Atlanta, Georgia (AP)--

Warrick Dunn injures his hip on this hit.

Pittsburgh felt it their duty to show the Atlanta Falcons what it takes to be an elite team in the NFL.
After spending the week hyping the game to be a possible Superbowl preview against two high caliber teams who have yet to miss a beat in the 2006 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers put all hype to rest quickly, as they were carried by their stingy defense, labeled as the Blitzburgh D, to bring the Falcons back to reality with a 20-10 victory. After winning their last four games, Atlanta felt that this game would show the league that they are one of the NFL’s elite, but in the end Pittsburgh may have left a scar in the Falcons organization that could hinder them the rest of the season.
The Falcons were struck by the injury bug early in the contest, as RB Warrick Dunn was lost for the game on a screen play which saw him suffer a blow to the hip by Ike Taylor. Dunn tried to shake the injury off returning to the huddle, but when he realized that the hip pointer wasn’t a good feeling he hobbled to the sideline, replaced by rookie RB Jerious Norwood. The Falcons clearly missed Dunn, as they were unable to use their much-valued running game all day, as the Norwood was unable to carry the load against the quick Pittsburgh linebackers.
Despite the loss on offense, Atlanta were still able to take the early lead as Vick took a bootleg all the way to house for a 35 yard run and score that was similar to his 53 yarder last week against the Giants. The lead would be short lived, as the defending champs bounced back quickly courtesy of a 78 yard hookup between Ben Roethlisberger and Quincy Morgan. The score for the Steelers came on their first play following the Falcons touchdown and it clearly showed Atlanta recurring secondary troubles as CB Jason Webster was caught sleeping allowing Morgan to slip pass him and make the catch in rhythm for the touchdown. Webster had taken over for Jimmy Williams who started the season as the #2 cornerback, but with Webster having another bad week in coverage, the Falcons secondary issues are just one of many matters which the coaching staff will have to deal with before next week.
As the game continued into the second quarter, Pittsburgh kept the winner mentality as they marched themselves deep into Atlanta territory. However as Roethlisberger looked for his second touchdown pass, Chris Crocker picked off his attempt in the endzone, swinging the momentum and giving Atlanta a huge break. QB Michael Vick looked to build on fortune of the turnover by the Champs as he slowly brought Atlanta away from their goal line and towards midfield. But when Vick went back to pass on a quick slant route to WR Ashley Lelie, LB James Farrior stepped in front of the bullet and picked it off giving the Steelers the football right back after they had turned it over less than two minutes ago.

Quincey Morgan is all alone to make the catch for a Steelers touchdown.

This time Roethlisberger wouldn’t make a mistake as he took advantage of the short field and found WR Hines Ward for a 32 yard completion for the touchdown score breaking the tie at 14-7. Though Ward had only 3 catches he still racked up 91 yards receiving as CB DeAngelo had an uncharacteristic bad day in coverage being beaten by the experience Ward all afternoon managing only one tackle.
Before halftime, Vick led the Falcons down the field on an impressive two minute drill, but no points came to show for the effort as Michael Koenen missed a 52 yarder on the stroke of the first half whistle. Koenen who had been 11/11 coming into the contest missed his first field of the season before later connected on a field goal from 46 yards. At halftime the Falcons found themselves fourtuante to be trailing only 14-7, but with a lost rushing attack, everyone in the Georgia Dome knew that it would be tough for the Falcons to stay close with the reigning champions especially with no Warrick Dunn.
The Falcons defense did a solid job of keeping their team in the game during the third quarter as they forced Pittsburgh to punt on several occasions. But Vick would be unable to put points on the board for the home team as the Atlanta offense struggled mightily in the second half. Eventually the Falcons defense broke and it would come courtesy of another hookup between Ward and Roethlisberger. It would not go for a touchdown but it would put the Steelers in prime position for a 19 yarder from Jeff Reed, extending Pittsburgh lead to 17-7. That would be the scoreline heading into the final quarter of play with Atlanta looking sluggish and in search for some one to step up on the offensive end.
Early in the forth, Atlanta seemed to go through a rejuvenation session as Vick would once again be the catalyst. Facing numerous third downs during the drive Vick would mange to convert for a first down whether it would be through his arm or legs. However faced with a forth down, Jim Mora decided to play it safe and settle on the aforementioned Koenen field goal.

Chris Crocker goes up high for his first interception as a Falcons.

The decision by Mora would turn out to hurt the Falcons, as the Atlanta defense would be unable to force the Steelers into a punting situation. Mora hoped his defense would stand strong after making the field goal giving his team one last chance to try and force overtime. But after three third down conversion by the Steelers, the game was wrapped up and Atlanta would suffer their second loss of the season, the first since an opening week loss to the Panthers. Steelers RB Duce Staley would convert on a third and two, followed by Vernon Haynes converting on a third and four. The clincher would be Staley four yard run on third and two to keep the clock running after Hall added to his bad day by missing the open tackle on Staley which would have forced a forth down.
With the loss it leaves the Falcons wondering if they really one of NFL’s elite teams. None of their four wins have come against a team above .500 and when they have faced higher tier teams in the Panthers and Steelers, they have fallen flat on their face, as the offense has gone into shut down mode and the defense has come up lazy and sluggish on critical third downs. The Falcons would look to rebound after the lost, and they will hopefully have Dunn back when they travel to Cincinnati to face a Bengals team which has underachieved early in the season. It will be interesting to see how the Falcons will respond to not only the loss but also the hostile Cincinnati fans as they will be playing in their first road game since week 3.

Game Boxscore.