The Pittsburgh Steelers will be relying on their defense to help carry them to a Week 1 win. Injuries have decimated the offense, as many key players will be out for the game. They are also back in training camp mode: there is no clarity as to who the starting quarterback will be, as Russell Wilson is officially listed as questionable with his calf issue flaring up. The defense did a lot of the heavy lifting for the Steelers for the past few years, and they will have to do it again to leave Atlanta with a win.
Kyle Brandt, however, thinks that the Steelers will have a different player show up and lead them to a 1-0 record. He talked about this while on Good Morning Football.
"You know who I can't wait to watch in this game? You know who's going to steal this game? Cordarrelle Patterson. Watch Cordarrelle Patterson. Now on the Steelers, formerly of the [Atlanta] Falcons. Watch that dynamic kick return. When the news announced they were going to do it, everybody was like, "Oh, Cordarrelle Patterson -- and also -- the Steelers got him like five seconds after the news came out. He's the best kick returner of this generation. Watch him steal this game, you heard it."
Cordarrelle Patterson has made a living off of returning kickoffs. He is entering his 12th season in the NFL, and his first in Pittsburgh. He has moved around other teams' offenses, switching between running back and wide receiver to get more chances to run with the ball, but teams sign him with the primary goal of getting touchdowns without having to send the offense on the field. That role will stay the same in Pittsburgh.
Patterson is listed as the Steelers' third string running back, but who knows how many snaps he will get behind the team's elite rushing duo in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren? The Steelers didn't give him a multi-year deal just to give him 10 touches per season. With the new kickoff rules, they are expecting the ball to be kicked his way regularly, as opposed to over his head for a touchback. That extra big-play threat will be in the back of the Atlanta Falcons' minds.
Steelers Have Some Obstacles To Clear For Patterson
After nursing an injury throughout training camp, the Steelers opted to not give Patterson any chances to return kicks during the preseason, so their Week 1 game will be the first time that he ever uses the new rules in a game. Obviously, he and Danny Smith, the special teams coordinator, have been working on strategies in practice, but you never know how well they will work until they get used in a contest.
Patterson was also with the Falcons for the previous three seasons. While they also don't know how he will do with the dynamic kickoff, they still know everything about his game. If there is any team that will be prepared to stop him, it's Atlanta. No other team will be as prepared to shut Patterson down as the team that he was most recently a part of.
The Falcons could also take a page out of the opening game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City Chiefs. All but two of the numerous kickoffs from that game were touchbacks. The Chiefs never let the Ravens return the kick and opted to let them start at the 30-yard line. They decided to wait to figure out a good strategy to defend this new feature as opposed to test out other ones immediately.
If the Falcons don't trust their ability to stop Patterson, they could do the same thing. It still could work out for the Steelers, as they would get to start in solid field position each drive. Patterson has always been the kind of player that completely changes a team's gameplan just by his appearance on the field each week, and Atlanta may balk at the chance to try to tackle him in the game.
