ESPN Tries to Fix Calamitous Atlanta Falcons Predictions vs. 49ers

The Atlanta Falcons have been a rather unpredictable lot to start the 2025 season. Playing a nail-biter with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start the season may be the only game that has gone to script through six weeks.

After that, the Falcons go on the road and dominate the Minnesota Vikings, only to get shut out by the Carolina Panthers the next week. So, of course, they come home and win convincingly against two teams that participated in their respective championship games in the Washington Commanders and Buffalo Bills.

ESPN's panel of weekly predictors has suffered at the hands of Falcons games. Still, a flipped coin would have a better record than the collected 3-12 put in by reporter Pamela Maldonado, fantasy analyst Eric Moody, and analytics writer Seth Walder - each of them 1-4 on the season predicting Falcons games.

At least one of them will be right this week with the panel split 2-1 in favor of the 49ers.

ESPN Atanta Falcons vs. San Francisco 49ers Predictions

Maldonado's pick: 49ers 23, Falcons 20
Moody's pick: Falcons 23, 49ers 21
Walder's pick: 26, Falcons 23
FPI prediction: SF, 54.5% (by an average of 1.7 points)

Well-documented Falcons hater Seth Walder has only picked the Falcons to win one game so far this season - the loss to the Panthers, naturally.

Walder has a bold prediction every week as part of the prediction column, and this week's is certainly bold. Shutting down Falcons' wide receiver Drake London is a tall task for any cornerback.

"49ers CB Deommodore Lenoir will allow 20 receiving yards or fewer when facing London. Lenoir enters Week 7 allowing the lowest yards per coverage snap (0.5) among outside corners with at least 100 coverage snaps, per NFL Next Gen Stats," Walder wrote on ESPN.

Bold predictions are supposed to be unlikely, or else they wouldn't be very bold. That said, if Lenoir is primarily lined up with London, holding him to 20 yards or less isn't a bold prediction, that's a Herculean prediction.

The 49ers and Falcons mirror each other on offense in many ways. Both have top 10 offenses when it comes to total yards, but both are bottom 10 offenses when it comes to scoring points.

Both teams will run their offense through their star running backs, with Bijan Robinson and Christian McCaffery being the engines of their respective units.

However, the Falcons' defense has been much stiffer through the first third of the season. Atlanta ranks No. 1 in total yards, while the 49ers check in at No. 15.

The Falcons got the nation's attention with their win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. Now they have a chance to prove they are to be taken seriously beyond the occasional big win. Consistency has been tough to come by in Atlanta, but a third win in a row over a playoff contender will cement the Falcons in the 2025 playoff talk.