Falcons in Primetime? Don’t Laugh at the Three-Game Stretch Just Yet

As the Atlanta Falcons enter the Week 3-5 stretch of their season, there’s a resounding question around NFL discourse, especially after their 34-3 Week 2 home loss to the Carolina Panthers: “Why are the Falcons playing three straight primetime games?”

Atlanta (0-2) opens its 2026 primetime slate on Thursday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers (1-1).

The Falcons will then travel to their heated NFC South rival, the New Orleans Saints, for Monday Night Football on Oct. 5, and host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football on Oct. 11.

It’s almost a guarantee that NFL schedule makers didn’t foresee Atlanta having to roll out Cooper Rush to start at quarterback as Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa remained sidelined with injuries at the season’s start, but the networks are simultaneously overjoyed at the injection of hope and intrigue Penix brings on Thursday night.

But also, it’s because no matter the lowly record in nearly the last decade, Atlanta performs in primetime games. The star power is also there with All-Pro talent such as Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts Sr.

And even if Atlanta wets the bed before the national audience, it makes for some good TV.

“I love those kinds of games. That’s primetime,” said Robinson, Atlanta’s star running back. “We get to go out there and have fun playing, regroup, get back to it, and go to the Packers and put on a show.”

From Kirk Cousins ‘Swag Surfin’ with Falcons fans at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, to Pitts having an otherworldly performance, to the Falcons falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in a controversial finish, Atlanta is 7-3 when playing on nighttime football on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays since 2024.

The Falcons are on a two-game primetime winning streak, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29-28 and then the Los Angeles Rams and MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford 27-24, both of which were played within three weeks last December.

In the Tampa game, Pitts had the best game of his career, with 11 catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns in the clutch win at Raymond James Stadium. The tight end looks to replicate a similar outing on Thursday, when he makes his first visit to Green Bay’s Lambeau Field.

“Primetime games are great,” Pitts said. “Rather than a Sunday where you have multiple games playing, everyone’s watching you. It’s cool to play, and it’s definitely a blessing to be able to go out there on a Thursday night in Lambeau for the first time and perform.”

Here’s another stat, if one needs any more convincing that the Falcons are worthy of playing in primetime, specifically on Thursday, look no further than Atlanta’s first-year head coach, Kevin Stefanski. He’s 5-0 on Thursday Night Football in his six seasons with the Cleveland Browns, first reported by Daniel Flick of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

That means his teams have historically fared well despite tightened preparation.

Now it’s time to see if that travels as the Falcons travel to Green Bay fresh after one of the most embarrassing losses in franchise history and a renewed optimism being quarterbacked by Penix, who’s cleared to play after a partially torn ACL and will start on Thursday.

Falcons-Packers kicks off at 8:15 p.m. on Lambeau Field. It’ll be televised on Prime Video.

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