The uncertainty associated with NFL regular-season openers is part of the nature of the beast, from Atlanta to Seattle.
Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham intends to respond accordingly in advance of the Steelers' opener on Sunday against the Falcons.
"As we're getting prepared for Atlanta right now, the guys on the roster, they've played against some of the players there," Graham noted. "OK, so how did this rush go against this (offensive) tackle? How did this rush go against this guard or center? When you guys played against (Falcons running back) Bijan (Robinson) before, what was the tackling plan there? What did you guys talk about?
"I learned from early in my career, I'm into gathering information. So for me, especially Week One, I'm trying to find out from the guys who played against these guys, hey give me some information. What did you guys take from playing Atlanta before?
"I don't want to get caught up on schematics and things of that nature. Everything right now is just pointed towards us doing really well, just getting down what we're going to do, keeping it simple for the guys so we can go out there and execute, and then gathering as much information as we can on Atlanta."
Graham intends to keep leaning on his players, whenever and wherever he can.
That's especially true of those who comprise the front seven given Graham's history, what he has to work with there and the unsettled circumstances in the secondary related to safety DeShon Elliott's unavailability for the season's first four weeks.
"I'm going to lean into it when you have players up front such as (outside linebacker) T.J. (Watt) ) and (defensive tackle) Cam (Heyward) as leaders in terms of just what they've done over their career and how hungry they are," Graham emphasized. "I'm amazed at some of the stuff they do in practice, just the way they go about their business, the way they talk football. Naturally, when you have that much experience and performing at a high level, I'm gonna lean into that.
"And then you take the players that we have surrounding them up front. Whether it's (outside linebacker) Alex (Highsmith), whether it's (defensive tackle Derrick) Harmon, whether it's (defensive lineman Yahya) Black, there's a lot of guys that have played some really good football. Part of my job is to put them in the right spots, make sure we're not doing too much, just to let them play football.
"And naturally, I'm more of a front guy. Everything for me in my career has been mostly front-driven. I would think it's a safe bet to think that I'm gonna lean into it a little bit more."
The word from head coach Mike McCarthy today was the Steelers are focused mostly on the Steelers for openers.
"I really don't care about the other team right now," McCarthy maintained. "We need to get our things set and get the direction clear of exactly how we want to play the game."
The coordinators are taking it from there.
"The last two weeks we've had really good work," offensive coordinator Brian Angelichio reported. "It was great to get back out there today, having 'Pitt' (wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.) out there running, everybody back healthy, so it's been good.
"We're in a good spot."
Nowhere, perhaps, are things more unsettled than in the kicking game, given the nature of how preseason games and roster reductions annually play out.
It's nothing special teams coordinator Danny Crossman hasn't seen previously while transitioning from exhibitions to games that matter.
"It's like it is every year," Crossman said. "The still putting everything together and where everybody is around the league, including ourselves, working the matchups and the thinking of what you're going to get from whom. That process is never ending but it's always a little bit enhanced in the first (regular-season) game."
The dynamic isn't something that can be worked around.
"You don't," Crossman continued. "You write down what you think you're going to get and you prepare that way. But you know with first games and really the first quarter of the season you're going to get some different looks.
"You just rely on fundamentals and techniques and fall back on that and hope that gets you through."
