FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Atlanta Falcons cornerback Avieon Terrell was born 10 months before Aaron Rodgers played his first NFL game.“It’s crazy,” the rookie said. “I’m ready to look at him in his eye.”That might be a careful-what-you-wish-for situation, Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said.“Obviously, Aaron is one of the best quarterbacks to have ever played at this level,” Ulbrich said. “He’s still playing at a very high level. On top of that, I think he’s got an arsenal of weapons at his disposal. Having to go up against a player of Aaron’s magnitude and the players around him from an offensive perspective, it’s a great challenge. It’s one that they’re all super excited about. I’m excited about it as well.”The 42-year-old Rodgers will be making his ninth career appearance against Atlanta when the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Falcons on Sunday. He is 4-4 and has averaged 311.5 passing yards per game while compiling a 21-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio, which is the second best in NFL history against a single opponent (among quarterbacks with at least 300 pass attempts), according to Next Gen Stats.“I mean, they’ve got Aaron Rodgers,” Falcons rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels said. “He’s probably one of the smartest guys in the history of the game. It’s crazy playing him in my first game. I’ve never had to go up against a quarterback like this. He controls the tempo of the game. He never lets the game rush him. You have to really be on top of your game.”Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has faced Aaron Rodgers once, in 2022 as the Jets’ DC. The Jets beat Rodgers’ Packers 27-10 that day. (USA Today Network via Reuters Connect)Ulbrich was the defensive coordinator and then interim head coach for the New York Jets in 2023 and 2024 while Rodgers was in New York. He has faced Rodgers only once, in Week 6 of the 2022 season, when Ulbrich’s Jets held Rodgers to 246 passing yards in a 27-10 New York win over the Green Bay Packers.Rodgers is beginning his 22nd professional season Sunday, and he’s a different quarterback than the last time Ulbrich faced him. In the 2022 season, he averaged 7.8 air yards per attempt, which ranked 24th in the league. Last year, he averaged 5.9 air yards per attempt, which ranked 53rd.The reason seems pretty clear. He is more eager than ever to get the ball out of his hands. His 2.52-second average time to throw was the second-quickest in the league, according to Next Gen Stats. The only player to get the ball out quicker last year was Atlanta’s Tua Tagovailoa, then with the Miami Dolphins, whose average was 2.51 seconds.Whether the Falcons can make Rodgers uncomfortable Sunday is an open and vitally important question. One of the stories of the offseason in Atlanta was the loss of edge rushers after Jalon Walker tore his ACL and James Pearce Jr. was suspended for the first eight games of the season.The Falcons will have to make up for those absences on the interior, where Atlanta has added 6-foot-5, 306-pound Maason Smith, 6-6, 326-pound Gervon Dexter and 6-3, 302-pound Da’Shawn Hand to a group that already included Brandon Dorlus, who had 8.5 sacks last season, and LaCale London, who had five.“I definitely think we are built for that,” said Ulbrich, who added he will emphasize tipped passes more this season because his interior defensive linemen are bigger.“I think you’re going to see an uptick in that,” he said.Here are other lingering questions as the Falcons get ready for Week 1:Can Jawaan Taylor stay onside?Taylor, the Falcons’ new right tackle, has been flagged for 31 false starts since he was drafted in 2019, the second most in the league in that time, according to TruMedia. He was flagged twice for it in three preseason drives this year, and the temptation to jump early is going to be high this week against edge rusher T.J. Watt, who has 115 sacks in his nine-year career.That’s the bad news. The good news is Taylor should be a dramatic upgrade from Elijah Wilkinson, last year’s starter at right tackle, when the ball does get snapped. Wilkinson gave up 21 quick pressures last year, the most in the league, according to Next Gen Stats. Taylor gave up a quick pressure on only 7.2 percent of his snaps in Kansas City, the ninth-lowest rate in the league.Protecting Cooper Rush, who was promoted to the starting lineup Friday due to an injury to Tagovailoa, against Watt and the rest of the Steelers front seven will be paramount for the Falcons.Will the run game actually diversify?In five years under offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford, the Falcons ran almost exclusively wide-zone rushing schemes. With Kevin Stefanski taking over as head coach and Bill Callahan coaching the offensive line, there should be more diversity this year.“I ran this run scheme in college with (Steve Sarkisian),” running back Bijan Robinson said. “I don’t want to explain too much, but a lot of different things come at you. You really don’t know what we’re going to do, so I really appreciate that.”The Steelers could be run on last year. They finished the 2025 season 20th in the league in EPA allowed per rush (0.04), according to TruMedia. On top of that, Pittsburgh had the fourth-highest missed-tackle rate in the league last year, according to Next Gen Stats, which could be a good sign for Robinson, who has been in the league’s top two in missed tackles forced each of the last two seasons.The new run game “has been looking great in practice,” Robinson said, “but now it’s time to go put it in the show. I know for us as an offense we are anxious to put the product to work.”How much will Zachariah Branch play?The rookie wide receiver was all over the field throughout the spring and training camp and is the second-most exciting player on offense behind Robinson. (Drake London and Kyle Pitts are better players. This is more a comment on how dynamic Branch is with the ball in his hands.)But there’s a difference between getting a rookie a ton of snaps in practice and trusting him on the field, especially early in the season. Branch should be very involved in what I expect to be an expanded screen game in Atlanta, but the 5-10, 180-pounder will have to prove he can run block to stay on the field.“Our job is to identify what he does really well, put him in those positions and allow him to play really fast,” Falcons offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said.What’s going on at nickel?Terrell is listed as the starter despite being limited by injury much of training camp. Last year’s starter, Billy Bowman Jr., has returned to the practice field this month after tearing his Achilles last season but was ruled out for this week’s game.“I am ready right now but still getting there, still have to build some confidence with it,” Bowman said.Veteran Sydney Brown, acquired via trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in the offseason, also continues to get reps at the position, and the Falcons likely will elevate Darnay Holmes from the practice squad to provide depth.Who will win?The Steelers were 3.5-point favorites coming into the week, and that number had increased to 6 points thanks to Atlanta’s quarterback uncertainty. Stefanski is 6-5 all-time against the Steelers, including a 2020 playoff win, but all the signs are pointing to Pittsburgh evening up that record this week.Pittsburgh 27, Atlanta 10