Steelers’ Patrick Peterson praises defense for ‘pretty awesome’ shutout vs. Falcons

The Pittsburgh Steelers are celebrating after shutting out the Atlanta Falcons 24-0 in Thursday night’s preseason finale at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Even though the Falcons chose not to play their starters while the Steelers chose to do so, it doesn’t take away from the defense’s accomplishments.

“That’s their fault they didn’t have their guys out there,” cornerback Patrick Peterson said via Steelers.com. “This is my first preseason shutout and second of my career. I had one against the Giants in maybe 2020 or maybe (2019). That was pretty awesome. Anytime a defense can get a shutout, that’s always rewarding because that’s something you always shoot for, keeping guys out of the end zone, and that’s what we were able to do.”

After 12 years in the league, Peterson is joining a Steelers defense expecting to be one of the better units in the league. In 2022, the Steelers finished 10th in points allowed and hope to keep their spot among the top teams in the league in that department. Adding Peterson should certainly help with that.

Pairing Peterson with rookie Joey Porter Jr. in the secondary alongside Minkah Fitzpatrick creates quite the defensive back group for the Steelers, and them getting run in the preseason finale should help their momentum for when the regular season begins on Sept. 10 against the San Francisco 49ers. Kickoff for the season opener is set for 1 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium.