Superdome (New Orleans) — After a very ugly opening two weeks of the season, the Atlanta Falcons are quickly back at .500, while the New Orleans Saints keep digging themselves into holes they can't climb out of. The Falcons improved to 2-2 on the season with their decisive 45-24 win over the Saints in New Orleans on Monday night, but what's more noteworthy is that Atlanta is now 2-0 with Michael Penix Jr. at quarterback this season. For the second straight week, Penix quarterbacked the Falcons to a dominant win in primetime as Atlanta has firmly placed itself in the race to win the NFC South.
Here are my three takeaways from Monday night's game. In the previous six seasons, the Falcons didn’t have a single road win by 20 points or more. Now they’ve done it twice in the last 11 days.
First with a 34-10 win over the Packers at Lambeau Field, and on Monday night with an equally impressive win over the Saints, the Falcons have shown an ability to separate from opponents that they’ve lacked for a long time. The two routs coincide with the healthy return of quarterback Michael Penix. Obviously, the star of the offense is running back Bijan Robinson, but that wasn’t enough in two ugly losses with backup Cooper Rush at quarterback.
But in two starts, Penix has taken advantage of defenses trying to contain Robinson — an efficient 18 of 25 for 256 yards against the Packers, and 15 of 20 for 223 yards and a touchdown in beating the Saints. His passer rating of 127.7 is a career-best, too, as the Saints' 45 points were the most they've put up in a game in 10 years. It’s a strong reflection on new offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who came to Atlanta with Kevin Stefanski and was entrusted with the offensive play-calling.
The Falcons rotate Robinson with backup Brian Robinson, who had three touchdowns of his own Monday, keeping fresh legs late in the game for both backs. Atlanta is home for its next three games, but they’re doozies. They take on the Ravens, Bears and 49ers, who are a combined 10-2 this season, so even one win in three would be impressive.
Nobody is running away with the NFC South, but the Falcons need to keep up with the 2-2 Panthers, who routed them in Week 2 before Penix was playing. Even without first-round pick wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, who’s been out with injury, the Saints have a top-10 offense in scoring and yardage. And yet they’re 1-3, thanks to an inability to start games well on either side of the ball.
Four games in, the Saints had double-digit deficits in three of those games — down 21-0 to the Lions in a one-point loss, down 14-3 to the Ravens in their lone win, down 13-6 to the Raiders in another close loss, and routed 24-7 in the first half Monday night against the Falcons. They missed running back Travis Etienne against Atlanta, and he’ll miss at least three more games with his hamstring injury. The Falcons have Bijan Robinson, and the Saints don't.
So, the first-half rushing advantage for Atlanta was 138-15. Yikes! When the Saints rebounded from a 1-8 start last year, their defense gave up 17.5 points per game in the final eight games, leading them to a 5-3 finish.
But in 2026, they were giving up 27 points per game in their first three, and the Falcons only raised that average Monday night. They’re a bottom-10 defense against the run and on third downs. Until that changes, the offense will throw the ball a lot in the second half and look like a better offense than they really are.
The fear going into the year was that the season-ending injury loss of Jalon Walker and the eight-game suspension for James Pearce would leave the Falcons without any real pass rush in the first half of the season. That’s basically played out so far. After finishing second in the NFL with 57 sacks last year, the Falcons have just seven in four games, on pace for just more than half as many as last season.
They’d gotten 2.5 sacks from Za’Darius Smith, who came out of retirement, but he missed much of Monday’s game with a concussion, so his immediate future is uncertain. If they’re going to have a chance in these next three home games — all against teams in the top eight of our power rankings entering Week 4 — they need to be able to get in the backfield and disrupt even the backup quarterbacks they might end up facing. Pearce can be a boost in the second half of the season, but the lack of pass rush is part of why the Falcons' defense has just two takeaways in four games, matching the NFL low.
Not sure who the help is coming from, but it’s the missing piece right now to make Atlanta better than just a good offensive team.
