<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-drake-london-darnell-mooney-healthy-vikings');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons WRs Drake London, Darnell Mooney ‘good to go’ vs. Vikings');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Drake-London-and-Darnell-Mooney.jpg"><figcaption>Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons WRs Drake London, Darnell Mooney ‘good to go’ vs. Vikings</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-12T11:56:18-07:00">September 12th, 11:56am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-12T11:57:35-07:00">September 12th, 11:57am</time><address><a>Benedetto Vitale</a>Benedetto Vitale is an avid sports writer who is an expert at covering the NFL, college football, NBA, and UFC. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2016 with a film degree but has since dedicated his career to sports writing.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/nfl-stories/falcons-vikings-bold-predictions-week-2-2025-nfl-season">Atlanta Falcons have a big Week 2 matchup</a> against the Minnesota Vikings and hope to get back in the win column after suffering a 23-20 Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, there have been some injury concerns regarding wide receivers Drake London and Darnell Mooney. On Friday, their statuses for the upcoming contest were finally revealed.</p><p>Reports indicate that both London and Mooney <a href="https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/1966563660207108234" rel="noopener">will play on Sunday night</a>, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Schefter states that both wide receivers are “good to go” as they recover from their respective shoulder injuries.</p><p>“Falcons WRs Drake London and Darnell Mooney do not have an injury designation for Sunday night’s game vs. the Vikings and are good to go.”</p><p>London, who is 24 years old, suffered a shoulder injury during the Falcons’ loss in Week 1. The injury occurred in the fourth quarter after he had already recorded 55 receiving yards off eight receptions. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-atlanta-sees-drake-london-darnell-mooney-practice-return-injury-woes">Drake London will likely continue</a> serving as one of the top pass options in Atlanta for second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The former first-round pick ended last season with 100 receptions, 1,271 receiving yards, and nine touchdown grabs. All of which are career highs.</p><p>Darnell Mooney, on the other hand, was not available in Week 1 after he sustained his shoulder injury during the Falcons’ first practice of training camp. The 27-year-old wideout should fit nicely into the offense as a top-three target behind London and tight end Kyle Pitts. Mooney experienced a jump in productivity in his first year in Atlanta last season and could maintain a big role this year. He finished the 2024-25 campaign with 64 receptions, 992 receiving yards, and five touchdowns.</p><p>So, the Falcons will seemingly have their top wide receivers available for their game against the Vikings. It’s a prime-time matchup that will be aired on “Sunday Night Football.” Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. EST.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons WRs Drake London, Darnell Mooney ‘good to go’ vs. Vikings

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/nfl-stories/falcons-vikings-bold-predictions-week-2-2025-nfl-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons vs. Vikings bold predictions for Week 2 of 2025 NFL season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Minnesota-Vikings-head-coach-Kevin-OConnell_5db5be.jpg"><figcaption>Matt Marton-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons vs. Vikings bold predictions for Week 2 of 2025 NFL season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-11T15:19:06-07:00">September 11th, 3:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-11T15:19:06-07:00">September 11th, 3:19pm</time><address><a>Shane Shoemaker</a>Shane Shoemaker is an Associate Editor and Editorial writer for ClutchPoints, covering a wide range of sports and entertainment topics. Shane is a lifelong Tennessean yet refuses allegiance to any Tennessee-based teams. He's a graduate from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga with a BA in Communications/Journalism. There's a good chance he'll never let you forget the Atlanta Braves won the 2021 World Series.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Week 2 of the NFL season features a particularly intriguing matchup as the Atlanta Falcons (0-1) travel to face the Minnesota Vikings (1-0). And this one comes with plenty of storylines.</p><p>First, these teams had very different Week 1 outcomes. At home, the Falcons looked poised to notch a third straight win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before Baker Mayfield hit rookie Emeka Egbuka for the go-ahead score. On the ensuing drive, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-most-to-blame-heartbreaking-week-1-loss-buccaneers">Younghoe Koo missed a potential game-tying field goal</a>, leaving the Falcons in search of answers at kicker.</p><p>The Vikings, meanwhile, looked disjointed for three quarters against the Chicago Bears — until J.J. McCarthy came alive and flipped the game. McCarthy accounted for three total touchdowns and walked off looking every bit like the first-round pick he was drafted to be over a year ago.</p><p>Second, this is sort of a rematch between McCarthy and Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr., both first-rounders from last year. The two last faced each other on the biggest stage, meeting in the College Football Playoff National Championship two years ago, when Michigan beat Washington.</p><p>Lastly, there’s the underplayed angle: another homecoming of sorts for Kirk Cousins. Even if Cousins will be riding the bench, his return to Minnesota remains a storyline that will get at least a brief mention.</p><h2><b>J.J. McCarthy shows regression against Falcons</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Vikings-QB-JJ-McCarthy-vs-Bears.jpg"><figcaption>Matt Marton-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Look, we all know about the Falcons’ pass rush problems. That’s why they drafted two first-rounders this year to get after the quarterback. But they’re still rookies, and this defensive front has a ways to go, even if there is promise.