The Atlanta Falcons’ slide in the Week 3 NFL power rankings was no mystery after what unfolded in Week 2. A blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers, five turnovers, and an offense stuck in the mud sent the Falcons tumbling across the national landscape.
The good news, if there is any, arrived Monday: Michael Penix Jr. will be activated and start in Green Bay on Thursday. Atlanta needs that lift badly. The Falcons have put up only 16 points this season, and they’re the lone NFL team yet to log a red zone snap in 2026.
There’s more bad news on the defensive side, too. On Tuesday, the team announced that A.J.
Terrell Jr. will be placed on injured reserve. Jeff Ulbrich’s defense held up as long as it could against Carolina, but once the offense stopped sustaining drives, the unit eventually cracked in the second half.
Around the division, the rest of the NFC South also made noise. The Browns beat the Buccaneers in a messy game in Tampa, while the Saints went to Baltimore and knocked off the Ravens.
That combination of results helped push Atlanta down in multiple power rankings, and the Falcons landed near the bottom almost everywhere. Falcons OnSI gathered the weekly rankings from several outlets and lined them up for fans.
SI dropped Atlanta two spots to No. 31, leaving only the Miami Dolphins behind them. Conor Orr’s brief assessment centered on the return of Penix this Thursday.
SI’s NFC South rankings also placed the Saints at No. 14, up six spots, the Panthers at No. 20, up two spots, and the Buccaneers at No. 27, down six spots.
Pete Prisco wasn’t much kinder. He slid the Falcons to No. 30, ahead of only the Titans and Dolphins, and moved them behind the Browns.
In the division, CBS listed the Saints at No. 18, the Panthers at No. 20, and the Buccaneers at No. 21.
NFL.com had a similarly bleak view of Atlanta. Nick Shook called the quarterback situation “nightmarish” and said it has “handcuffed” the rest of the offense. He added that Penix’s return should make the Falcons “somewhat respectable.”
NFL.com’s South rankings put the Saints at No. 14, the Panthers at No. 17, and the Buccaneers at No. 24.
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi highlighted the offensive drought with a stat that says plenty on its own: the Falcons are just the “fourth team since NFL play-by-play was first tracked in 1978 without a red zone drive through two games - and the first in 18 seasons.”
ESPN ranked the Falcons as the NFC’s worst team as well, with the Saints at No. 19, the Panthers at No. 21, and the Buccaneers at No. 23.
The picture is ugly for Atlanta. In nearly every national ranking, the Falcons sit at the bottom of the NFC, and the pressure is only growing as Penix steps in and the team tries to dig out of an early-season hole.
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