each forced a fumble that Atlanta recovered. Da’Shawn Hand left with a knee injury. Terrell went into the medical tent in the third quarter and came back.

Why Mike McCarthy’s Debut Still Needed the Defense

McCarthy grew up on the other side of the river from the facility, and the building treated Sunday like a homecoming. He replaced Tomlin in January after 19 seasons. Rodgers, who spent 13 years with him in Green Bay, was playing the first game of a 22nd and final season. The product on the field looked like a lot of Tomlin openers: short fields, a defense that ate, and an offense that settled.

Patrick Graham’s front did the work it was supposed to do against a third-stringer. Six passes were swatted down. Rush never got comfortable. After Folk’s 43-yarder, Atlanta reached the Steelers’ 34, and Highsmith sacked Rush to force a punt. Pittsburgh then picked up three first downs, including a 14-yard throw to Metcalf and a 15-yard catch-and-run by Darnell Washington, and bled the last 4:16. Warren ripped off nine yards for a first down going into the two-minute warning after Atlanta had burned its timeouts.

That is how you go 1-0 without solving anything. McCarthy wanted the ball in Rodgers’ hands. He got 40 attempts, 58 rush yards, and a win that required Watt to play wide receiver for one snap.

Rodgers Handed the New Coach the Ball

In the locker room Rodgers put a worn football in McCarthy’s hands. McCarthy carried it from stall to stall, then put it away before he met the cameras. He called the day emotional and said he was glad the first one belonged to them.

First team ball, first win. So it’s obviously a special moment. I really appreciate the guys. Appreciate Aaron and the kind words, and it’s time to move on to get team victories from here on. I’m not one for attention. So, the homecoming’s been great. I’m just glad to get this one under our belt.

Mike McCarthy, Steelers coach, postgame

Rodgers said he had not thought about it being his last opener until someone asked. He was happy to be 1-0 and to check the first win off McCarthy’s list. He also said he had been looking forward to that locker-room moment as much as anything, with McCarthy’s parents still in town. The Steelers have now won three straight season openers. Sunday was the sloppiest of the bunch, with 16 accepted penalties, three fumbles, and three missed kicks in front of 66,089.

A 1-0 Record That Settles Very Little

Pittsburgh visits New England on Sunday, Sept. 20, at 1 p.m. ET. Atlanta hosts Carolina in its home opener at the same time, still waiting on word about Tagovailoa and Penix. The Steelers can put a win in the bank and still have the same questions they walked in with: whether this run game can exist, whether Metcalf and Pittman can finish plays, and whether a pass-heavy McCarthy script works when the other quarterback is healthy.

Watt already answered the question that followed him out of 2025. The rest of the building has a week to prove Sunday was a first-game mess against a short-handed roster, not the shape of the season. They fly east with a football in the new coach’s locker and a defense that just bailed out a farewell tour’s opening night.