</p><p>However, the Falcons came away as one of the best teams in the league in Week 1 at pressuring the quarterback. They <a href="https://x.com/The33rdTeamFB/status/1964837169014669412" rel="noopener">ranked fourth</a> in the NFL in pressure rate on dropbacks at 40.5 percent, according to The 33rd Team. Yet they still only got to Baker Mayfield once.</p><p>Regardless, pressuring the quarterback at any rate is better than none at all, and that could still pose a problem for a quarterback like McCarthy going into just his second NFL game. Something else to consider with McCarthy is how focused he will be. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/minnesota-vikings/vikings-news-j-j-mccarthy-not-at-practice-as-he-awaits-birth-of-son">He and his wife just had their first child</a> this week, and obviously he has been there for that — as he should be. But it could still play a factor in his performance.</p><h2><b>Falcons and Vikings defense each create two turnovers</b></h2><p>This game could come down to which team turns the ball over less. With the inexperience of both quarterbacks and it being just Week 2 of the NFL season, mistakes are bound to happen.</p><p>McCarthy has already thrown a pick-six against the Bears on Monday night, and if the Falcons can get to him, a strip sack is in play. The same goes for Penix, who showed he can make plays with his legs when he wants to. But that could also prove dangerous against a team that ranked <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/nfl/ask/nfl-team-takeaway-leaders-2024" rel="noopener">second in takeaways last year</a>.</p><p>Penix will be facing a much tougher defense this weekend than what he saw against the Bucs, even though they are solid under Todd Bowles. Minnesota got to Caleb Williams twice last week, and now they face an offensive line with a few new pieces due to free agency and injury. Look for Brian Flores to dial up the pressure on Penix.</p><h2><b>Falcons have under 300 yards of total offense</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/768137856-bijan-robinson-falcons.jpg"><figcaption>Dale Zanine-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Falcons have enough offensive weapons to move the ball down the field, yet it still feels like they’re working out the kinks. Last week, they had trouble establishing the run, even with Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier rotating in the backfield. They rushed for just 69 total yards on 28 carries for 2.5 yards per carry.</p><p>That’s concerning if you’re a Falcons fan. What’s also concerning is that the passing game could be threatened by injuries to Drake London and Darnell Mooney. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-atlanta-sees-drake-london-darnell-mooney-practice-return-injury-woes">Both returned to practice Wednesday</a>, but how healthy they are remains a mystery. Mooney had been dealing with injuries during training camp, while London left last week’s game late with a shoulder injury.</p><p>This puts even more pressure on Penix to make something happen. While Robinson is still an option, either in the backfield or split out as a receiver, a team like the Vikings will shut that down quickly.</p><h2><b>Vikings kicking game the difference in rather sloppy game</b></h2><p>The Falcons are like a few other teams in the league right now, looking to strengthen their kicking situation. As of this writing, Younghoe Koo is still set to be the starter, but the Falcons have <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-atlanta-adds-kicker-after-younghoe-koos-big-miss-buccaneers">brought in competition</a>, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.</p><p>Atlanta signed Parker Romo on Wednesday. His only NFL action came with the Vikings last year, when he went 11-for-12 on field goals and 7-for-8 on extra points in four games.</p><p>Whether it’s Koo or Romo, the Falcons still can’t feel confident in their kicking game, and that uncertainty is liable to come back to bite them again. If this game turns into a sluggish offensive showing for Atlanta, they’ll have to settle for field goals. But who’s to say they’ll make them?</p><p>Likewise, it could be just as ugly for Minnesota offensively, but the Vikings have a much more reliable kicker in Will Reichard.</p><p>Expect quite a few field goal attempts in this one, with the Vikings coming out on top.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons vs. Vikings bold predictions for Week 2 of 2025 NFL season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/49ers-nearly-lost-jake-moody-replacement-to-falcons');   ga('set', 'title', '49ers nearly lost Jake Moody replacement to Falcons');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Eddie-Piniero-cover.jpg"></figure><h1>49ers nearly lost Jake Moody replacement to Falcons</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-10T23:03:00-07:00">September 10th, 11:03pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-10T23:03:00-07:00">September 10th, 11:03pm</time><address><a>Brayden Haena</a>Brayden Haena is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He's a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan and a football fanatic. In addition to sports writing, he works for Arizona Football in the Player Personnel and Recruiting department and formerly served as the Defensive Coordinator for Heritage High School.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/49ers-news-kyle-shanahan-keeps-blunt-cutting-jake-moody">San Francisco 49ers made their long-anticipated move at kicker</a> this week, parting ways with former third-round pick Jake Moody and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/49ers-news-san-francisco-eddy-pineiro-replace-jake-moody">signing veteran Eddy Piñeiro.</a> But as Piñeiro revealed Wednesday, the Niners were <a href="https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/1965883641562841308" rel="noopener">close to missing out</a> on their new leg entirely.</p><p>“It’s been a crazy week,” Piñeiro told reporters after signing. “I was supposed to leave to Atlanta yesterday until I got the call to come over here, and I took the opportunity and didn’t look back.”