The Atlanta Falcons are set to open the 2026 campaign with a Week 1 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and when the offense takes the field, Tua Tagovailoa is going to be the one calling the shots. While the Falcons waited as long as they could for Michael Penix Jr. to get healthy, he simply isn’t ready to play, meaning Tagovailoa will draw the start in the season opener at the very least.
Over the past two years, Tagovailoa has regressed from a Pro Bowl passer to being a borderline unplayable option, which led to the Miami Dolphins releasing him over the offseason. There’s hope that Tagovailoa can find his form with a new team, but former NFL head coach Mike Tomlin isn’t optimistic, as he took a brutal shot at Atlanta’s new quarterback.
Mike Tomlin Doesn’t Hold Back on Tua Tagovailoa
In 2023, Tagovailoa earned a Pro Bowl selection while with the Dolphins after he racked up a league-leading 4,624 passing yards and a career-high 29 touchdowns. Since then, though, Tagovailoa has been a mess, and it got to the point where Miami was willing to stomach a historic $99.2 million dead cap hit just to move on from him.
The hope was that Tagovailoa and Penix would duke it out for the starting job, but the latter spent much of training camp recovering from surgery to repair a partially torn ACL. With Penix not ready for the start of the regular season, the Falcons almost had no choice but to name Tagovailoa their starter for Week 1.
Right off the bat, Tagovailoa will run into a tough Steelers defense that gave him fits when he played against them in 2025. Tomlin was the coach of Pittsburgh at the time, and when looking ahead to this game, he made it clear that he believes his old team will come out on top, simply because Tagovailoa is Atlanta’s quarterback.
“His last visit to Pittsburgh didn’t go well,” Tomlin said of Tagovailoa. “I was in the stadium that day. They lost. He got benched. I think it’s gonna be a good day for Mike McCarthy, Patrick Graham, and the Pittsburgh Steelers and company.”
Falcons Hoping Tua Tagovailoa Can Take Control of Their Offense
Based on what we saw from Tagovailoa last season (260/384, 2,660 YDS, 20 TD, 15 INT), it’s not hard to see why Tomlin feels this way. Tagovailoa essentially lost his ability to push the ball downfield, as the Dolphins’ offense was heavily reliant on star running back De’Von Achane. Atlanta has weapons like Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, but it remains to be seen if Tagovailoa can consistently get the ball to them.
If Tagovailoa struggles, it will only be a matter of time until Penix finds his way under center, but he needs to get himself fully healthy in order for Atlanta to feel comfortable turning the offense over to him. In the meantime, Tagovailoa will be running the show, and you can bet he’ll be aiming to prove Tomlin and his other detractors wrong once he finds his way back onto the field.
Former NFL Head Coach Mike Tomlin Takes Brutal Shot at Falcons QB Tua Tagovailoa