5 Things Atlanta Falcons Must Fix On Offense to Win In 2026

The Atlanta Falcons endured one of the more frustrating campaigns in recent memory in 2025, and the early-season inconsistencies ultimately cost several people their jobs.

Kevin Stefanski was brought in as the new head coach, and he brought Tommy Rees with him as offensive coordinator. When doing a scouting report on the 2026 Falcons offense, there will be readily apparent issues that need to be addressed early and often.

We take a look at five of the most important and add a bonus at the end.

3rd Down Conversions

The Falcons finished 30th in 3rd down conversions in 2025, but that doesn't tell the whole story.

Atlanta was 3-3 after an understandable road loss to the San Francisco 49ers and had their destiny in their own hands. Unfortunately, they fumbled.

In the next three games, they went 3/29 on third down (10.3%) in losses to the Miami Dolphins (2/11), New England Patriots (1/10), and Indianapolis Colts (0/8). They were blown out by the Dolphins, missed a late extra point in New England, lost 24-23, and were beaten in overtime by the Colts.

Playing toe to toe with the Pats and Colts on the road while going 1/18 on third down conversions? Even mediocre results on third down and they win both games.

They were 4/11 the next week in a loss to the Panthers, and the season was gone.

Failure to convert on third down leads to another host of problems. Some are obvious, like points, and others are not so obvious, like keeping your defense on the field for too long.

Turning Yards Into Points

Obviously, converting third downs on the opponent's side of the field should lead to more points. But the Falcons also had little trust in their kicking game and failed to deliver explosive plays that led to touchdowns.

The Falcons were 14th in yards per game and 24th in points per game in 2025; both numbers were down from 2024, when they were 6th in yards and 13th in points.

Michael Penix Jr. had nine touchdown passes last season; only one of them was outside of the red zone. It was a screen pass to Bijan Robinson that went for 50 yards and a score on the third play of the season. That was the last time Penix threw a touchdown of more than 20 yards.

Atlanta's 19 total touchdown passes between Penix and Kirk Cousins were the fifth fewest in the NFL.

It Can't Just Be Drake

Heading into 2025, the wide receiver room looked deep and talented. Drake London is a bonafied No. 1 in the NFL. Darnell Mooney was coming off a nearly 1,000-yard season, and Ray-Ray McCloud had a career high 686 yards.

Mooney broke his collarbone on the first day of training camp and struggled to find any consistency, and McCloud was collateral damage in the Ike Hillard firing.

The Falcons have overhauled their wide receiver room. They jettisoned Mooney and replaced him in free agency with Jahan Dotson. They brought back steady veteran Olamide Zacchaeus and drafted former Georgia Bulldog Zachariah Branch.

They also have six undrafted free agents fighting for a roster spot.

Getting more out of the wide receiver corps beyond London will go a long way towards fixing the first two problems.

Clean Up Pre-Snap

The Falcons were dealt a blow in the preseason last year when they lost right tackle Kaleb McGary and his backup Storm Norton to injuries. Eli Wilkinson was forced to move over to tackle from his guard spot, and he led the NFL with nine false starts.

Veteran left tackle Jake Matthews was tied for the 10th most in the NFL with five. Nothing will drive a coach more insane than pre-snap penalties. Better communication and continuity across the entire offense should help clean up these avoidable infractions.

Take Some Chances

The Falcons were overly conservative on offense, and it didn't pay off for them (see 3rd downs and points). Fans were excited to see Penix and his strong arm stretching defenses to open up running lanes for Robinson.

Instead, they were forced to watch horizontal, quick passes and Robinson facing stacked boxes. Through the first three weeks of the season, Penix had just one completion that traveled beyond 15 yards before being caught, according to Next Gen Stats.

The Falcons gave up the fourth fewest sacks with just 26, but that is more of an indication of the uber-conservative approach than it is excellent protection.

Dotson and Branch have the ability to stretch any defense. The Falcons need to test the back of the defense just to keep them honest.

Bonus - Special Teams Don't Have to be Special

The return game is an extension of the offense in some ways, since the change of possession is the first opportunity to gain positive yardage.

The Falcons finished 27th in yards per punt return and dead last in yards per kickoff return.

Branch is likely to get the first option at both jobs, and he'll be an immediate upgrade over what the Falcons had last season.

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