</p><p>Piñeiro said he chose San Francisco over the Falcons because of the franchise’s culture and championship aspirations. “I want to win games. I want to be a part of a good culture and in my eighth year of my career, I want to win,” he said. The choice makes sense—since 2019, Piñeiro <a href="https://www.nbcsportsbayarea.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/eddy-pineiro-contract-atlanta-falcons/1873772/" rel="noopener">has carved out a reputation</a> as one of the NFL’s most accurate kickers, and the 49ers have been perennial contenders, reaching four NFC Championship Games in the last six years.</p><p>San Francisco’s patience with Moody ran out after Week 1. In the 49ers’ 17-13 win over the Seahawks, the former Michigan standout went 1-for-3 on field goals, including a 27-yarder that clanged off the upright and a 36-yard attempt that was blocked. Fox cameras caught sideline frustration, with players tossing helmets after the misses.</p><h2><b>49ers find their new kicker after parting ways with Jake Moody</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Jake-Moody.jpg"><figcaption>Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Head coach Kyle Shanahan initially backed his young kicker, saying there was “no question” Moody would remain the starter. But by Monday, Shanahan admitted the team was weighing its options, and by Tuesday, the 49ers announced Moody’s release.</p><p>Moody’s decline was steep. After a strong rookie campaign in 2023 (21-for-24 on field goals, 60-for-61 on PATs), his accuracy cratered. He connected on just 70.6% of his kicks in 2024, including a brutal 50% from beyond 40 yards. Overall, his 74.2% career field goal rate pales in comparison to Piñeiro’s career mark of 88.1%, which ranks third among active kickers.</p><p>The 29-year-old Piñeiro, now wearing No. 18, has logged five NFL seasons across stints with the Bears, Jets, and Panthers. He’s been remarkably steady, ranking as the fourth-most accurate kicker in league history. His absence from a roster this summer puzzled many, but Piñeiro explained he was simply waiting for the right fit.</p><p>“I just wanted the right opportunity, and thank God this opportunity came up and this is what I wanted,” Piñeiro said.</p><p>For San Francisco, the move signals a pivot from developmental patience to win-now urgency. The 49ers’ roster remains loaded despite early injuries, and special teams miscues are a luxury a championship contender can’t afford.</p><p>Piñeiro understands the stakes. “At the end of the day you just got to make kicks, and I know if I don’t make kicks, I’ll be out of here,” he said. The 49ers nearly lost their new kicker to the Falcons, but instead, they land a proven veteran who could stabilize one of the roster’s weakest links. Now it’s on Piñeiro to make the most of his shot in San Francisco.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

49ers nearly lost Jake Moody replacement to Falcons

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-atlanta-sees-drake-london-darnell-mooney-practice-return-injury-woes');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons WRs Drake London, Darnell Mooney make practice return after injury woes');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/London-vs-the-Bucs.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons WRs Drake London, Darnell Mooney make practice return after injury woes</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-10T10:29:32-07:00">September 10th, 10:29am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-10T13:16:30-07:00">September 10th, 1:16pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Sunday afternoon, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-most-to-blame-heartbreaking-week-1-loss-buccaneers">Atlanta Falcons got</a> off to a rough start to the 2025 NFL season with a home <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-backs-younghoe-koo-fatal-miss">loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> to start out 0-1. The Falcons got a strong game out of quarterback Michael Penix Jr., but ultimately, they weren’t able to make enough plays down the stretch to win.</p><p>One big aspect of the loss was the amount of injuries Atlanta was dealing with, as the team was playing without its second best wide receiver in Darnell Mooney, and also saw number one receiver Drake London leave the game early due to injury.</p><p>However, on Wednesday, the Falcons got <a href="https://x.com/willmcfadden/status/1965804217416991208" rel="noopener">a positive update</a> on both players.</p><p>“Raheem Morris says Drake London and Darnell Mooney will both be practicing today for the Falcons. Good news on the WR front for Atlanta,” reported Will McFadden of the Falcons on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>Mooney had been dealing with injury concerns throughout training camp and the preseason, leading some to wonder whether it could be weeks or even months before we saw him in uniform this year.</p><p>Meanwhile, London’s injury thankfully doesn’t appear to be anything too severe.</p><p>Morris also said that London is expected to play next week, per Tom Pelissero.</p><h2><b>Can the Falcons bounce back?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Penix-Week-1-win.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>There were some things to be encouraged by in the Atlanta Falcons’ home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including most notably the play of Michael Penix Jr., who looked calm and collected in just his fourth start as an NFL quarterback.</p><p>The Falcons’ offensive line left quite a bit to be desired, not able to churn out any gaps for Bijan Robinson to exploit, and overall, the team didn’t exactly put on a defensive masterclass, with the pass rush once again non-existent for the most part.</p><p>However, Atlanta does have an intriguing group of young talent led by Penix, Robinson, and London, and if they are able to churn out just a couple of wins during the opening stretch of their season, the schedule figures to get a lot more manageable from there.</p><p>The Falcons will next take the field on Sunday evening on the road against the Minnesota Vikings at 8:20 PM ET.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons WRs Drake London, Darnell Mooney make practice return after injury woes

