The Atlanta Falcons are now sitting at 2-2 after another dominant prime time victory, but this wasn't any ordinary win on national television: the Falcons walked into the Superdome for the 20-year anniversary of the Saints' "Domecoming" after Hurricane Katrina, and spoiled the celebration by destroying them for the whole nation to see.
Atlanta gave their archrivals straight belt, as they prevailed 45-24, surpassing 40 points just like they did in the 10-year Domecoming anniversary. It was a commanding performance from start to finish and frankly was the biggest statement win of the Kevin Stefanski era to date--but that's a low bar.
The Falcons proved themselves as a team that is not to be underestimated, and also showed that the Week 3 victory in Green Bay was no flash in the pan. This team has legit NFC South title aspirations, and now sit atop the division alongside the Panthers.
There was a lot to be excited about in this game, and the best way to evaluate what we saw is to go old-school. We all got report cards from our schools growing up, so I went position by position to give the Falcons a report card after such a commanding win.
And if you brought these grades home to mom and dad, they'd be awfully proud--and hopefully take you for celebratory ice cream.
Evaluating the Atlanta Falcons' performance by position vs. the Saints
QB:
Ever since Michael Penix Jr. has returned to the lineup, this Atlanta Falcons' offense has looked reborn. They're averaging 40 points per game across the last two weeks and lead the NFL in total yards across that span, and the former top-10 pick is establishing himself as a possible franchise QB.
While the 21-point win was mostly spearheaded by the run game (which we'll get to in a moment), it would be a lie to say Penix didn't make an impact. Despite logging just 20 pass attempts, he delivered some nice throws all night long, and one of the nicest was the game-sealing score to Jahan Dotson.
JAHAN DOTSON EXTENDS THE FALCONS' LEAD@ATLvsNO on ESPN⁰Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/wezr26OKVK
— NFL (@NFL) October 6, 2026
While he didn't exactly light up the stat sheet, he didn't need to. He still showed us everything we've been waiting years to see.
Grade: B
RB:
I said we would get to the run game, and here we are. If it was possible for me to give the running back room a grade higher than A+ I would. Both Bijan Robinson and Brian Robinson Jr. were that good, as they gashed a Saints defense that had no answers for whatever Tommy Rees dialed up against them.
On the night, the pair combined for 33 carries, 207 yards, and five rushing touchdowns. They became the first Falcons RB duo to each record multiple rushing scores since 1973 and it feels like Atlanta boasts the best rushing attacks in the NFL. There isn't much more to say about them. We all know Bijan isn't human. He's the best in the business for a reason--with the best backup as well.
Grade: A+
WRs:
Like Michael Penix Jr., the wideouts didn't have to do much outside of win their blocks in this one and move the chains when asked to, but they still looked good. Drake London failed to reach the end zone but came just a few yards shy of 100 receiving yards, while Dotson had his best game as a Falcon.
Outside of Olamide Zaccheus (who had a bad drop), the receivers were solid, but because the game was out of hand so quickly, game script was never in their favor. But they got a better grade than Penix did because London and Dotson made this New Orleans secondary (especially Kool-Aid McKinstry) look foolish.
Grade: B+
TE:
At the start of this game, it was weird to see the Dirty Birds roll with Charlie Woerner and Austin Hooper as their starting tight ends on the opening drive. Then it got even weirder to see Nick Muse rotate in before Kyle Pitts, yet Pitts still managed to turn in his most productive game of the season, catching three passes for 47 yards.
Like the receivers, the tight ends didn't have to do much in the pass game because of game script and they all blocked fairly well. But because of how bizarre their lack of usage has been, it's hard to give them a grade much better than this.
Grade: C+
OL:
For as good as the run game looked, the guys up front deserve their credit. The Falcons averaged almost six yards per carry on the game. Furthermore, Penix was pressured just five times and sacked once, so it's safe to say the offensive line held its own despite losing Jake Matthews to a groin injury.
Kevin Stefanski wants to play physical, smash-mouth football and control the line of scrimmage, and that starts with the guys in the trenches. But it's safe to say Bill Callahan's group came through once again.
Grade: A
EDGE:
According to Next Gen Stats, the Falcons pressured Tyler Shough on 49% of his drop-backs on Monday, pressuring him 37 times and sacking him thrice. And this was carried by the edge rushers. Cameron Thomas logged sveen pressures for the second straight week, while Samson Ebukam (6) and Yasir Abdullah (5) weren't far behind. And you can even throw Zach Harrison into the mix.
That's just from the edge alone, as the interior was just as dangerous. But given this is a group that's missing both Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr., lost Za'Darius Smith to a concussion on the opening drive, and lacks a true star off the edge, you have to be impressed with what they've done.
Grade: A-
IDL:
Between Brandon Dorlus and Gervon Dexter, the interior of this Falcons' defensive line has out-produced the edge room, but as I mentioned above, it was the edge that had Shough's number. But Dorlus (5), Dexter (4), and Maason Smith (3) still combined for 12 pressures on the evening.
The Falcons' IDL fared better against the run. They held the Saints to just 50 rushing yards and 2.6 yards per carry without Travis Etienne in the lineup, which made it a whole lot easier to slow down their pass game when they didn't have a run game to fall back on like Atlanta's offense did.
Grade: B+
LBs:
Atlanta's defensive front is aided by a linebacker room that doesn't have to light up the stat sheet, but they definitely did their thing on MNF. Divine Deablo did what he does best, while sixth-round rookie and New Orleans native Harold Perkins Jr. took advantage of his return to the Superdome for his best performance as a pro, where he especially dominated in coverage.
Perkins was an absolute mauler in coverage, and has proven to be one of the biggest steals in the 2026 NFL Draft. He's now pushing to start full-time over fellow rookie Kendal Daniels.
Grade: B
CBs:
Without A.J. Terrell, the Dirty Birds' secondary has locked down, which was aided by the pass-rush doing their jobs. It took Tyler Shough 48 pass attempts to muster just 286 passing yards, and Atlanta broke up eight passes on the day.
Outside of some big plays surrendered in garbage time to Chris Olave, C.J. Henderson locked down once again, and Mike Hughes was much better than he was a week ago. And Avieon Terrell has been an absolute blanket in coverage of his own while Sydney Brown kept making plays against the run.
The only corner who truly had a rough night was Billy Bowman Jr., which should tell you all you need to know.
S:
The safety room was also impressive. Xavier Watts had a half-sack and eight tackles as he's finally looking like his 2025 self again after an early sophomore slump, and Jessie Bates had a nice PBU of Juwan Johnson in the fourth quarter.
DeMarcco Hellams should have hauled in that pick at the end, which is the only thing I can hold against this safety room, but all in all was another solid game.
Grade: B
Special Teams:
Nick Folk converted all six of his extra points and his only field goal attempt of the game, but the fourth-down play where they opted to go for it rather than trust him from 50+ was telling. And Zachariah Branch had some nice kick and punt returns, That about sums this one up.
Grade: B
Coaching:
It's not a report card if we don't evaluate the job the coaches did.
And frankly, the gameplan was great. They tired out a banged-up Saints' defensive front with the run game, but still dialed up enough play-action (and deep shots) to the point they couldn't stack the box and risk Pitts or London getting a 1-on-1. That's exactly what should be done with this personnel.
And on defense, the pressure again got home, the secondary kept the passing game in check, and outside of six missed tackles (which must be fixed before we face Derrick Henry on Sunday Night), operations were about as clean as it gets. So those missed tackles hold us back from another A+.
Grade: A
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