The Atlanta Falcons played like a rejuvenated team that finally had its quarterback back. The Green Bay Packers had the look of an undermanned squad still asking too much of its quarterback.
That pretty much summed up an ugly Thursday night game in Wisconsin, the Falcons steamrolling the Packers 35-14 for their first win of the season as QB Michael Penix Jr. made his 2026 debut. Atlanta, which had 16 points all season entering the game, rolled off 27 in a row at one point in a runaway that immediately restored them to relevance in the NFC South. The Pack, meanwhile, moved into the basement of the NFC North with a 1-2 record that somehow seems far more problematic than Atlanta’s.
The scoreboard said plenty, but there were quite a few other winners
and losers on Thursday, and they are as follows:
WINNERS
Michael Penix Jr.
The Falcons quarterback, and team’s highly scrutinized first-round pick from 2024, started his first game in nearly a year after sufficiently recovering from the third ACL reconstruction of his football career, dating back to his college days. He threw an interception while getting reacclimated on his first drive, but ultimately completed 18 of 25 throws for 256 yards and a TD. Playing on a Thursday night also confers another benefit to Penix, who now gets 11 days to recover and gauge how his body responds with Atlanta scheduled to next play Oct. 5 in New Orleans, Week 4’s Monday nighter.
Falcons’ red-zone offense
In the depths of Atlanta’s 0-2 start, the Falcons entered the game with nary a touchdown in the previous seven quarters – and just one all season – and had not played a snap in the opposition red-zone all season, a dry spell no team had experienced through its first two games since 2008. Thursday, they scored four touchdowns in five visits inside Green Bay's 20-yard line.
Kevin Stefanski
Y’all remember he’s a two-time NFL Coach of the Year, right? That seems to get obscured a bit after the rocky end to his six-year tenure with the Cleveland Browns – where all tenures end rockily – and was certainly accentuated by Atlanta’s ghastly start to this season. But if Penix didn’t completely unlock Stefanski’s offense, he certainly stabilized it and provided ample hope that the Falcons could still be a contender in the NFC South for the balance of this season. Stefanski is now 6-0 on Thursday nights … 41-60 (playoffs included) during the rest of the week.
Christian Watson
Maybe the lone silver lining for the Green and Gold, the fifth-year receiver continues to show what he's capable of when healthy, which has been the biggest obstacle to date during his career. Watson's first-quarter TD catch, which staked Green Bay to an early lead, was his fourth of the season, tying him for the league lead − albeit with one more game under his belt than Seattle's Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Detroit's Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Atlanta run game
As you’d expect, Bijan Robinson provided plenty of mustard to the Falcons offense, rushing for 194 yards and two scores. However he also got some nice backup from RB2 Brian Robinson Jr. (no relation), who chipped in with 50 yards and a score of his own.
LOSERS
Green Bay run game
Boy, do the Packers miss Josh Jacobs – to say nothing of the legitimacy he provides to the play-action approach coach Matt LaFleur favored in 2025. After averaging a meager 64.5 yards on the ground in their first two games, the Pack were far more ineffectual Thursday – producing all of 17 yards, their lowest total in franchise history. And with no return in sight for Jacobs, who remains on the commissioner’s exempt list – not to mention a battered offensive line that was missing LG Aaron Banks and RT Zach Bako-Bewele, who’s out for the season with a knee injury – little reason to believe matters will improve any time soon.
Jordan Love
The leader of the Pack on the field and at the bank – with a contract that averages $55 million annually – Love understandably continues to struggle while running an offense that’s completely out of kilter while trying to compensate for a defense that’s been grated for at least 35 points twice in three weeks. While his position and paycheck put the onus on him, Love, who’s barely completing 50% of his passes this season, continues to be stuck in what’s effectively an untenable position.
Brenton Cox Jr.
There shouldn't be too much blame put on the Green Bay pass rusher. But we can't ignore that his roughing penalty on Penix late in the first quarter − when the Packers were leading 7-0 − kept the Falcons on the field following what appeared to be a failed first down. Bijan Robinson escaped for a 55-yard run on the next play, was in the end zone two snaps later, and the Falcons never looked back. Oops.
Lambeau Field
Arguably the most iconic stadium in the NFL, it’s been privy to a lot of good football in recent decades – and most certainly on opening night. But not Thursday. The loss to the previously winless and inept Falcons was not only embarrassing and frustrating to the locals, it also ended the Packers’ streak of winning 13 consecutive home openers.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winners and losers from Packers Thursday Night Football dud vs. Falcons