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-atlanta-adds-kicker-after-younghoe-koos-big-miss-buccaneers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons add kicker after Younghoe Koo’s big miss vs. Buccaneers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Koo-kicks.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons add kicker after Younghoe Koo’s big miss vs. Buccaneers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-09T10:06:46-07:00">September 9th, 10:06am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-09T10:06:46-07:00">September 9th, 10:06am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Sunday, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-most-to-blame-heartbreaking-week-1-loss-buccaneers">Atlanta Falcons dropped</a> to 0-1 on the young 2025 season with a brutal home loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While quarterback <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-endorsement-baker-mayfield-week-1">Michael Penix Jr. played well</a> in this one, Atlanta’s running game could not get going behind a brutal offensive line performance, and the defense did not get stops when they were necessary.</p><p>Still, the Falcons had a chance to tie things up late, but that went by the wayside when kicker  Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yarder, solidifying the loss for Atlanta.</p><p>Koo was among the worst kickers in the NFL last year and has quickly fallen out of favor with the Falcons’ fanbase, and on Tuesday, the team <a href="https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1965440354754363899" rel="noopener">brought in some competition</a> for him at practice this week.</p><p>“The #Falcons are signing kicker Parker Romo to the practice squad, per source,” reported Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network on X, formerly Twitter. “After Younghoe Koo’s critical miss Sunday, Raheem Morris said they’d bring in competition. It’ll be Romo, who was 11-for-12 on field goals in four games last season with Minnesota.”</p><p>The Falcons indeed could use some help in the field goal department after struggling in that area for the last two seasons.</p><p>Still, Atlanta’s problems do not end there, as the team’s pass rush, which they worked so hard to improve this offseason through the NFL Draft, was once again non-existent for the most part on Sunday against Tampa Bay.</p><p>Meanwhile, despite having one of the league’s best running backs in Bijan Robinson, the Falcons were unable to establish any kind of ground game in the loss against Tampa Bay, and Penix Jr. didn’t have many opportunities to show off his deep ball due to the little amount of time he had in the pocket.</p><p>In any case, the Falcons will next hit the field next Sunday evening for a road game against the Minnesota Vikings.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons add kicker after Younghoe Koo’s big miss vs. Buccaneers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-most-to-blame-heartbreaking-week-1-loss-buccaneers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons most to blame for heartbreaking Week 1 loss to Buccaneers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Raheem-Morris-coaching.jpg"><figcaption>Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons most to blame for heartbreaking Week 1 loss to Buccaneers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-09T08:46:28-07:00">September 9th, 8:46am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-09T08:46:28-07:00">September 9th, 8:46am</time><address><a>Shane Shoemaker</a>Shane Shoemaker is an Associate Editor and Editorial writer for ClutchPoints, covering a wide range of sports and entertainment topics. Shane is a lifelong Tennessean yet refuses allegiance to any Tennessee-based teams. He's a graduate from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga with a BA in Communications/Journalism. There's a good chance he'll never let you forget the Atlanta Braves won the 2021 World Series.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Opening up at home to begin the season is always an advantage. The Atlanta Falcons were afforded that luxury in Week 1, yet they failed to capitalize, falling to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-20 <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-backs-younghoe-koo-fatal-miss">in heartbreaking fashion</a>.</p><p>Atlanta came out red hot, striking in just three plays. The Falcons went 65 yards in 1:46, capped by a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-bijan-robinson-immediately-starts-season-50-yard-house-call">Bijan Robinson reception for the game’s first score</a>. But the offense quickly cooled. Atlanta wouldn’t find the end zone again until under a minute left in the first half, settling for a 41-yard field goal.</p><p>From that point, the game was in the hands of second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The first-year starter showed why the Falcons drafted him No. 8 overall last year. In the fourth quarter, Penix orchestrated a marathon 18-play, nine-minute drive that looked like it might deliver the win. On fourth-and-4 at the goal line, he scrambled, stretched the ball across the plane, and gave Atlanta a late lead with just over a minute left.</p><p>But Baker Mayfield spoiled the moment. On Tampa Bay’s ensuing possession, the veteran hit rookie receiver Emeka Egbuka on a 25-yard strike, putting the Buccaneers back in front by three. Penix wasn’t finished, though, driving the Falcons to the Buccaneers’ 26-yard line to set up what could have been overtime heroics deliver by Younghoe Koo. Instead, history repeated itself in familiar fashion.</p><h2><b>Younghoe Koo misses when it matters most</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Younghoe-Koos-frustrated-response-to-critical-miss-vs.-Buccaneers-1.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Veteran kicker Younghoe Koo had been solid earlier in the afternoon, converting from 41 and 36 yards. But when it counted most, he pushed a 44-yard attempt wide right, sealing the loss for Atlanta.</p><p>“It’s tough, obviously. But as always, just got to get back to work. Definitely frustrated. Had a great offseason, great camp. Two weeks leading into Week 1, I felt great. I still do,” <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-younghoe-koo-frustrated-response-critical-miss-buccaneers">Koo said after the game</a>.