The Atlanta Falcons blew it in primetime. It’s easy to handpick one or two plays, but this loss was a team effort. That said, there are still performances worth highlighting. Here’s the Week 5, 3 up and 3 down.
3 up
Sydney Brown
Brown has been one of Cunningham’s best additions. In Jeff Ulbrich’s scheme, the hybrid safety does it all, playing in the box like a LB and as third safety/big nickel in other packages. He has a nose for the football and has been one of the secondary’s more reliable tacklers.
Brown has far
exceeded expectations and is more than an upside special teams addition; he’s a critical piece of Ulbrich’s defense. The team should prioritize extending him if he keeps playing well.
Jessie Bates III
Bates delivered a vintage performance after a lackluster start to the season. He scored his first defensive touchdown of the season and had his best day in coverage. Bates kept the lid on the back end of the field, and while the Falcons couldn’t hold on to the lead, his play wasn’t the reason why.
It’s good to see Bates hitting his stride because the secondary continues to take on injuries, and they have a Ben Johnson offense on deck.
Drake London
London is still Penix’s go-to target, and it’s easy to see why. When third down reared its ugly head, London routinely moved the chains. London was targeted six times on third down and hauled in five passes, moving the chains on each completion. We’d all like to see Penix spread the ball a bit more, but it’s nice to know he has a legitimate security blanket for the game’s toughest moments.
Thanks to the Falcons play-action offense, London is finding himself in more space than ever, but he’s still getting the job done when he doesn’t have that space.
3 down
Divine Deablo
When asked about the Ravens putting up 208 yards on the ground, Deablo said, “Put it on me.” While no one player is entirely to blame, Deablo is right that he deserves a fair share of it. He turned in a rough performance. Deablo has been out of his gap too often and has struggled to diagnose plays at the speed we became accustomed to in 2025.
The hamstring injury is definitely holding him back, but the linebacker often seems to be in his own head and tries to make a play instead of just doing his job. He has regressed this season, but he’s not far off from getting back on track if he can clean up these mental mistakes.
Jake Matthews
Father Time comes for us all. Yes, the dropped touchdown was bad, but bigger issues need addressing. Matthews looks like a sled on most of his reps, getting blown off the snap with ease in both the passing and running game.
He was dealing with an injury all week, but this performance isn’t a one-off. It feels like he’s hanging on by a thread, and it’s always hard to watch a team legend not perform up to their standard, but most people can see now that upgrading the tackle position will need to be a priority this offseason.
Coaching
This was the staff’s first disappointing game of the season. Why call a passing play for Jake Matthews when he’s been dealing with a groin injury all week? How do you see Zachariah Branch turn a short pass into a big 1st down conversion and never go back to that well? On the other side of the ball, Jeff Ulbrich flip-flopped between soft zone and ineffective blitzes to protect the lead.
We can give him grace, knowing he was dealing with an injury to CJ Henderson, but the calls still weren’t good enough. The Ravens made better adjustments at halftime, and the Falcons staff had little to no answers.
A loss like this feels all too familiar for Falcons fans. Frustration is high, and the team is below .500, but they’re still 2-1 under Penix and should remain competitive game to game. Being competitive is only a moral victory, but the season is far from over.
