Aaron Rodgers began his final NFL season by throwing for 221 yards and a score and T.J. Watt returned an interception for a touchdown to lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 20-13 victory over the visiting Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.
Watt also had three tackles for loss and two sacks for the Steelers (1-0), who won their third straight season opener.
Cooper Rush completed 12 of 22 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown while throwing two interceptions for the Falcons (0-1). Bijan Robinson rushed for 83 yards and had eight catches for 90 yards and a score.
Facing a 13-7 halftime deficit, Atlanta threatened to cut the margin in half on its first drive of the second half, but Nick Folk missed his second field goal attempt of the game — this time a 45-yard try.
The Steelers punted and then turned the ball over on downs on their next two possessions.
Robinson took a 24-yard pass into Pittsburgh territory on the next drive, which led to Folk’s 51-yarder that trimmed the lead to 13-10 with 1:50 left in the third.
After a Pittsburgh punt, Watt plucked Rush’s pass out of the air and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown to make it 20-10 with 14:05 remaining in the fourth.
The Falcons answered with Folk’s 43-yarder, then Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell missed wide right on a 56-yard attempt to leave the door open for the visitors with 6:58 left.
Atlanta advanced to the Steelers’ 34 on the following possession, but Alex Highsmith sacked Rush to force a punt.
Pittsburgh picked up three first downs on the final drive to ice the win.
The Steelers struck first on Boswell’s 43-yard field goal. Following the Falcons’ second punt, Atlanta’s Mike Hughes forced Jaylen Warren’s fumble that was recovered at the Steelers’ 25-yard line.
Three plays later, Rush tossed a swing pass to Robinson, who took it 23 yards for a touchdown to give the Falcons a 7-3 edge with 1:13 left in the first quarter.
Pittsburgh had to settle for another Boswell field goal on the ensuing drive, a 28-yarder to pull the Steelers within a point.
Pittsburgh regained the ball when Rush was picked off by Jaquan Brisker. Rodgers then hit Warren for 18 yards before finding Pat Freiermuth for a 6-yard touchdown pass to give the Steelers a 13-7 edge.
Folk then missed a 54-yard field goal try in his first attempt with Atlanta.