</p><p>For longtime Falcons fans, the ending felt like déjà vu. The franchise has been haunted by last-minute heartbreaks, and this one came with added sting because Koo’s struggles were no secret.</p><h2><b>Raheem Morris chose to stick with Koo</b></h2><p>When Raheem Morris named Koo his starting kicker ahead of the season, he admitted it was based on “emotional bank accounts” with the veteran. This was despite the team signing Lenny Krieg in the offseason to provide competition after Koo’s disappointing 2024 campaign.</p><p>Last year, Koo <a href="https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KooxYo00.htm" rel="noopener">hit just 73.5 percent</a> of his field goals (25-for-38) and converted only 7-of-11 from 40 to 49 yards. Those shaky numbers already had fans uneasy, and now <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-raheem-morris-reveals-plan-atlanta-kicker-search">the leash appears short</a>.</p><p>“We have to bring a competitive edge. We have to go out there and look,” Morris said Monday. “We have to bring in people to compete. It definitely creates that sense of urgency. It’s about the process you have to go through from a physical and mental standpoint.”</p><p>As much as Koo deserves heat for the Week 1 miss, Morris shares his fair share of the blame. He made the call to stick with him.</p><h2><b>Running game a problem for Falcons</b></h2><p>Despite having two stud running backs in Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, Atlanta’s ground game was lackluster to say the least. The Falcons managed just 69 rushing yards on 2.5 yards per carry.</p><p>Penix nearly matched Robinson and Allgeier’s individual rushing totals (24 yards) with 21 yards of his own and even added a touchdown. Robinson did most of his damage through the air, finishing with six catches for 100 yards and a score. His versatility will remain a weapon, but Atlanta’s inability to run consistently stalled drives and left the offense one-dimensional.</p><h2><b>Drake London fails to deliver</b></h2><p>Receiver Drake London is coming off a career year where he established himself as Atlanta’s WR1 and a reliable target for Penix. But against Tampa Bay, he struggled to replicate that form.</p><p>Targeted 15 times, London hauled in eight passes for 55 yards and no touchdowns. On the critical fourth-quarter drive, Penix looked his way multiple times in the red zone, but the two couldn’t connect. The first was a slightly missed throw by Penix. The other near-catch in the end zone slipped away from London, adding to the frustration.</p><p>London eventually left the game with a shoulder injury. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport later reported that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-drake-london-positive-injury-update-week-1">London is day-to-day with a sprain</a>. The injury likely explains some of the inconsistency, but it also raised questions about whether he should have pulled himself earlier.</p><p>For the Falcons, the opener was a blend of promise and frustration. Penix looked poised and capable, Robinson flashed star power, and the defense held Mayfield in check for most of the afternoon. But some of the same kind of issues that have defined Atlanta for years still persisted.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons most to blame for heartbreaking Week 1 loss to Buccaneers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-younghoe-koo-frustrated-response-critical-miss-buccaneers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo’s ‘frustrated’ response to critical miss vs. Buccaneers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Younghoe-Koos-frustrated-response-to-critical-miss-vs.-Buccaneers.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo’s ‘frustrated’ response to critical miss vs. Buccaneers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-08T19:48:29-07:00">September 8th, 7:48pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-08T19:48:29-07:00">September 8th, 7:48pm</time><address><a>Richard Pereira</a>Richard Pereira joined ClutchPoints in January 2025 as an Associate Editor. He earned his degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2023 and has been covering the school's athletic programs since 2020, having served as a Sports Editor at the FAU University Press. He was granted the unique opportunity to report on the men's basketball team's journey to the Final Four in Houston for FAU Owls Nest during March Madness, consistently striving to grow as a sports journalist.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Younghoe Koo had a brutal ending in the Atlanta <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-backs-younghoe-koo-fatal-miss">Falcons’ season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> on Sunday afternoon.</p><p>Atlanta traded blows with Tampa Bay throughout the game, a testament to their rivalry in the NFC South Division. The hosts even had a chance to force overtime with a field goal from Koo, but his 44-yard attempt went right to the right.</p><p>It was a tough way to end the game for Koo and the Falcons, coming up short in a way that could’ve gone either direction. The veteran kicker <a href="https://x.com/TerrinWaack/status/1965116798459883712" rel="noopener">reflected on the costly miss</a> during Monday’s press conference, per reporter Terrin Waack.</p><p>“It’s tough, obviously. But as always, just got to get back to work. Definitely frustrated. Had a great offseason, great camp. Two weeks leading into Week 1, I felt great. I still do,” Koo said.</p><h2><b>What’s next for Younghoe Koo, Falcons</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Younghoe-Koos-frustrated-response-to-critical-miss-vs.-Buccaneers-1.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The costly miss will put Younghoe Koo to the test, especially with other kickers <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-raheem-morris-reveals-plan-atlanta-kicker-search">competing for his spot on the Falcons</a>.</p><p>Head coach Raheem Morris said during Monday’s press conference that the Falcons will host veteran kickers in a Tuesday workout that could decide Koo’s future with the team. He did affirm that Koo remains the starter going into Week 2 but emphasized the importance of competition.