{"id":283616,"date":"2026-09-11T08:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/283616\/"},"modified":"2026-09-11T08:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T08:22:16","slug":"yall-have-questions-and-concerns-as-well-ex-falcons-rb-thinks-pittsburgh-isnt-much-better-team-than-atlanta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/283616\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Y’all Have Questions And Concerns As Well’: Ex-Falcons RB Thinks Pittsburgh Isn’t ‘Much Better Team’ Than Atlanta"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday for their first game of the year. It doesn\u2019t look like the toughest matchup, especially with Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa\u2019s status up in the air.<\/a> However, former Falcons running back Michael Turner doesn\u2019t think that there\u2019s a significant talent gap between Pittsburgh and Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of unknowns,\u201d Turner said Thursday on the Bleav in Falcons podcast.<\/a> \u201cY\u2019all got new coordinators, new coaching staff. We\u2019ve got new coaching staff. But we both have suitable stars on the team. It\u2019s a matter of which star\u2019s gonna step up on Sunday\u2026 Y\u2019all can be favored. I\u2019m cool with that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut do I think y\u2019all are a much better team than us? No. I do not think that. Y\u2019all have questions and concerns as well. Y\u2019all got a new coach for a reason, just like we\u2019ve got a new coach for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, the Steelers aren\u2019t a perfect team.<\/a> They\u2019ve got plenty of issues, including CB Joey Porter Jr.\u2019s contract and game status. They also have a new head coach for the first time in almost 20 years. There will likely be associated growing pains.<\/p>\n

However, the Falcons and Steelers are in different situations. Both teams have new head coaches this year for different reasons. Mike Tomlin stepped down after losing in the first round of the playoffs again. The Steelers still won their division last year, though.<\/p>\n

Compare that to what the Falcons have done recently. They went 8-9 last year and fired head coach Raheem Morris after his second season there. While the Steelers haven\u2019t had a losing season since 2003, the Falcons haven\u2019t had a winning season since 2017. The two franchises have clear differences.<\/p>\n

Still, the 2026 Falcons don\u2019t lack talent, as Turner explained in that same video.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got Bijan Robinson. Get him 100 yards on the ground. We\u2019ve got Kyle Pitts. Give him 50, 60 yards. We\u2019ve got Drake London. Give him 50, 60 yards\u2026 We\u2019ve got guys that we don\u2019t have to depend on Tua to do everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Falcons\u2019 strength is their star players on offense. Robinson is arguably the NFL\u2019s best<\/a> running back. Pitts has had some disappointing seasons, but he caught 88 passes for 928 yards and five touchdowns last year, and was named a Second-team All-Pro. London is dangerous, too. He likely would\u2019ve posted his second 1,000-yard season last year if not for injuries.<\/p>\n

However, the Steelers don\u2019t lack offensive talent, either. DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman Jr. could be a solid receiver duo. Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington give Pittsburgh versatile tight ends. Also, Jaylen Warren and Rico Dowdle should provide the Steelers with a powerful rushing attack.<\/p>\n

The real difference is on defense. The Steelers have more invested on that side of the ball than the Falcons. While Atlanta\u2019s top talent might be better, Pittsburgh\u2019s roster is more complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday for their first game of the year.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11861,118295,88480,73,75,74,1833],"class_list":["post-283616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-atlanta-falcons","tag-bleav-in-falcons","tag-michael-turner","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-steelers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=283616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/283616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=283616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=283616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=283616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}