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We knew the big news ahead of time for the Atlanta Falcons: defensive tackle Grady Jarrett was not playing, while running back Devonta Freeman was to return for his first game since the week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t dealing with any major injuries, so we were pretty confident the only surprise would be Le’Veon Bell returning in the dead of night.
Our inactives for #ATLvsPIT ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/seoKkegXyp
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 7, 2018
The Falcons could definitely use special teams ace Justin Bethel back soon, but the only notable thing here is that recently signed “No, not that Michael Bennett” Michael Bennett is active. He should bring up the very back of the defensive tackle rotation.
STEELERS INACTIVES
— Michael Fabiano (@Michael_Fabiano) October 7, 2018
QB Mason Rudolph
S Marcus Allen
S Morgan Burnett
OT Zach Banner
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey
DE L.T. Walton
LB Vince Williams
The notable players here, like special teams ace Darrius Heyward-Bey and starting linebacker Vince Williams, were listed as doubtful and were unexpected to play.
The only game news that may impact the result today is the state of the field.
The rain came down so hard and so fast, refs at the Syracuse-Pitt game cleared Heinz Field for more than an hour. They have another quarter-plus to play today... and then it’s #Falcons-#Steelers on that same grass roughly 20 hours later.
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) October 6, 2018
The Falcons have enough injuries, so lets hope this field is in better condition than expected.