</p><p>“You have to say that right now,” Morris said. “Tomorrow, we’ll work out some veterans, a couple young guys. There are no secrets around here. There’s always going to be a highly competitive atmosphere.”</p><p>“We just didn’t play well enough on special teams,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris told reporters on Monday. “We’ve got to get better there. Missing that field goal, at that time, to tie it, it’s going to be one of the critical points we talk about. … We’ve got to bring a competitive edge. We’ve got to go out there and look for people to compete.”</p><p>The Falcons will look to bounce back in their next matchup, being on the road. They face the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 14 at 8:20 p.m. ET.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo’s ‘frustrated’ response to critical miss vs. Buccaneers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-raheem-morris-reveals-plan-atlanta-kicker-search');   ga('set', 'title', 'Raheem Morris reveals plan for Falcons’ kicker search');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Koo-reacts.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Raheem Morris reveals plan for Falcons’ kicker search</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-08T14:06:50-07:00">September 8th, 2:06pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-08T14:06:50-07:00">September 8th, 2:06pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Sunday, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-backs-younghoe-koo-fatal-miss">Atlanta Falcons got off to</a> a rough 0-1 start to the 2025 NFL season with a narrow home loss to the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-endorsement-baker-mayfield-week-1">divisional rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers.</a> The Falcons had a strong start to this game but ultimately faltered as things went on and were unable to close things out down the stretch.</p><p>Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. did an impressive job of getting the team down the field quickly at the end of the game to set up a potential game-tying field goal, but unfortunately, kicker Younghoe Koo missed the try from 44 yards out, sending Atlanta fans home frustrated.</p><p>This miss, combined with an overall rough season from Koo last year, has caused some to wonder whether the Falcons may bring in some additional kickers to practice and hold a competition for the starting spot.</p><p>Head coach Raheem Morris essentially <a href="https://x.com/JoshTheAthletic/status/1965131619494490428" rel="noopener">confirmed as much</a> with his comments to the media on Monday.</p><p>“We have to bring a competitive edge. We have to go out there and look,” said Morris, per Josh Kendall of The Athletic on X, formerly Twitter. “We have to bring in people to compete. It definitely creates that sense of urgency. It’s about the process you have to go through from a physical and mental standpoint.”</p><h2><b>A rough start for the Falcons</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Falcons_f3beb0.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Atlanta Falcons have by far the hardest stretch of their schedule toward the beginning of the season, and Sunday marked a golden opportunity to win a game vs a tough opponent after Penix Jr. gave Atlanta 20-17 lead late in the fourth quarter. However, the Falcons’ defense then relinquished an alarmingly quick touchdown drive engineered by Baker Mayfield and capped off by rookie Emeka Egbuka, and the Koo miss sealed Atlanta’s fate at 0-1.</p><p>Bringing in a new kicker, or at least making it a competition moving forward, could do well to help the team out in that department, but things won’t get any easier for Atlanta anytime soon, as they’ll next hit the road to take on the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2.</p><p>That game is slated for September 14 at 8:20 PM ET from Minneapolis.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Raheem Morris reveals plan for Falcons’ kicker search

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-endorsement-baker-mayfield-week-1');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. gets strong endorsement from Baker Mayfield: ‘He’s got it’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Penix-Week-1-win.jpg"><figcaption> Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. gets strong endorsement from Baker Mayfield: ‘He’s got it’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-08T09:46:09-07:00">September 8th, 9:46am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-08T09:46:09-07:00">September 8th, 9:46am</time><address><a>Matt Wadleigh</a>Matt Wadleigh is a Senior Editor at ClutchPoints who used to lead NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball coverage while also specializing in MLB and NFL coverage. He was born and raised in Oceanside and resides in Fresno with his wife and two dogs. Matthew is a huge Southern California sports fan and a retired member of the Fresno State drumline.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Atlanta Falcons’ season started with a 23-20 loss in Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-bijan-robinson-immediately-starts-season-50-yard-house-call">Falcons wasted no time with a 50-yard touchdown from Bijan Robinson</a> via a pass from Michael Penix Jr.</p><p>In the final seconds, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-backs-younghoe-koo-fatal-miss">Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo missed a potential game-tying field goal</a>, which gave the Buccaneers the win. Still, it was a tight NFC South battle to start the year.</p><p>Penix played well, throwing for 298 yards with one touchdown and rushing for another score.</p><p>After the game, Penix <a href="https://www.ajc.com/sports/2025/09/michael-penix-jr-impressed-baker-mayfield-hes-young-but-hes-got-it/" rel="noopener">received a strong endorsement</a> from Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield.</p><p>“I told him after the game, he’s going to be a problem in this league for a long time,” Mayfield said, via Gabriel Burns of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I think he’s a great player. He’s decisive, goes through his reads, trusts his guys. He’s young, but he’s got it.”