Michael Penix Jr. Throws Three Touchdowns as the Falcons Hand the 49ers Their First Loss, and Bijan Robinson's Workload Keeps Climbing

The Atlanta Falcons ended the San Francisco 49ers' unbeaten start on Sunday, winning 29-20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium behind three touchdown passes from Michael Penix Jr. and a defense that forced four turnovers. San Francisco fell to 6-1, and coach Kyle Shanahan described his team as too sloppy to win. Christian McCaffrey left in the first half with a thigh injury and returned after halftime, but he did not handle his usual workload.

For fantasy managers, Atlanta's offense delivered its most encouraging game of the season, and the details matter more than the final score.

How Atlanta won

The 49ers lost the turnover battle 4-0, and Atlanta turned those giveaways into 13 points. The Falcons scored 23 straight points to take control, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, and a late Brock Purdy interception sealed it. San Francisco also committed seven penalties for 55 yards and played without several starting receivers.

Penix finished 25-of-34 for 213 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Two of his scoring passes went to tight ends and the third went to Drake London, a 21-yard catch in the fourth quarter. Penix was pressured on only three dropbacks in one game report, which explains his efficiency.

The box score

The table below shows the key fantasy lines from Atlanta's win.

Bijan Robinson's workload is the story

Robinson did not score, and his 63 rushing yards on 20 carries were modest. But PFF reported that his snap share climbed to 81 percent, matching his season high, after he had played around 65 percent of snaps over the first four weeks. That is the trend fantasy managers want to see: more snaps means more routes, more targets and more goal-line chances.

Robinson added five catches for 59 yards, and his 122 scrimmage yards on a day without a touchdown show his floor. He is an elite RB1, and the rising workload makes him a buy if his manager is disappointed by recent touchdown luck. Verdexed's Week 7 trade-target column already flagged him as a buy, and Sunday's usage supports that.

Drake London

London scored 19.6 fantasy points in ESPN's scoring and caught his first touchdown of the season. ESPN's fantasy recap noted he has scored at least 18 points in three of his past five games and called him a lower-tier WR1 for Week 8. Penix's improvement directly lifts London, and no other Atlanta pass catcher drew more than seven targets on Sunday. He is a weekly WR1 or high-end WR2.

Atlanta's tight ends

Two of Penix's three touchdown passes went to tight ends, which complicates the weekly picture at the position. A tight end group that splits red-zone work is hard to trust in fantasy, so do not chase Sunday's scores. Watch the target distribution over the next two weeks instead.

Penix as a streamer

Penix's fantasy value has always been capped by volume, and 34 attempts with three touchdowns is the best version of his profile. Atlanta plays at Tampa Bay in Week 8 and hosts Cincinnati in Week 9, and the Falcons do not have their bye until Week 11. With four teams on bye in Week 8, he is the top quarterback streamer of the week.

San Francisco's injuries and the bye

McCaffrey's thigh injury bears watching, but the timing is favorable: the 49ers are on bye in Week 8, giving him two weeks to recover before their next game. He returned in the second half Sunday and scored a touchdown, which suggests the injury is not serious, but the reduced workload after halftime is worth noting.

Purdy's turnovers are the concern on the quarterback side. Two interceptions and a team-wide turnover problem in a road loss do not erase a 6-1 start, but managers should not expect his weekly floor to be as high without his full complement of receivers.

The betting angle

Atlanta was 2-4 entering Sunday and is now 3-4 with a win over the league's last unbeaten NFC team. The Falcons' next game is a divisional road game at Tampa Bay, which just ran for 258 yards in a rout of Carolina. That matchup pits Atlanta's improving passing game against a Buccaneers team leaning heavily on the run while Baker Mayfield's thumb heals.

The model's Week 8 view of that game will appear in the weekly picks piece at /blog/nfl-week-8-picks-2026, and on the NFL predictions page.

What to do in your league

Start: Robinson and London every week. Penix is the top Week 8 streamer.

Buy: Robinson, if his manager is frustrated by a touchdown drought. The snap share says the scores will come.

Hold: McCaffrey through the bye. A two-week break is the best possible timing for a thigh injury.

Plan: The 49ers' bye removes McCaffrey, George Kittle and Purdy for Nov. 1. Make your replacement moves before waivers run.