Before the Atlanta Falcons settled on Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach, they did their homework on Klint Kubiak. And it’s easy to see why. Kubiak was coming off a season in which he helped build one of the NFL’s best offenses with Sam Darnold and the Seahawks, a group that seemed to come out of nowhere and suddenly had everybody talking.
Seattle’s surge wasn’t limited to the scoreboard, either. Jaxon Smith-Njigba put together an OPOY campaign, Darnold played like an MVP candidate in 2025, and the run game was a real problem for defenses. That kind of season made Kubiak one of the league’s hottest offensive minds, and plenty of Falcons fans, myself included, wanted Atlanta to make the Ben Johnson-esque swing and bring him in.
Instead, Kubiak landed with the Las Vegas Raiders, and through three weeks they’ve been one of the biggest surprises in the league. They’re 3-0, coming off a commanding win over the New Orleans Saints, and averaging over 29 points per game in 2026 with former Falcon Kirk Cousins starting. Not exactly what anyone had penciled in before the season.
That start has naturally sparked the “what if” conversation in Atlanta. If Kubiak is already looking like a home-run hire in Vegas, it’s fair to wonder what he might have done with Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts.
But the first thing to remember is the sample size. Three games is nothing, and the Raiders have done it against three incredibly weak opponents.
The Chargers are 0-3, the Saints are 1-2, and the Dolphins are 0-3. That’s not the same thing as rolling through the Chiefs and Bills.
Atlanta, meanwhile, is 1-2 under Stefanski, but the Falcons just put together a loud response on primetime. Both of their losses came with Cooper Rush starting, and when Michael Penix Jr. returned against the Green Bay Packers, the offense looked like a different unit. The Falcons won by 21, 35-14, on the road in a TNF game, piled up over 500 yards of offense, and controlled both lines of scrimmage.
That was also the kind of night that showed how dangerous Atlanta can be when the quarterback play is there. Bijan Robinson and Drake London both went nuclear, and Penix finally looked like a franchise QB.
In that sense, the Packers win probably carries more weight than anything Kubiak has done so far in Las Vegas. Lambeau Field is never an easy place to walk into and leave with that kind of result, even if the Packers are off to a shaky start. They’re still a team with plenty of talent, and they’ve made the playoffs in six of the last seven years.
So while the Kubiak-versus-Stefanski debate is going to linger, it’s too early to crown one hire and bury the other. If the Raiders beat the Chiefs on Sunday, maybe Kubiak’s stock rises again. Right now, though, it looks like both franchises landed the leader they needed.
In Other News...
Falcons Just Added To A Quarterback Debate Fans Will Enjoy
Around the league, Week 3 only sharpened the quarterback conversations that have already started to spill into the rest of the season, and the Falcons have to be paying close attention. Drake Mayes turnover issues have dragged the Patriots into frustration, while Deshaun Watson has looked much steadier as the Browns have picked up wins behind him. Jordan Loves early struggles have come with the usual mix of protection problems and accuracy concerns in Green Bay, leaving his outlook unsettled as the season settles in.
Kirk Cousins has been the steadier name in the group, guiding the Raiders offense with the kind of efficient play that keeps a team on schedule and a front office comfortable. For Atlanta, that kind of quarterback debate matters because it adds another layer to the league-wide picture of how quickly things can change at the position, and why every strong or shaky stretch gets noticed. The Falcons are still watching the broader discussion take shape, and the next few weeks should help clarify which of these passers is actually trending in the right direction. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Enter Saints Showdown With Something They Have Been Missing
The Falcons head into Monday night with a little momentum and a much-needed sense of life after their 35-14 road win over the Green Bay Packers. Michael Penix Jr. was back at quarterback, and Atlanta got strong outings from Bijan Robinson and Drake London, a combination that gave the offense a cleaner, more balanced look than it had shown earlier in the season.
Now comes a division matchup with New Orleans, and both teams arrive at 1-2 needing a reset more than a spotlight. The Saints are coming off a 35-27 loss to the Raiders, even with Chris Olave, Juwan Johnson and Tyler Shough providing some offense, so this one feels like an early chance for Atlanta to build on its best performance and see whether the pieces that clicked last week can hold up in a bigger spot. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Suddenly Have A Real NFC South Chance Again
After stumbling out of the gate at 0-2, the Falcons steadied themselves with a significant win over the Packers, a result that quickly changed the feel around the NFC South race. It helped that the rest of the division also went the wrong way, with the Saints, Panthers and Buccaneers all losing their recent games, turning a rough opening stretch into something much more manageable for Atlanta.
Now the standings have tightened into a three-way tie at the top, and the season suddenly looks a lot different than it did a week ago. The next meeting with the Saints looms as the kind of divisional game that can swing the picture again, giving the Falcons a real chance to move from early trouble to a legitimate chase for first place. [Read more 🡒]