</p><p>Robinson was the leading receiver for Atlanta, finishing with six receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Kyle Pitts had seven catches for 59 yards, and Drake London had eight catches for 55 yards on a team-high 15 targets, although the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-drake-london-suffers-injury-buccaneers">Falcons’ WR1 suffered a shoulder injury in the game</a>.</p><p>Even in the loss, Mayfield couldn’t help but speak highly of the Falcons’ signal-caller. In 2024, Penix threw for 775 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions while playing in five games as Kirk Cousins was the QB1 for part of the year.</p><p>But, it is now the time for Penix to shine, and the 2024 eighth overall pick got off on the right foot in the opening weekend despite the close loss to the Buccaneers.</p><p>The Falcons will look to respond in Week 2 as they travel to face the Minnesota Vikings, followed by a Week 3 road game against the Carolina Panthers, but the early signs are promising for the young quarterback who is officially the QB1 this time around.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. gets strong endorsement from Baker Mayfield: ‘He’s got it’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-drake-london-positive-injury-update-week-1');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons’ Drake London gets positive injury update after Week 1');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Atlanta-Falcons-wide-receiver-Drake-London-5-runs-after-a-catch.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons’ Drake London gets positive injury update after Week 1</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-07T18:35:19-07:00">September 7th, 6:35pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-07T18:38:39-07:00">September 7th, 6:38pm</time><address><a>Abdullah Imran</a>Abdullah Imran works as an Associate Editor for All Sports at ClutchPoints. He’s been a sports fan his entire life and enjoys writing about every sport. He has spent three years in sports journalism and loves analyzing games. In his free time, he very much enjoys binge-watching shows and playing video games.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Atlanta Falcons began their 2025 season with a 23-20 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, and their misery was compounded when No. 1 wide receiver <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-drake-london-suffers-injury-buccaneers">Drake London left the game with a shoulder injury</a>.</p><p>London exited early after landing hard on his right shoulder in the end zone on an incomplete pass from quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The play was initially thought to be a touchdown but was ruled incomplete and upheld after review. Fortunately for Falcons fans, there is some positive news regarding his status.</p><p>According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, London sustained a shoulder sprain and is <a href="https://x.com/RapSheet/status/1964840701541404790" rel="noopener">currently considered day-to-day</a>. He will undergo further tests in the coming days to determine the severity of the injury.</p><p>This initial update is encouraging for the Falcons, who are already dealing with another primary wideout sidelined, Darnell Mooney, who is out with his own shoulder injury that has kept him out of multiple weeks at the start of training camp.</p><p>The opener was a closely contested affair. Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix Jr. completed 27 of 42 passes for 298 yards, throwing one touchdown and rushing for another. Late in the game, the Falcons had a chance to tie, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-backs-younghoe-koo-fatal-miss">but kicker Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yard field goal</a>, sealing their loss.</p><p>The Buccaneers capitalized on a late roughing-the-passer penalty, allowing Baker Mayfield to connect with rookie Emeka Egbuka for a 25-yard touchdown with 59 seconds remaining.</p><p>London was heavily targeted by Penix Jr., receiving 15 passes and catching eight for 55 yards, with his longest gain being 12 yards. He was the Falcons’ primary offensive weapon throughout the game and has been a reliable target since Penix took over late in the 2024 season. In the final three games of last year, London hauled in 22 of 39 targets for 352 yards and two touchdowns, cementing his connection with the second-year quarterback.</p><p>The 24-year-old receiver came off a career season in 2024, finishing with 100 receptions for 1,271 yards and nine touchdowns. Selected eighth overall by Atlanta in the 2022 NFL Draft out of Southern California, London has accumulated 241 career receptions for 3,042 yards and 15 touchdowns. His health is critical to the Falcons’ offensive plans, especially as they prepare for a daunting matchup against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 on Sunday Night Football.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons’ Drake London gets positive injury update after Week 1

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-drake-london-suffers-injury-buccaneers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons WR Drake London suffers injury vs. Buccaneers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Drake-London-of-the-Atlanta-Falcons.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons WR Drake London suffers injury vs. Buccaneers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-07T16:07:55-07:00">September 7th, 4:07pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-07T16:07:55-07:00">September 7th, 4:07pm</time><address><a>Benedetto Vitale</a>Benedetto Vitale is an avid sports writer who is an expert at covering the NFL, college football, NBA, and UFC. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2016 with a film degree but has since dedicated his career to sports writing.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-backs-younghoe-koo-fatal-miss">Atlanta Falcons fought hard</a> but ultimately suffered a 23-20 Week 1 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To make matters worse, it appears Drake London suffered an injury during the contest.