PHOTO BY ALYSA RUBIN/PITTSBURGH STEELERS

The excitement is as understandable as it is palpable.

After a laborious but all-to-necessary team-building sequence of OTAs on the South Side, practices in training camp at Saint Vincent College and a trio of forgettable preseason exhibitions in August, the Steelers are finally going to play a game that matters on Sunday in Atlanta.

That’s an annual cause for celebration throughout Steeler Nation.

It’s been a minute.

But in many ways the team-building process has only just begun.

And no matter how it plays out at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the result isn’t to be trusted.

Related: What’s New at Acrisure Stadium for Steelers Season?

Last year, the Steelers opened with a thud and got hammered by San Francisco at Acrisure Stadium.

They went on to make the playoffs.

The year before that, they upset the Bengals in Cincinnati in overtime for openers.

That 2022 season eventually ended with the Steelers on the outside looking in at the postseason.

There’s a reason why what we’re about to receive is referenced as “September football.”

It’s a sloppier, more unreliable product than the one the contenders will be putting on display in November, December and beyond.

It’s that way because more and more the regulars and the star players don’t do much playing in the preseason, and because the snaps the rookies get still aren’t enough to get them properly acclimated.

This season the “dynamic kickoff” and the elimination of the hip-drop tackle promise to make the first month or so even more of an adjustment period, for the coaches and officials as well as for the players.

The Steelers, in particular, qualify as a team that’s not yet ready for prime time with their 2024 debut looming.

Their offensive line is still more of a concept than it is their best possible fivesome at present thanks to injuries that have temporarily sidelined left guard Isaac Seumalo and affected what rookie No. 1 pick Troy Fautanu might be able to contribute at right tackle and how quickly.

It might be a while before they can line up Broderick Jones, Seumalo, rookie Zach Frazier, James Daniels and Fautanu from left to right as initially envisioned.

Rookie wide receiver Roman Wilson, likewise, has been on hold since suffering an ankle injury on the first day of practice in pads back in training camp. His ability to make an early impact has been unfortunately compromised.

And with new quarterback Russell Wilson doing his best to execute what new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith sends in, it’ll take some trial and error for the Steelers to get a bead on what they can run and when.

The Falcons don’t figure to be hitting on all cylinders, either. Not with their new quarterback, Kirk Cousins, coming off an Achilles injury and not having taken a snap in the preseason.

Atlanta’s new coaching staff has much to sort out on both sides of the ball.

Limiting and/or working around mistakes figure to be the difference in this one much more than heroics.

“The first game there’s always a lot of anxiety,” Steelers defensive tackle and defensive captain Cam Heyward acknowledged in advance of his 14th NFL regular-season opener. “There’s a lot of things that are going on, new staff, new players included. It’s more a feel-out process early on.

“You’re almost guessing at this point.”

Not that any of that ought to defuse any of the anticipation associated with the opener.

Football is at long last back and we’re glad to have it, even if the brand that’s played in the early going falls short of mid-season form.

Here we go.

Mike Prisuta is the sports anchor/reporter for Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. He’s also the host of the Steelers Radio Network Pregame Show and the color analyst for Robert Morris University men’s hockey broadcasts.