Four Burning Questions For Falcons and 49ers on Sunday Night Football

SANTA CLARA, CA – The Atlanta Falcons (3-2) are back in primetime this week for a Sunday Night Football showdown against the San Francisco 49ers (4-2). Fresh off one of their most dominant performances of the season against the Bills, the Falcons are eager to pick up just their second three-game winning streak since the end of the 2019 season.

Facing them is another team that hopes to be playing postseason football. The 49ers opened the season with the third-best odds in the NFC to win the Super Bowl, but have since dropped to seventh after a brutal stretch of injuries.

Meanwhile, the Falcons will look to stack wins as they look to reach the postseason for the first time since 2018. How can Atlanta pick up the win on Sunday? See below for the biggest questions facing this team in Week 7.

CAN THE FALCONS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE 49ERS’ INJURIES?

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The 49ers are beat up coming into this matchup. While tight George Kittle will be returning to this game, they are missing several prominent players. Quarterback Mac Jones, wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Ricky Pearsall, edge rusher Nick Bosa, and linebacker Fred Warner,

While it is unfortunate for the 49ers, the Falcons have to take advantage of their predicament. Specifically, the pair of injuries on the defensive side of the ball will help the Falcons open things up on offense. The 49ers are 30th in team sack rate and pressure percentages, which should allow Michael Penix Jr. time to throw, but the absence of Fred Warner will be a massive hit on their ability to manage Bijan Robinson.

The Falcons also have players of their own who will be unavailable for this game. Billy Bowman Jr., Ray-Ray McCloud, and Jalon Walker are all out for Sunday, while Darnell Mooney and Jake Matthews are both questionable. Both teams will have injuries to tangle with, but who deals with them best could emerge as the victor on Sunday night.

CAN THE TOP-RATED FALCONS DEFENSE STYMIE THIS 49ERS’ OFFENSE?

San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Falcons have enjoyed one of the biggest defensive turnarounds in the NFL this season. Through their first five games of the season, Atlanta has been the league’s best unit. They lead the NFL in total defense, passing defense, seventh in scoring, and sixth in EPA/play.

But Sunday will be another difficult test.

While Mac Jones will start in place of Brock Purdy and the 49ers will be absent a pair of wide receivers, this offense is still one of the league’s best. Of course, that starts with one of the best playcallers in the NFL in head coach Kyle Shanahan. He will have tight end George Kittle back in his arsenal to match with elite running back Christian McCaffrey.

“You’ve got a guy in Kyle [Shanahan] that's going to find every way humanly possible to get Christian McCaffrey on the best matchup as he would see that,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “Every guy is going to have an opportunity to cover him. And when you're covering Christian McCaffrey, you’ve got to understand he is the primary target on virtually every time he releases from the backfield. It's going to be a great challenge for everybody.”

While the rushing attack has been strangely quiet for the 49ers (30th in the NFL), the passing attack has been the top unit in the league. With several weapons to account for and Shanahan calling the shots, the 49ers will be a tough out for Atlanta’s top-ranked unit.

HAVE THE FALCONS FOUND THEIR CONSISTENCY?

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Atlanta is fresh off one of their best performances of the season on Monday Night Football last week. That was their second in a row, but nobody can forget what happened in Charlotte in Week 3. The Falcons lost to the Panthers 30-0, and that will sting and continue to hang around for some time.

“That one bad game doesn’t define us,” quarterback Michael Penix Jr. said. “One bad game don’t define us. We knew that. We knew that wasn't us that day. We’ve just got to do what we had to do to flip the script. Obviously, five games in, we’ve still got a long season ahead, so we’ve still got work to do.”

Defensively, the Falcons have been a force, but Zac Robinson and this offense have been on a bit of a roller coaster.

Bijan Robinson will look to secure his sixth consecutive 100-yard game from scrimmage, while the Falcons offense will try to continue its strong two-game stretch. Since that shutout against the Panthers, the Falcons are averaging 29 points per game. Can they keep that going?

Consistent performances are critical for a Falcons team looking to reach postseason play for the first time in seven years. That was a stated goal for this team going into the early bye week, and Monday was a look at what that could look like going forward. Sunday will be their next chance to show they can start stacking wins.

WHO SUPPORTS DRAKE LONDON IN THE PASSING GAME?

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Drake London | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The Falcons enjoyed a tremendous performance from Drake London on Monday. He finished with 10 catches for 158 yards and a touchdown in the win, but he was also targeted on half of Michael Penix Jr.’s attempts. No other player was targeted more last week, and no player had been targeted more in the first six weeks of the season.

With the availability of Darnell Mooney in question and the continued absence of Ray-Ray McCloud, the Atlanta offense will need to find some support for its top wideout.

Bijan Robinson was the clear second option, finishing with six receptions (eight targets), but the Falcons need to be smart about maximizing his touches and not putting too much on him.

Kyle Pitts has emerged as a dependable outlet, but Casey Washington must step in and take on more of a load. The camp standout filled in for Mooney throughout the summer and in the games he missed, but has not exactly loaded up the stat sheet (four receptions for 52 yards). Devan Thompkins was a practice squad elevation last week, and could fill in for McCloud on Sunday, but not a lot should be expected from him every week.

No matter who it ends up being, Atlanta must find a secondary outlet to keep pressure on opposing secondaries and support their young quarterback.

A FEW HIDDEN STORYLINES TO REMEMBER

The Falcons needed a kicker after opting to bring in competition for Younghoe Koo. They reportedly reached out to Eddy Piñeiro, but he opted to head to the 49ers instead, saying they presented the better opportunity to win. Atlanta went with Parker Romo, and he has held the job since.
Falcons defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich held the same position under 49ers’ defensive coordinator Robert Saleh when he was the head coach in New York. Ulbrich filled in as the interim head coach for Saleh after he was fired. This will be the first time these two have faced off (albeit never directly) in a game.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was the defensive coordinator for the LA Rams, the division rivals with the 49ers. He matched up against Kyle Shanahan’s offenses six times in those three seasons (2021-23). The Rams were 1-5 in those games, giving up an average of 27.2 points per game.
The Falcons are playing their third primetime game of the season on Sunday. Through five games, they are 2-0 when they are in primetime compared to 1-2 when they are not.
The Falcons are 2-0 when they win the turnover margin.