The San Francisco 49ers are 6-0, looking to go into their bye week undefeated, but the Atlanta Falcons stand in their way. Historically, the 49ers have struggled in Atlanta. You will have to go back to 2013 to find the last win for the 49ers in Atlanta. In fact, the 49ers have won just once in the last five meetings in Atlanta. Teams and coaches change, but the 49ers are looking to snap the streak on Sunday.
Health, particularly at wide receiver, will be a huge part of any preview. While we still
have no official word on Mike Evans’ status for Sunday, I wouldn’t count on him being active with the bye week coming up. Christian Kirk is trending toward his first action, but what will his snap share be, and how effective can he be after such a long stretch of inactivity?
Still, the hope is that Kyle Shanahan can devise a game plan to counteract the potential losses at receiver and put his team in a position to put points on the board.
Here are three things to watch for on Sunday:
Atlanta’s run defense vs. San Francisco’s run defense
With Bijan Robinson, Atlanta is dangerous running the football. The dynamic weapon is incredibly hard to contain. Even the addition of former 49er Brian Robinson makes Atlanta’s rushing attack as potent as any in the NFL. The 49ers’ run defense ranks sixth in the NFL, behind Seattle, with an EPA/rush allowed of -0.16. The addition of Nick Bosa, potentially, and Dre Greenlaw, fresh off suspension, only boosts the entire defense.
Now, conventional wisdom would say that since the 49ers are down weapons on the outside, they should lean on the run game. That is a wise assumption, but Atlanta leads the NFL in EPA/rush allowed at -0.20. Atlanta’s defense has an EPA of zero on passes. So can the 49ers afford to try and test the passing defense without reliable route runners and separators? The chess match will be between Shanahan and Jeff Ulbrich on Sunday.
Limiting Atlanta’s explosive plays through the air
The 49ers defense has done well limiting explosive plays through the air and on the ground in 2026. Sunday proves to be an interesting challenge for the defense. Michael Penix’s return has given the Falcons offense life. In fact, the Falcons are fourth in the NFL with an explosive play rate of 7.2%. Now, credit has to be given to Robinson on the ground for contributing to this number.
The marquee name is Drake London, and with good reason, but it’s journeyman Jahan Dotson who has come on as of late. The receiver has a modest seven receptions over his last three games, but looking at the nature of the catches tells a different story. Dotson has averaged 27.0 yards per catch twice and, last week, averaged 29 yards per catch with two touchdowns. Dotson running routes from the slot can be an issue, as Upton Stout is dealing with an injury and Washington picked on him in coverage.
Capitalizing in the red zone
The 49ers have been incredibly efficient in the red zone. Yes, Evans has a great deal to do with that, but George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey do as well. The 49ers will have to capitalize on any and every red zone opportunity with touchdowns on Sunday. Atlanta’s red zone defense ranks 26th in the NFL with a success rate allowed of 49.38%.
While Atlanta’s run defense has been stingy overall, in the red zone their EPA number plummets to 0.15/rush. The EPA/pass number is at zero, but the 49ers will have to bully their way into the end zone in the red area. Expect a heavy dose of McCaffrey in this game through the air and on the ground, but these opportunities need to be punctuated on the ground.
