The 49ers never hit Penix, and they gave Atlanta the ball four times
Christian McCaffrey gained 69 yards on the opening drive and 26 after he came back from a thigh injury. Dre Greenlaw played 62 of 68 snaps in his return, and Jaden Dugger went from 64 snaps against Washington to 31.
Atlanta beat San Francisco 29-20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday. The 49ers are 6-1 and go into the bye with their first loss. They led 14-3 on the first play of the second quarter, Kaelon Black's 30-yard touchdown run, and Atlanta scored the next 23 points: two Nick Folk field goals and Michael Penix Jr. touchdown passes to Nick Muse, Kyle Pitts and Drake London. Kyle Juszczyk's 1-yard catch made it 26-20 with 5:05 left, Eddy Pineiro's extra point went wide left, and Folk's third field goal closed it.
1. San Francisco punted once, and five of its nine possessions ended in a turnover or on downs#
Three drives scored, one punted, two ended in lost fumbles, two in interceptions and one on downs, per the game book's drive chart. Atlanta turned it over zero times and scored 13 points off the four giveaways: Folk's 33-yarder at the horn after Black's fumble at the Atlanta 28, the 90-yard touchdown drive after Jessie Bates intercepted Brock Purdy at the Atlanta 10, and Folk's 31-yarder after Kendal Daniels, the Falcons' rookie linebacker, tipped a third-and-9 pass to himself and returned it to the San Francisco 19 with 2:34 left. George Kittle's fumble at the Atlanta 19 with 57 seconds left ended the last drive, and Daniels recovered that one too. Brock Purdy finished 27 of 40 for 288 yards, one touchdown and the two interceptions, and was sacked twice.
"Anytime you have four turnovers like that, and you get zero, it's real tough to win," Kyle Shanahan said, per 49ers Webzone.
2. The book credits the defense with no sack, no quarterback hit and no pass defensed#
Penix was 25 of 34 for 213 yards and three touchdowns and was not sacked. Every San Francisco defender shows zero in the book's sack, quarterback-hit and pass-defensed columns, and so does the totals row. Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area wrote that the 49ers had not hit Penix through three quarters. The book extends that to four.
Nine linemen played, of 68 defensive snaps: Osa Odighizuwa 49, Romello Height 41, Sebastian Valdez 38, Keion White 37, Gracen Halton 34, Mykel Williams 33, James Thompson Jr. 28, Khalid Kareem 16 and Ogbo Okoronkwo, elevated on Saturday, 10. Nick Bosa has not played since Week 2. The trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 10.
3. Four Atlanta first downs came by penalty, three of them on the 90-yard drive#
The 49ers took seven penalties for 55 yards, Atlanta five for 39. On the touchdown drive after the Bates interception, Penix threw incomplete on second-and-20 and Renardo Green was called for illegal contact. He threw incomplete deep on third-and-8 and Jack Jones was called for pass interference, 20 yards, to the San Francisco 34. On third-and-2 at the 26, Thompson was offside, and London's touchdown came on the next snap. Before the half, Atlanta faced fourth-and-4 at the San Francisco 44 with 29 seconds left and Odighizuwa was flagged for encroachment; Folk's field goal came three plays later.
"The timing of some penalties, just keeping them on the field, giving them some big plays, especially when we have them behind the chains," Shanahan said. "But too sloppy to win."
4. McCaffrey gained 69 yards on the first drive and 26 after he came back#
The opening drive netted 64 yards in 10 plays, and McCaffrey accounted for 69 of the gross: 29 on four carries and 40 on two catches, less a false start on Trent Williams. Black was stopped at the 1 three straight times, and on fourth-and-goal McCaffrey went over the top. The club's game notes, via Webzone, call it his sixth straight game with a rushing touchdown, tying Raheem Mostert in 2019 and Derek Loville in 1995 for the longest such streak by a 49ers back since at least 1970.
The book logged his return as questionable early in the second quarter. He was back for the first snap of the third and from there had three carries for 10 yards and three catches for 16, on 34 of 66 offensive snaps. "My leg just died on me," McCaffrey said, per Webzone. "I'll be fine. I'm not worried about it." Shanahan, asked whether McCaffrey looked like himself: "I'll wait until I see on tape. He seemed all right."
5. Black ran for 60 yards before halftime and 3 after it#
Black had 11 carries for 60 yards in the first half, per the book's first-half summary, and one for 3 in the second, on 31 of 66 snaps. Maiocco credited Jordan Watkins's block on A.J. Terrell at the 19 for the touchdown, which the club's notes call the longest run by a 49ers rookie since Elijah Mitchell's 38-yarder at Detroit in 2021. The fumble came on second-and-1 at the Atlanta 28, one play after Jordan James fumbled and Luke Farrell recovered.
6. Kirk played 20 snaps and was not thrown to#
Christian Kirk's debut was 20 of 66 offensive snaps with no target: the receiving table lists 39 targets to nine players, and he is not among them. Brandin Cooks and Watkins started, per the lineup card. Cooks played 45 snaps and caught one of three targets for 13 yards. Watkins played 50 and caught three of six for 56, including the 35-yarder that opened the fourth-quarter drive. Jacob Cowing played 26 and caught three of five for 38. The four wideouts together: 14 of 39 targets, seven catches, 107 yards.
7. Greenlaw played 62 of 68 in his return, and Dugger's share was cut in half#
Dre Greenlaw, back from his one-game suspension, played 62 of 68 defensive snaps and had 12 tackles, four solo. Fred Warner played all 68 and had 13, two for loss. Jaden Dugger played 31 of 68, down from 64 of 67 against Washington, and had the other tackle for loss.
Upton Stout was active and did not play; Shanahan said he was available for emergencies only, per Webzone. Enrique Cruz Jr. and Mac Jones were the other active 49ers who did not play.
8. Pineiro's miss was his seventh in 34 kicks, and the question goes to the plane#
Pineiro's extra point after Juszczyk's touchdown went wide left, so Folk's last field goal made it nine rather than eight. Across the seven box scores this season Pineiro is 6 of 9 on field goals and 21 of 25 on extra points, seven misses in 34 kicks. Asked whether the club would work out kickers during the bye, Shanahan said, per Webzone: "I don't know. I haven't talked to anybody about that. We'll probably discuss on the plane."
Sources: NFL official game book, 49ers at Falcons, Oct. 25, 2026 (lineups and did-not-play list, scoring, individual, team, drive, defensive, first-half and playtime pages, play-by-play); ESPN box scores for the 49ers' seven 2026 games (kicking); Matt Maiocco and Ali Thanawalla, NBC Sports Bay Area, Oct. 25; Kyle Shanahan and Christian McCaffrey postgame remarks, and the 49ers' game notes, as published by 49ers Webzone, Oct. 25; 49ers.com inactives release and game story, Oct. 25.
