TheAtlanta Falcons fell behind early to the Chicago Bears and couldn’t recover. A late push created highlights for some, but a few obvious lowlights put them in the hole to begin with.
Here’s the Week 6, 3 up and 3 down.
3 up
Kyle Pitts
The tight end led the Falcons 4th-quarter resurgence with some fantastic individual efforts. For years, fans have complained about Pitts’ engagement, but this season he’s definitely played hard every snap regardless of the score. His YAC ability has flashed on limited touches, and
he’s one of the team’s best answers for dealing with pressure.
Unfortunately, he just isn’t getting the looks, and he’s gotten opportunities only during mop-up duty. Pitts has earned the chance to be a priority; Tommy Rees and Michael Penix Jr. have to make it happen.
Jessie Bates III
Bates cracks the list two weeks in a row after forcing a fumble that helped turn the tide late in the game. A few weeks ago, Bates was in the down column due to him overextending himself too often, but he’s tightened up since then, and the play-making opportunities are coming his way.
Bates had a couple of nice run fits in the box and prevented anything from going over the top. Credit to Caleb Williams for executing the death-by-1000-paper-cuts strategy, but Bates did his job on Sunday.
Jared Ivey
Ivey played under 20 snaps, but he made the most of them. He finished as PFF’s highest-graded Falcons defender, and the film backs up that grade. He made multiple stops at and behind the line of scrimmage against the run and pressured Williams a handful of times. He can play from 3-tech to wide 9, making him a versatile depth piece, and while he is a noticeably stiff player, his hustle is undeniable. This game tied for his 2nd-greatest number of snaps for the season, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a slight increase against the San Francisco 49ers.
3 down
Olamide Zaccheaus
The WR had a brutal outing and was a constant negative for the Falcons offense. He’s been unreliable as a blocker and hasn’t given anyone a reason to trust him as a receiver. Among WRs who’ve run at least 50 routes in 2026, Zaccheaus has the second-worst Total EPA (-0.92) and EPA/Target (-0.08) per SumerSports.
He dropped a 3rd-down conversion on the game’s second drive and was later immediately accused by Michael Penix Jr. of giving up on his route. OZ was never cut out to be a WR3 this season, and it’s time to shrink his snaps.
Zachariah Branch
This performance hurt, mainly because it had nothing to do with his WR ability; he was positive in his very limited snaps. However, Branch has been inconsistent as a returner this year, and his two turnovers Sunday cost the Falcons big time.
The muff on punt team was partly due to a technique known as the “Banana Ball,” but the main issue is that he’s trying to field a punt inside the 10. OZ did the same thing when he was put in later, and that’s a massive red flag for this coaching staff. That said, you can’t turn the ball over. It was good to see the vets rally around Branch, but a break from return duties and more WR work might help.
Pass Protection
No one person or unit is responsible for the Falcons protection woes; they’re failing as a family. Penix has to get better at diagnosing the blitz pre-and-post-snap and work through his progression. Tommy Rees has to actually give Penix something to progress through. There’s a lack of answers in the short game, and some of these route concepts take too much time. The offensive line has to get better at passing off stunts from center to guard and from guard to tackle. They also need to be on the same page when navigating the blitz, especially Bijan Robinson, who struggled a lot with DBs this weekend. This will be the biggest issue for the offense until they prove they’ve learned from their mistakes.
Not the result fans or the team wanted, but the sky isn’t falling. You can’t turn the ball over on special teams; if those plays go the other way, we’re looking at a very different game. Pass protection is the biggest area of improvement, and Rees better figure it out because the 49ers defense is humming.
