If you thought going into the season that the San Francisco 49ers' first loss of the season would come to the Falcons, you'd be lying to yourself.
After facing the Seahawks, Broncos and Rams and entering the final week of October 6-0, the Niners seemed unstoppable.
That is, of course, until Michael Penix Jr. and the suddenly exciting Falcons defended home turf in Week 7.
Despite back-to-back losses entering Sunday, the third-year southpaw has Atlanta playing some exciting football — a complete 180 after Cooper Rush made it seem destined for a bottom finish after two weeks.
Since Penix Jr. returned from injury in Week 3, the Falcons have scored at least 23 points in every contest, and dropped 35 and 45 in wins against the Packers and Saints, respectively.
And most importantly for fans, Penix Jr. is doing what he should be — getting the ball to his high-profile weapons.
Running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Drake London both rank within the top three in yards at their respective positions, and tight end Kyle Pitts has at least five grabs in each of the last three contests with a total of four scores.
Rejoice, fantasy managers!
Taking down the formerly undefeated 49ers squad in Week 7 was just the latest instalment of the Falcons flipping the script from their early-season struggles, and in a wide-open NFC South, Atlanta is a serious threat to take the division crown come year-end.
While the offence gets the majority of the praise, its defence is also stepping up in a big way.
Playing without 2025 first-round picks Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. on the edge, the Falcons haven't taken that big of a step back in sack production after finishing with the second-most (57) just a year ago.
Veteran Za'Darian Smith is now up to 4.5 on the year, off-season acquisition Gervon Dexter has 1.5 up the middle, and the team as a whole sits in the middle of the pack.
All in all, it's been a roller-coaster of a ride to start the first half of the season in Atlanta, but boy, have the highs been high.
Elsewhere in the NFL during Week 7's slate:
What's up with the Panthers?
Staying in the NFC South, what on earth went down in Charlotte, N.C., on Sunday?
The Carolina Panthers, who many expected to take a run at the division after impressive wins over the Lions and Eagles, got absolutely run out of their own building by Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay put up 33 points by halftime, including 26 in the second quarter alone, while Mayfield only had to throw the ball 11 times in his return from a left thumb injury.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales summed it up perfectly post-game, saying he's "never been part of a half of football like that."
There were turnovers of every variety — a muffed punt, an interception, a strip-sack returned for a TD and a blocked punt. Yikes.
It was arguably the most shocking result of the day, especially with Carolina favoured by 2.5 points. While it's one game and may have just been an off-day, the embarrassing manner in which it occurred raises serious concerns about the legitimacy of Canales' team.
But let's look at it from the other sideline's perspective.
What a way to welcome Mayfield back to the lineup. His stat line looks the part of an NCAA QB for a run-heavy squad like Army or Rice (the latter threw the ball just seven times on Saturday, ran it 51 times for 499 yards and six TDs and still lost!).
Bucky Irving totted the rock 24 times for 106 and two, Kenny Gainwell posted 88 yards himself, and Sean Tucker had a nice 46-yard TD run. Is it sustainable? No. But is it a big statement to a division rival? You bet.
Next week should be a fun one between Mayfield's Bucs and Penix Jr.'s Falcons.
Rams rebound in Vegas
Talk about a get-right game for the pre-season Super Bowl favourites.
Coming off losses in three of their last four, including a stinker last week to the now 2-5 Cardinals, the Los Angeles Rams rebounded with a nice win on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Maybe 'on the road' isn't fair, since Raiders home games end up a 50-50 split between fanbases, but still, it was a game the Rams needed to dominate to get back on track.
Matthew Stafford tossed three first-half tuddies as L.A. went into the locker room at half up 28-6. If it wasn't for some 15 fourth-quarter points, the scoreboard would've matched what was happening on the field.
But the Rams still have a major uphill climb at 3-4.
Key guys such as Myles Garrett, Davante Adams, Poona Ford and Kobie Turner are on IR, and Trent McDuffie and Puka Nacua are banged up as well, making their task of keeping pace with the 49ers and Seahawks that much more difficult.
If there's anyone who can do it, though, it's Sean McVay and Stafford.
Aaron Glenn's time is up
Losing is not fun. Falling to a winless team is an even worse feeling. When that winless team is a division rival, the knife digs deeper.
The green team up in East Rutherford failed to keep the Dolphins winless on Sunday, losing 28-25 at home.
It's not a crazy surprise given the state of this New York Jets team, and it is the NFL, so anyone can win on any given Sunday.
But if this isn't a sign that head coach Aaron Glenn may not be fit to run this team, then we don't know what is.
We know the shortcomings of his Jets — the main being no QB (sorry, Geno Smith truthers) — but this team has talent; they just need to use it.
Garrett Wilson had just two catches on three (!) targets against a poor secondary. What!? Why!?
Well, Wilson was wondering the same, too, and let his frustrations be heard on the sidelines by giving it to Smith late in the game.
On the plus side, Braelon Allen looks solid, Breece Hall should return next week to give New York its 1-2 RB punch back, and rookie WR Omar Cooper Jr. posted his second-straight 100-yard outing.
But then there's more of the bad. Rookie tight end Kenyon Sadiq had just one grab for the second week in a row.
There are a lot of mouths to feed, but you need to feed them if you want to win, Jets.
Seahawks down Chiefs under the lights
Lose to one AFC West powerhouse one week, take down the undefeated AFC West squad the next.
That's been the past 10 days for the Seahawks, who rebounded from an overtime loss to the Broncos in Week 6 to take down the Chiefs 20-3 on Sunday night.
Kenneth Walker, on the other sideline at Lumen Field for the first time in his career, was held in check to just 36 yards on the ground after eclipsing 100 in all but one of his first five games with Kansas City.
Even though he was inactive, perhaps the sheer presence of Zach Charbonnet was enough to rattle Walker.
Jokes aside, Seattle's defence showed up in a big way against Patrick Mahomes, holding him and the Chiefs to just a field goal. Impressive.
Perhaps we just got an early preview of the Super Bowl LXI matchup.
J.J. McCarthy the saviour?
J.J. McCarthy might be the guy to save the Giants' season without Jaxson Dart.
The youngster made his first start since being acquired from the Vikings and showed the talent that made him the 10th overall pick in 2024.
McCarthy completed 20 of 28 passes (71.4 per cent) for 252 yards and didn't turn the ball over as the Giants left Reliant Stadium with a 27-21 overtime win over the Houston Texans.
Quite a way to welcome yourself back to the NFL world.
Well, it wasn't exactly a full welcome back as McCarthy suited up last week after Jameis Winston was benched, but a win against a good team in a tough environment in your first start since last season is quite an impression to make.
It's also nice to see an NFC East team back in the win column for the first time since Week 4.
Couple fun notes
• Travis Kelce caught his 1,103rd ball, passing Cris Carter and Marvin Harrison for fifth all-time.
• Sunday was National Tight Ends Day, and 11 TEs caught a total of 13 TDs.
• Much has been made over Bo Nix's horrid start to the year and his average depth of target (aDOT), so take this, haters. Yes, it was against the Cardinals, so take it with a grain of salt, but it's promising nonetheless. He also became just the fifth player ever with a 50-plus yard passing and rushing TD in the same game.
