The last unbeaten team in the NFL is unbeaten no more. Michael Penix Jr. threw three touchdown passes and the Atlanta Falcons' defense forced four turnovers on Sunday, beating the San Francisco 49ers 29-20 in Atlanta and handing them their first loss of the 2026 season.
San Francisco came into the game 6-0 and looking every bit the league's best team. It left 6-1, undone by a Falcons team that had lost two straight and had not won at home all season.
Penix Jr. and the Falcons answer a 14-3 hole
The 49ers struck first and looked in control early, building a 14-3 lead on Kaelon Black's 30-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. Then Atlanta took the game over, scoring 23 unanswered points.
Penix Jr. completed 25 of 34 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns, hitting tight end Nick Muse, Kyle Pitts Sr. and Drake London for scores. Muse's touchdown was the first of his NFL career — and it lit the fuse on Atlanta's comeback.
Christian McCaffrey kept San Francisco in it, rushing for 39 yards and a touchdown while catching six passes for 61 yards. But Brock Purdy, under pressure all afternoon, completed 27 of 40 passes for 288 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, and the 49ers' three giveaways plus a turnover on downs inside the Atlanta 30 proved too much to overcome.
Kendal Daniels, one week after the stretcher, seals it
The story of the game was rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels. One week after leaving the field on a stretcher with a scary injury, Daniels picked off a pass and recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter for the Falcons (3-4), who won their first home game of the season.
After Nick Folk's 31-yard field goal stretched Atlanta's lead to 29-20 after the two-minute warning, Daniels made sure the 49ers would not get a final chance. He dove on a George Kittle fumble on San Francisco's desperation drive to seal the win.
"I'm blessed, man. I just thanked God all week," Daniels said after the game. "I was just sore all week, but I've played through worse pain than that. I knew God was telling me that I needed to play, so he guided me to play this week."
Folk added three field goals in all, and the Falcons' defense harassed Purdy into his worst performance of the year. San Francisco now heads into its bye week at 6-1 with plenty to fix — and Atlanta, at 3-4, suddenly has a season again.
Around the league on Sunday
The New York Giants beat the Houston Texans 27-21 in overtime, with Devin Singletary running for a 30-yard touchdown to win it. J.J. McCarthy won his first start for New York, completing 20 of 28 passes for 252 yards, while Cam Skattebo rushed 17 times for 124 yards.
The Los Angeles Rams beat the Las Vegas Raiders 35-21, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers routed the Carolina Panthers behind a running game that let Baker Mayfield throw his 200th career touchdown pass on just 64 passing yards.
Fuentes: Reuters, USA Today/Niners Wire, NorthJersey.com, Sportradar.