The Atlanta Falcons were coming off two strong wins against two 2024 playoff teams, but failed to keep the momentum going with a disheartening 20-10 loss against the San Francisco 49ers.
This felt like a result that most of the fanbase felt was coming. It felt like the usual game the Falcons would drop, and we were all correct.
While this isn't a season-ending loss, it is one the team has to shake off and not let happen again.
And, with that, here are the four losers and three winners from Sunday night's loss in the Bay Area.
Falcons winners and losers from Week 7 loss in San Francisco
Loser: Raheem Morris, HC
A loss like this should always come back to the head coach. This is twice now when Raheem Morris' team has laid an egg after an emotional primetime game this season.
While this week's wasn't as awful as the Carolina game, the 20-10 final score looks better than the game felt. This cannot happen again, and maybe it is a good thing this team won't play another primetime game until Week 15.
Winner: Kyle Pitts, TE
When was the last time it felt like this offense was led by Kyle Pitts? You have to go back a long ways.
The passing game was centered around the talented tight end, and he came through. He took advantage of every opportunity and was basically the only consistent receiving threat Michael Penix Jr. had all night.
Loser: Offensive line
The offensive line was spinning in circles all game long, starting in the run game. They went from leading Bijan Robinson to an average of 8.9 yards per rush last week to just 2.9 this week.
In the passing game, Penix had guys at his feet or screaming off his blindside all night long. Elijah Wilkinson was a main culprit as he played like many of us thought he would each week (which is a credit to him, up until now).
Winner: Sam Roberts, DL
Where in the heck did this guy come from?
The guy the Falcons poached from the Panthers' practice squad has flashed for two weeks now. He has quickly endeared himself to Jeff Ulbrich as they have been playing about as much as anyone across the line.
He got pressure on Mac Jones and was often in the middle of the few times the Falcons actually got penetration in the run game.
Loser: Run defense
We have seen that the Falcons are excellent at stopping the passing game, but the one area we had questions about was whether they could stop the run. On Sunday, they couldn't.
The 49ers did what the Bills wouldn't do: run up the middle and not stop. Last week, the Bills did the Falcons many favors by moving away from James Cook, a mistake that Kyle Shanahan was not going to duplicate.
Christian McCaffrey ran the ball 24 times for 129 yards and two touchdowns, and added 72 receiving yards while helping his team control the flow of the game.
Winner: Zach Harrison, DL
It is funny how you can go from criticizing the run defense to praising two defensive linemen, but that is the case for the Atlanta Falcons.
Zach Harrison continues to make strides as not only a pass rusher but a run stopper. He led off the game with a sack and consistently made plays from there. He capped his night off with a big tackle for loss, which was overcome by CMC.
Loser: JD Bertrand, LB
We all quickly learned just how great Divine Deablo has been. The first-year Falcon had to leave the game early with a forearm injury and never returned. The coaches replaced him with JD Bertrand due to a lack of other options.
Bertrand struggled—there is no way around it. He was late on many plays, struggled with his eyes, and ran himself out of plays. Hopefully, the injury to Deablo isn't serious. If it is, we'd better hope Troy Andersen comes out of hiding immediately.