The Atlanta Falcons have a lot of work to do.
The Atlanta Falcons are moving fast toward the regular season with one preseason game down, another to come this weekend, and joint practices against another opponent.
A camp that began with so much hope for the season though and legitimate playoff aspirations seems to have taken a turn in terms of the vibes from the fanbase in year one of the Kevin Stefanski era. Quarterback has been the main talking point, but it goes beyond just the health of Michael Penix Jr. and the question of when he can get back on the field.
At the end of the day, Penix is clearly a whole lot further away than fans thought he could be before camp started, which has left the first team reps to Tua Tagovailoa. Though there have been flashes from the former Alabama star, the preseason game was just about as bad as it gets, and any confidence from the fanbase that he can run this offense efficiently and effectively has largely gone out the window.
Penix will be back at some point, but it will be without legitimate practice reps and this could lower the ceiling of what the offense can be early in the season if he does indeed take over.
On defense, the news cycle has not been much better there. One of the biggest strengths of the roster in edge rusher has been completely depleted with a torn ACL for Jalon Walker and an eight-game suspension for James Pearce Jr., leaving Atlanta with little there.
Though signing Za'Darius Smith should help there and Kendal Daniels has stepped up to wear the green dot at inside linebacker during practice, it just feels right now like this is not a Falcons team that has a whole lot of good things ahead in 2026.
Perhaps coming from under the radar is a better spot to be than receiving a bunch of hype in the preseason and having to live up to it, but right now it seems like year one for Stefanski and this staff is going to be a little bit of an uphill battle.
Over the coming weeks, fans are going to continue to watch practice reports very closely and hope that the outlook on both offense and defense are better than they are right now. If nothing changes, it could be yet another long season for fans in Atlanta who have been starved of a winner for so long now.
