Atlanta Falcons Lose All-Pro Player in Week 9 Loss to Patriots

FOXBOROUGH, MA – The Atlanta Falcons lost to the New England Patriots in a heartbreaking 24-23 finish at Gillette Stadium. The game was not the only thing the Falcons may have lost in this contest.

On the first possession of the football game, the Falcons’ left guard, Matthew Bergeron, exited the game with an apparent ankle injury. He would not return to the contest, and reserve guard Kyle Hinton played the rest of the team’s snaps in Week 9.

But near the end of the game on Sunday, the Falcons also lost right guard Chris Lindstrom with an apparent injury. There was no real update on the injury after the game.

“It was a lower-body injury,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said after the game. “We’ll figure all that stuff out with the foot. I know he came out of [the game]. We’ll figure it out.”

The standout right guard has been one of the league's best interior offensive linemen since being drafted by the Falcons in the first round (14th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Lindstrom, 28, has been in the league for seven seasons, where he has started all 96 games of his career. He has been named an All-Pro and to the Pro Bowl for the last three consecutive seasons. In 2024, he blocked for an offense that ranked sixth in the league with 369.82 yards per game. This season, the left guard is helping spur a unit that is rushing for 123.3 yards per game and picking up 342.7 total yards.

The team captain has anchored the right side of the Falcons’ offensive line, but he could be just the latest casualty along their front this season. His running mate, right tackle Kaleb McGary, was lost for the season this summer, and Bergeron was lost earlier in the game on Sunday.

Fourth guard Jovaughn Gwyn came on in place of Lindstrom on the Falcons’ final drive. Gwyn, 26, has only appeared in three games since being selected in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft (225th overall).

The Falcons were unable to score after netting 23 yards on six plays. They would never see the ball again.

As a total, a struggling Falcons offense played much better despite the loss, but they struggled mightily on third down in Week 9. They converted just one of their 10 attempts, and it cost them several opportunities to extend drives in the loss.

Sunday figured to be a critical game for the Falcons as they looked to avoid a midseason three-game losing streak, but a red-hot Patriots team was too much for them to handle. Now, a struggling Falcons offense may be asked to traverse a midseason slog without both of their stalwart interior offensive linemen.

Next up for the Falcons is another difficult test with the 7-2 Indianapolis Colts in Berlin.