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Vikings appear to have the upper hand
Mike Florio and Chris Simms look ahead to the Week 2 “Sunday Night Football” matchup and explore why they feel confident the Vikings have the upper hand against the Falcons.
ShareCan the Falcons get their running game on track?
Atlanta rushed for just 69 yards, the seventh-lowest rushing total in Week 1, and its 2.5-yards-per-carry average ranked fifth-worst. And consider, too, that nearly a third of their total rushing yards came from their quarterback, Michael Penix. Running backs carried the ball 22 times combined for 48 yards.
Instead of focusing on the run in the traditional sense, Atlanta focused instead on getting running back Bijan Robinson the ball in different ways out of the backfield. He caught six passes for 100 yards, including a touchdown.
ShareFalcons come up just short in Week 1
Trailing 17-10 in the third quarter, Atlanta came back to take a 20-17 lead with just over two minutes remaining after QB Michael Penix Jr. rushed for a 4-yard touchdown. Tampa Bay then drove down the field and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 59 seconds remaining in regulation.
Atlanta kicker Younghoe Koo missed a game-tying 44-yard field goal attempt with six seconds remaining.
ShareFalcons looking to improve pass rush
After struggling to get to the quarterback last season, the Falcons put an emphasis on improving the pass rush. Last season, Atlanta’s 31 sacks were the second-fewest in the NFL, while they allowed the highest completion percentage in the league (69.9%).
Atlanta used its first pick in the 2025 NFL draft (15th overall) on Jalon Walker (Georgia), who won the Butkus Award as the best linebacker in college last season. They then traded back into the first round to select edge James Pearce Jr. (Tennessee) with the 26th overall pick. Pearce had 17.5 sacks in 26 games played over his final two seasons at Tennessee.
In free agency, Atlanta signed Leonard Floyd (from San Francisco) to a one-year, $10 million deal. Floyd, who turns 33 on Monday, has posted 8.5+ sacks in each of the last five seasons.
The Falcons had just one sack in their Week 1 loss vs. Tampa Bay. While Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield went 17 of 32 with just 167 passing yards, he did throw three touchdown passes.
ShareFalcons offense relying on talented playmakers
The Falcons had a top-10 pick in the NFL draft for four straight years from 2021 to 2024, taking an offensive player with all four of those picks. Prior to taking QB Michael Penix Jr. in 2024, the Falcons selected TE Kyle Pitts (2021), WR Drake London (2022) and RB Bijan Robinson (2023). While Pitts has not developed into an elite tight end as was hoped, London and Robinson are the top two playmakers in the Falcons offense.
Robinson had 3,350 scrimmage yards over his first two seasons (third-most in NFL). The only players with more scrimmage yards in that span were Saquon Barkley (3,525) and Derrick Henry (3,495).
London suffered a shoulder injury late in the fourth quarter of Atlanta’s Week 1 loss vs. Tampa Bay and was not on the field for the Falcons’ final plays of the game. There was no update on his status after the game.
ShareAtlanta hoping to end playoff drought 
The Falcons have not reached the playoffs since the 2017 season, with their current seven-season drought tied for the second-longest active playoff drought in the NFL. That 2017 season is also the last time Atlanta finished above .500 (went 10-6).
Atlanta’s seven-season playoff drought is the franchise’s longest since 1983-1990, when it went eight straight years without reaching the postseason.
ShareMcCarthy went ‘legend mode’ for Vikings on ‘MNF’
Denny Carter and Patrick Daugherty break down a “roller coaster” NFL debut for the Minnesota Vikings on “MNF,” where the first three quarters were rough but the final quarter shows that he can be a fantasy QB streamer.
ShareJustin Jefferson off to historic start to career
Since being selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft, Justin Jefferson has been arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL. He has posted 1,000+ receiving yards in each of his first five seasons and has been named to four Pro Bowls with two first-team All-Pro selections (2022 and 2024). In the 2022 season, Jefferson was named NFL offensive player of the year.
Jefferson’s 7,432 career receiving yards are the most in NFL history through a player’s first five seasons. He needs 944 receiving yards this season to pass Hall of Famer Randy Moss for the most receiving yards through a player’s first six seasons.
The only season in which Jefferson had fewer than 1,400 receiving yards was in 2023, when he missed seven games with a hamstring injury (but still had 1,074 receiving yards in 10 games played).
SharePlayer spotlight: Falcons vs. Vikings on SNF
Pro Football Focus dives into the numbers around Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy ahead of Week 2 “Sunday Night Football” in addition to other impact players of note in this matchup.
ShareKevin O’Connell looking to get Vikings over the hump
After leading the Vikings to 14 wins last season (second-most in a season in franchise history), head coach Kevin O’Connell signed a multiyear contract extension in January. Just a few weeks after signing his new deal, he was named NFL head coach of the year, becoming just the second Vikings head coach to win the award (after Bud Grant in 1969).
Minnesota has won 13-plus games in two of three seasons under O’Connell. Prior to O’Connell’s tenure, Minnesota had won 13-plus games twice in franchise history (1998 and 2017).
ShareLamb highlights top prop picks for NFL Week 2
Fantasy Football Pregame gives its best over/under props for Week 2 of the NFL season, including CeeDee Lamb receiving yards, Kyler Murray combined pass and rush yards, and more.
ShareTwo young QBs set to square off
J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix previously played each other in the final college game of their careers, when McCarthy and the Michigan Wolverines defeated Penix and the Washington Huskies in the national title game in January 2024.
While Penix took over as Atlanta’s starting QB toward the end of last season, McCarthy missed his entire rookie year with a knee injury. This will be McCarthy’s first NFL game in front of a home crowd.
ShareFalcons looking to make playoffs for first time in eight seasons
Last season was Atlanta’s first under head coach Raheem Morris, with the Falcons going 8-9 and finishing second in the NFC South but missing the playoffs for the seventh straight year.
Kirk Cousins started the first 14 games of the season and had the Falcons sitting at 7-7 and still in the hunt for a playoff berth before they turned to Penix, who was named the starter for the final three games of the season. After beating the Giants in his first career start, Penix and the Falcons then lost each of their final two games in overtime (at WAS, vs. CAR) and missed the playoffs.