Watt Pick-Six Seals Steelers Over Falcons

T.J. Watt ripped a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown 55 seconds into the fourth quarter, turning a Cooper Rush tip into a 20-10 Pittsburgh lead as the Steelers beat the Atlanta Falcons 20-13 on Sunday at Acrisure Stadium. It was Watt's first career pick-six and his third career touchdown, and it stamped Mike McCarthy's first regular-season win as Steelers head coach.

Pittsburgh did not need pretty. It needed Watt's hands up, a tip, and a sprint the other way. Aaron Rodgers later handed McCarthy a game ball in the locker room. Fantasy IDP managers who started Watt for the sack floor just got the splash play ceiling instead.

Defense sets the tone against Rush

Watt and Alex Highsmith each notched a couple of sacks. Jaquan Brisker picked off Rush earlier and set up Pittsburgh's first touchdown. Cam Heyward batted down three passes at the line. Payton Wilson piled up 12 tackles, including two for loss. Drake London was held to two catches for 29 yards, and Kyle Pitts Sr. was shut out.

Bijan Robinson still made life hard with 173 yards of offense and a touchdown, including a 23-yard scoring catch after a Jaylen Warren fumble. That was Atlanta's answer to Chris Boswell's early 43-yard field goal. Brisker's interception flipped the field, and Rodgers found Pat Freiermuth for a 6-yard touchdown to make it 13-7 before Watt's pick-six blew the door open.

Rodgers manages, Watt finishes

Rodgers finished 24 of 40 for 221 yards and the Freiermuth score. Michael Pittman Jr. led the receivers with 58 yards on three catches. Freiermuth had five catches for 46 yards and the first Pittsburgh touchdown of the season. Late, Jaylen Warren's 9-yard run into the two-minute warning helped close it out with Atlanta out of timeouts.

McCarthy called the win emotional. Freiermuth framed it as September stack-wins football. The loudest moment belonged to Watt: tip, catch, 35 yards, touchdown, 20-10, and a 1-0 start under the new coach.

Atlanta's offense leaned on Robinson after Rush struggled to find London and Pitts. Pittsburgh's offense did enough, then leaned on the defense to finish. That is the McCarthy-era template in Week 1: manage, tackle, and let Watt create the highlight. IDP rooms that streamed Watt for sacks got the interception return instead, and Steelers fans who waited through a grind got the 1-0 start they wanted.

First career pick-six. Twenty to thirteen. Steelers win. That is the T.J. Watt opener at Acrisure.