RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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The Atlanta Falcons laid an egg in their first preseason game of the year, losing at home to the Denver Broncos by a score of 27-7 . While it's only an exhibition game, it never feels good to get dominated on both sides of the ball as the Falcons were for most of Friday night.
Let's do a quick review of how it went in all three phases.
Offense
Atlanta’s offense in the first half was almost a total dud. Tua Tagovailoa started at quarterback and saw one drive, beginning his Falcons tenure with a dropped snap . After that he had the pass protection regularly break down on him, making it difficult to find any rhythm. He targeted tight end Kyle Pitts four times but only totaled 22 yards before he was subbed out.
Cooper Rush came in soon after and things got even worse. His first attempt was deflected, then his second was picked off by Broncos DB Riley Moss, bringing a very quick end to the Falcons’ second possession. Rush’s next drive ended in a quick three and out. He had a good thing going on his third drive, but was tipped and picked off again in the red zone on a poor pass - resulting in a pick-six . Rush ended the night with a laughable 6.8 passer rating.
The Falcons’ run game was almost as ineffective. Early on we saw two runs from Brian Robinson Jr, resulting in just six yards on the ground. Nathan Carter got similar results. Things finally got going when Tyler Goodson came into the game. He showed more explosiveness, totaling a team-high 28 yards on seven carries and set the Falcons up at the goal line for their only touchdown.
Jack Strand came in to play quarterback in the second half and was a dramatic improvement over Tagovailoa and Rush, that admittedly being a low bar. He led one touchdown drive, capped off by a QB sneak at the one-yard line. Overall, a poor night offensively - but to be expected given the limited amount of time the starters saw.
Defense
As bad as things were on offense, it was practically a symphony of football perfection compared to the Falcons’ struggles on the other side of the ball in the first half.
The biggest problem that stood out was that Atlanta had absolutely no success stopping the run, a frustrating carry-over from the 2025 season when they ranked 24th against the run. They were both out of position on every run and couldn't complete a simple tackle. At one point the Broncos were averaging nearly six yards per carry. By the end, Denver had racked up 163 yards on the ground.
The Falcons weren’t much better against the pass, either. They got little to no pressure on Jarrett Stidham, who started in place of Bo Nix and wound up looking like prime Steve Young. He completed a 40-yard jump ball to Courtland Sutton with Mike Hughes in coverage, setting up Denver's first touchdown. Facing no pressure, Stidham continued to shred Atlanta’s defense the rest of the first half, which ended in a 17-0 lead for Denver.
Jeff Ulbrich's defense tightened up in the second half and had a few highlights, including a forced fumble by JT Bertrand and a near-interception at the goal like by Malcolm DeWalt. The damage had already been done, though and in the end the Broncos out-gained the Falcons 359-192.
Special teams
Practically the only silver lining was a decent performance on special teams, especially the kickoff return unit. Wide receiver Vinny Anthony II and Olamide Zaccheaus combined for 114 total yards on four attempts, the shortest going for 24 yards. Zachariah Branch chipped in six yards on their only punt return of the game.
Punter Jake Bailey also put in a respectable game, totaling 198 yards on four attempts, pinning the Broncos inside their own 20-yard line twice. Matthew Hailey also had a solid night, totaling 178 yards on four punts and pinning Denver inside the 20 three times.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Instant analysis: Falcons lay an egg vs. Broncos in preseason debut
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