Falcons Hand the Unbeaten 49ers Their First Loss as Penix Throws 3 Touchdown Passes

By The Arena Staff

ATLANTA, Oct. 25, 2026 — The San Francisco 49ers are not unbeaten anymore, and the box score alone won't explain why.

San Francisco outgained Atlanta by more than 100 yards on Sunday and still lost 29-20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, because the Falcons scored 23 straight points in the middle of the game and the 49ers kept handing the ball over. They fumbled twice, Brock Purdy threw two interceptions and a drive inside the Atlanta 30 ended on downs. The 49ers fall to 6-1 heading into their bye week. Atlanta, which came in 2-4 and winless at home, is 3-4.

Michael Penix Jr. didn't need to be spectacular, completing 25 of 34 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns without an interception, according to the Falcons' official game center. He threw a 1-yard score to tight end Nick Muse, a 5-yard score to Kyle Pitts Sr. and a 21-yard touchdown to Drake London that made it 26-14 with 14:55 left. That last one capped an 11-play, 90-yard drive, NBC Sports Bay Area reported. London finished with seven catches for 66 yards.

For a quarter and a half, it looked like the 49ers' day. Christian McCaffrey accounted for every yard on the opening 64-yard drive and scored from the 1, Niners Wire reported, and rookie Kaelon Black broke a 30-yard run for the first touchdown of his career to make it 14-3 early in the second quarter. San Francisco was already without receiver Mike Evans and defensive end Nick Bosa, and McCaffrey spent part of the first half in the medical tent with a quad injury before returning.

The turn came late in the half. Black fumbled at the Atlanta 28 with the 49ers driving for a two-score lead. Moments later, a defensive line penalty on fourth-and-4 handed the Falcons a first down, and Nick Folk's 33-yard field goal as time expired cut it to 14-12. Atlanta opened the third quarter with a 10-play touchdown drive to take the lead, and safety Jessie Bates III intercepted a Purdy throw down the sideline later in the quarter, the 49ers' second giveaway in Atlanta territory.

San Francisco thought it had answered early in the fourth when Purdy hit Jordan Watkins for a 23-yard touchdown, but the call was overturned on review. Three plays later, Purdy was sacked on fourth-and-10, the first sack charged to left tackle Trent Williams this season, NBC Sports Bay Area noted.

The 49ers did get back within one score when Purdy found fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a 1-yard touchdown with 5:05 to play, but Eddy Pineiro missed the extra point, his fourth miss of the season, leaving it 26-20. After a short Atlanta punt gave San Francisco the ball near midfield, linebacker Kendal Daniels intercepted Purdy on third-and-9 and returned it 29 yards to the 49ers' 19. Folk kicked a 31-yarder right after the two-minute warning, and George Kittle's fumble on the final drive, recovered by Atlanta, ended it.

Purdy finished 27 of 40 for 288 yards with the touchdown and two interceptions. Kittle caught eight passes for 88 yards. Pineiro's misses will follow the 49ers into the bye. Niners Wire's Kyle Madson wrote that San Francisco would need to bring in kickers for tryouts.

Share-card photo: The roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium, 2018, by Eric.Jason.Cross via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.