The Falcons are turning back to experience at quarterback after Sunday’s loss to Chicago pushed the team deeper into a messy season at the position.
Atlanta fell 31-23 to the Bears, a defeat that dropped the Falcons to 2-4 and led to another shakeup behind center. Michael Penix Jr. threw three touchdown passes and finished with 225 passing yards and no interceptions, but Atlanta dug too deep a hole, trailing 31-7 early in the fourth quarter before Penix found Kyle Pitts Sr. for two touchdowns to cut the margin. A late fumble shut the door on the comeback attempt.
Now the Falcons are signing Andy Dalton, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Atlanta is releasing Rush to make room for the veteran quarterback.
Dalton gives Atlanta another seasoned arm as the team continues sorting through injuries and uncertainty at the position. The Falcons have not announced where he will land on the depth chart.
Rush had been with Atlanta since July, when the team added him as a depth piece after he spent the 2025 season with the Baltimore Ravens. He played in four games for Baltimore and made two starts before Atlanta brought him in with concerns swirling around the health of its other quarterbacks.
He opened the season as the starter in the first two games after Tagovailoa’s injury and Penix’s continued recovery, but the Falcons lost both. Rush completed 22 of 39 passes for 229 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions, including two picks in each start against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers.
Dalton arrives with a long résumé. The 38-year-old has 16 NFL seasons under his belt and three Pro Bowl selections.
Cincinnati drafted him in the second round in 2011, and he spent nine seasons with the Bengals before moving on to the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. In his career, Dalton has thrown for 39,793 yards and 254 touchdowns.
He most recently spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles after a March trade from Carolina that brought him in as a veteran backup for Jalen Hurts. That stint ended earlier this month when he threw an interception on his only pass attempt after coming into a Week 3 game against the Bears while Hurts was being evaluated for an injury. The Eagles released him on October 9, making him available for Atlanta.
In Other News...
Falcons Just Sent A Clear Message About Their Backup QB Spot
The Falcons made a notable adjustment behind Michael Penix Jr., adding a familiar veteran presence to the quarterback room as they look to stabilize the depth chart. Atlanta is keeping Tua Tagovailoa in the backup mix, but the move brings in Andy Dalton, whose experience is expected to give the team a steadier option behind the rookie starter.
The roster change also means Cooper Rush is out after being moved off the 53-man roster to make room, a clear sign Atlanta wanted a different kind of insurance at the position. For a team trying to keep its quarterback situation organized, the switch suggests the Falcons value Daltons track record and voice in the room as much as whatever he might be asked to do on game day. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Suddenly Have A Return Game Problem They Can't Ignore
Atlantas return game has become a problem the Falcons can no longer treat as a one-off. In the loss to the Bears, rookie Zachariah Branch put the ball on the ground twice in special teams action, and those mistakes fed directly into a game the Falcons let slip away while their larger issues continued to pile up.
Branchs miscues came in different phases of the return game, the kind of errors that can change field position in a hurry and give an opponent life. For a team already dealing with broader struggles, the pressure now is not just to clean it up, but to decide how much trust to keep placing in that part of the roster going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Falcons Just Got Burned By A Bears Problem They Couldn't Solve
The Falcons ran into a Chicago passing game that looked far more settled than it did a few weeks ago, and Caleb Williams was at the center of it. Back in the lineup after the hamstring injury he suffered in Week 2, Williams picked apart Atlanta with 30 completions on 36 throws, leading the Bears to a 31-23 win and giving Chicago exactly the kind of efficient performance it had been waiting to see.
For Atlanta, the frustrating part was not just the result but how thoroughly Williams controlled the afternoon. His 83 percent completion rate set a new franchise benchmark for a Bears quarterback with at least 30 pass attempts, a sign that Chicago found something the Falcons could not disrupt. The loss leaves Atlanta with another reminder that even when the season offers a chance to reset, there are still quarterbacks who can make a defense pay for every missed answer. [Read more 🡒]