October 31, 2026 – JR McHenry, On-Air Talent/Field Reporter
ATLANTA — On a windy, sometimes chilly, sunny fall day in Atlanta, the Atlanta Falcons took on the San Francisco 49ers under with the roof open at Mercedes-Benz Stadium for the final game of their 3 game homestand before hitting the road. As you walked in the stadium from the tailgate, you could feel the excitement in the air for this football Sunday from fans of the 49ers and the Falcons. The Falcons came in looking to right the ship after two tough losses. The 49ers came in off of Monday Night Football win for their 6th straight win of the season. The 49ers were without wide receivers Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel.
First Quarter Story
The 49ers came out the gate on fire with the mindset of establishing running back Christian McCaffrey, six of the ten plays on the opening drive involved McCaffrey, ending a 1 yard touchdown run by him. Zachariah Branch bounced back from a rough Week 6 and took the kickoff 61 yards, setting up the Falcons in good position to score. While the Falcons didn’t get all they wanted on their opening drive, they did get a field goal to cut the San Francisco lead to 7-3.
Second Quarter Story
On the 49ers first drive of the 2nd Quarter, backup running back, Kaelon Black broke off a 30 yard run to increase the 49ers lead to 14-3. This is the second consecutive week that the Falcons got down to an opponent at home 14-3. The Falcons had the appropriate response to the 49ers scoring drive by getting multiple guys involved in the passing game using the threat of the explosive running back Bijan Robinson in the running game to open up the passing game. The drive ended with a 1 yard touchdown pass to tight end Nick Muse to make the score 14-9. The 49ers had a decent drive, poised to add to their tally then the Falcons forced two fumbles back to back and recovered to turn the 49ers over and get back on the ball. The Falcons went on a 14 play drive that covered 56 yards to eat up the remainder of the 2nd quarter clock tacking on a field goal to make the tally going into halftime 14-12.
Third Quarter Story
The Falcons took the 3rd quarter with the mindset to still share the sugar, quarterback Michael Penix Jr. getting tight ends involved even more with some wide receiver Drake London sprinkled in as well. This drive was time consuming in nature lasting 6 minutes 1 second ending with a 5 yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. to make the score 19-14. The 49ers only drive of the 3rd quarter looked promising but ended abruptly when quarterback Brock Purdy threw an ill-advised ball that Falcons safety Jessie Bates III corralled in with some toe drag swag to give the Falcons defense their second takeaway of the day.
Fourth Quarter Story
This quarter began with a Falcons drive that spilled over from the 3rd quarter after the Jessie Bates III interception. The Falcons remained balanced on this drive as they had done earlier all throughout the game. The continued threat of Bijan Robinson forced the 49ers to load the box and presented favorable looks in the pass game for Penix Jr. and company. To top off this drive an advantageous look presented itself and Penix Jr. hit London for a 21 yard touchdown to boost the Falcons lead to 26-14. After this Falcons score, the 49ers were in 4 downs the remainder of the game meaning they were going for it no matter what due to lack of possessions left in the game. The 49ers got all the way down to the Falcons 23 yard line and were stopped on downs. The Falcons quickly went 3 and out and gave the ball back to the 49ers. The 49ers get on the move and get down the field in 10 plays covering 82 yards ending in a 1 yard touchdown reception by fullback Kyle Juszczyk, but extra point was missed to only cut the lead to six making it a 26-20. This missed extra point will become important later in the quarter. The Falcons defense steps up again, linebacker Kendal Daniels who was stretchered out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium just the week prior, showed up and showed out in major undercutting an in-breaking route in zone coverage and picked Purdy off and returned the ball to the 49ers 29 yard line setting up the Falcons in scoring position. The Falcons didn’t do much after being set up in prime position, they tack on another field goal to make it a two-score game by the score of 29-20, which made the extra point missed earlier in the quarter loom even larger. On a desperation drive, Falcons safety forced a fumble by 49ers tight end George Kittle recovered by linebacker Kendal Daniels, which allowed the Falcons to kneel out the clock and improve their record to 3-4 on the season. The ultimate story of the game was the Falcons defense forcing four 49ers turnovers and being efficient on the offensive side of the ball with a balance between the run and the pass, this a formula the Falcons can bottle up and use week after week to give themselves an opportunity to rack up more wins the rest of the season in the NFC South race.
JR McHenry is On-Air Talent/Field Reporter representing The Bossman Show on Your Radio!
To stay in-tune with JR’s goings and comings: Connect with him here:
IG – http://www.instagram.com/thebossmanshow
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/BossmanShow
Website – https://BossmanShow.com