The Atlanta Falcons are staring at another week of tough questions after back-to-back losses, and the latest NFL power rankings didn’t exactly offer a soft landing.
Their 2026 season has already swung wildly from the high of two blowout wins to the frustration of a pair of defeats that exposed the same issue over and over: inconsistency. The Ravens game got away late after Atlanta controlled the first three quarters, and the Bears loss followed the opposite script. Either way, the result was the same.
Sunday’s 31-7 fourth-quarter deficit proved too steep to erase, even after quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and the secondary steadied themselves enough to keep the game from turning into a total runaway. The Falcons were flat for much of the afternoon, then finally found some life late. It just came too late to change the outcome.
Now comes a different kind of test. The undefeated San Francisco 49ers visit Atlanta on Sunday, and if the Falcons are going to stop the slide, they’ll need a cleaner effort fast.
The division picture moved around them, too. The Panthers beat a banged-up Eagles team, the Buccaneers fell to the Steelers, and the Saints ended a three-game skid with a win over the Giants.
In the rankings gathered from around the league, the Falcons’ biggest problem kept coming back to the same place: how they handle pressure on Penix. Conor Orr pointed to Atlanta’s struggles against the Bears’ rush, saying that’s the kind of problem they’ll keep seeing until they answer it.
On his list, Pete Prisco slid the Falcons down one spot and called what Atlanta put on the field “terrible for most of the game”. He also noted they at least made it competitive late, though that only goes so far as comfort.
Nick Shook was more bullish on the Falcons a week ago even after the Ravens collapse, but this time he moved them down. His line on Atlanta was simple and blunt: it’s “difficult to explain who these Falcons are.” He also pointed to the stretch of tests still ahead as the place where those answers may finally start to show up.
ESPN held the Falcons in place despite the second straight loss, but the network also highlighted just how rough things have been when Penix is under duress. Marc Raimondi cited Penix’s seventh-worst EPA/dropback and the second-worst completion percentage in those situations. The Bears got to him five times, and the issue isn’t going away until he starts to settle in against pressure.
The rest of the NFC South shook out this way across the rankings: SI had the Panthers at No. 13, up seven spots, the Saints at No. 25, no change, and the Buccaneers at No. 30, down three. CBS listed the Panthers at No. 14, up six, the Saints at No. 26, no change, and the Buccaneers at No. 29, also no change.
NFL.com had the Panthers at No. 13, up one, the Saints at No. 20, up seven, and the Buccaneers at No. 27, down four. ESPN ranked the Panthers No. 15, up three, the Saints No. 24, up two, and the Buccaneers No. 28, down one.
Across all three outlets, the 49ers sat at No. 1.
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Rees said the fix starts with getting the ground game going early and keeping the attack balanced, which should help create cleaner chances for Michael Penix Jr. and the rest of the unit. For Atlanta, the formula is simple enough in theory, but it has to show up from the first series if the Falcons want to avoid another slow beginning. [Read more 🡒]