Steelers TJ Watt does his famous introduction leap out of the tunnel as he announced to the fans prior to the start of the home opener against the Falcons. Pittsburgh hosted Atlanta Sunday in the season opener at Acrisure Stadium. (Photo by Mike Longo Jr.)

Watt’s pick-six helps Steelers down Falcons, 20-13, in McCarthy’s debut

West Hills Gazette

September 13, 2026

T.J. Watt came to play in week one, tallying two sacks, three tackles for losses, four tackles and a game-changing pick-six in the Steelers’ 20-13 victory Sunday over the Atlanta Falcons at Acrisure Stadium.

After a down year in which he had his second-lowest career sack total (seven), Watt made a statement when it counted the most.

With Pittsburgh holding a slim 13-10 lead despite being unable to get anything going offensively, Watt came alive, picking off a short pass from third-string Falcons quarterback Cooper Rush and then diving, getting to his feet and taking it 35 yards for the score.

“Frankly, great players make great plays all the time,” Steelers first-year head coach Mike McCarthy said after registering his first win at the helm of his hometown team.

“You see that play in practice. You see that play on the cutups. T.J. makes the same play. He goes, you know, he jumps up and catches the ball."

It was Watt’s first career pick-six and his 10^th career interception. 

“I don’t do jugs,” Watt said. “I just try to practice tipped passes as much as I can, just trying to be as ball aware as possible. Just instinct, honestly."

Watt was happy he heard a teammate tell him to keep running as he was never touched down.

“I had no idea,” he said. “I had no bearing at all. I'm sure the fall didn't look too graceful, but I’m glad someone told me to get up.”

The Steelers’ defense was the saving grace in the season opener. Payton Wilson went off with 13 total tackles and two TFLs. Jaquan Brisker added an interception and Alex Highsmith racked up two sacks and TFLs.

“Alex had a heck of a game,” Watt said. “I told him I’m not surprised after the call he had. Cam (Heyward)  had a lot of pass breakups. Brisk with the pick. Jalen (Ramsey) with the forced fumble. You had PQ (Patrick Queen) and 41 (Wilson) flying around inside too. I think there’s a lot of depth to this defense and there's a lot of guys that can make a lot of plays.”

Watt added that the defensive scheme from Patrick Graham was a success. The team is excited to continue to work with Graham.

“I think schematically you'll see some things different, but you hope that the traits are still the same,” Watt said. “The ball hawking, creating splash. Getting as many hats to the ball as possible, getting off the field as quickly as possible.”

Watt arguably had the best season opener of his career. The last two times Watt opened the season with two sacks was 2021 and 2023. In 2021, he ended up breaking the sack record with 22.5 and in 2023 he finished with 19 sacks.

In 2021, Watt won defensive player of the year by a landslide.

Although the Pittsburgh defense looked good, holding the Falcons to 238 total yards, the Steelers benefited from Atlanta’s failure to capitalize on several scoring opportunities that could have tied the game or given the Falcons the lead. And offensively, the Steelers managed just 264 total yards -- just 91 more yards than Falcons running back Bijan Robinson had single-handedly.

Nonetheless, Pittsburgh pulled out the victory for McCarthy in his first game coaching in his hometown.

“We all know how special this city is to Coach and this team is to Coach,” Watt said. “To grow up just down the road from our practice facility to have his first win as a Steeler is a pretty cool moment. It was kind of cool that Aaron [Rodgers] got to give him the game ball."

Photos by Mike Longo Jr.