</p><p>Reports indicate that London, who is 24 years old, <a href="https://x.com/DOrlandoAJC/status/1964783425505939521" rel="noopener">suffered a shoulder injury</a> during the game, according to beat writer D. Orlando Ledbetter. The injury apparently occurred in the first half. However, Drake London did play through it in the second half.</p><p>“Falcons Drake London has a shoulder injury and is questionable to return. Cunningham said he looked like get got hurt in the first half, but continued to play.”</p><p>London’s status will be monitored in the coming days to gauge if he’ll be ready to play in Week 2 or not. It’s too early to know the severity of the injury fr now. So, until then, Drake London may be deemed questionable for the Week 2 contest against the Minnesota Vikings.</p><p>The former first-round pick ended Sunday’s game with 55 receiving yards off eight receptions. He was one of the more targeted options in the pass options in the passing game for quarterback Michael Penix Jr., as Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson were heavily involved in the offense as well.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-diving-td-throwback-indiana-days">Look for the Falcons</a> to provide more updates regarding Drake London’s injury status. Ideally, he’ll be ready to go, as he’s pegged to be the No. 1 wide receiver for Atlanta this season. He looked solid in the season opener and seems primed to continue playing at a high level. London ended the 2024-25 campaign with 100 receptions (career-high), 1,271 receiving yards (career-high), and nine touchdown grabs (career-high).</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons WR Drake London suffers injury vs. Buccaneers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-backs-younghoe-koo-fatal-miss');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr. backs Younghoe Koo after fatal miss vs. Buccaneers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Falcons-Koo.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr. backs Younghoe Koo after fatal miss vs. Buccaneers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-07T14:59:04-07:00">September 7th, 2:59pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-07T14:59:04-07:00">September 7th, 2:59pm</time><address><a>Dan Fappiano</a>Dan Fappiano is a Connecticut based sports journalist and a graduate of both Tunxis Community College and Central Connecticut State University. Dan has spent time covering high school and professional sports in both the print and online medium. He hopes to see his beloved Chicago Bears win a Super Bowl someday.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Atlanta Falcons were in a winning position to close out their Week 1 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But when kicker<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/buccaneers-news-emeka-egbuka-heroics-saved-by-falcons-field-goal-debacle"> Younghoe Koo’s 44-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right</a>, all hope was lost.</p><p>The Falcons fell 23-20, dropped a crucial NFC South clash. For quarterback Michael Penix, it was an opportunity to fully begin his tenure as starter on the right foot.</p><p>But at the same time, Penix isn’t blaming Koo for the loss. He knows the Falcons <a href="https://x.com/TerrinWaack/status/1964798005195981015" rel="noopener">could’ve done more</a> to not needed a field goal for the win, via team reporter Terrin Waack.</p><p>“We have all the confidence in the world in Koo,” Penix said. “Just like everyone else, we’re not perfect. We didn’t even have to be in that position where we needed to tie it with a field goal.”</p><p>Despite the loss, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-diving-td-throwback-indiana-days">Penix still looked strong</a> throughout the matchup. He completed 27-of-42 passes for 298 yards and a touchdown. He added another 21 yards and a touchdown on the ground. While the Falcons may have kicker problems heading into Week 2, it’s clear they have found their quarterback in Penix.</p><p>His assessment of the situation carries some weight too. While the missed field goal will get the headlines, Atlanta allowed Tampa Bay rookie Emeka Egbuka to snag a 25-yard touchdown grab with less than a minute in the game. The team also went for it on fourth down earlier in the game on Tampa Bay’s 47-yard line. When they didn’t convert, the Buccaneers scored on their very next drive.</p><p>The Falcons will now plan to regroup and prepare for the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2. There will be plenty of eyes on Koo leading up to the game. But Penix made it clear that he has his back.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons’ Michael Penix Jr. backs Younghoe Koo after fatal miss vs. Buccaneers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-diving-td-throwback-indiana-days');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr.’s diving TD a throwback to Indiana days');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Falcons-QB-Michael-Penix.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr.’s diving TD a throwback to Indiana days</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-07T14:23:52-07:00">September 7th, 2:23pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-07T14:23:52-07:00">September 7th, 2:23pm</time><address><a>Jaren Kawada</a>Jaren Kawada is a former full-time sports bettor and is now a NFL, College Football and Betting Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. Kawada was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, but now resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, after graduating from Butler University with a B.A. in sports media. Aside from football, Kawada is an avid combat sports and basketball bettor.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Michael Penix Jr. has not suited up for Indiana in four years, but his diving score to beat then-No. 8-ranked Penn State in 2020 remains one of the best plays in program history. The quarterback reminded Hoosiers fans of the iconic highlight in the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/buccaneers-falcons-bold-predictions-week-1-2025-nfl-season">Atlanta Falcons’ 2025 season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a>.</p><p>Although the Falcons suffered a 23-20 loss, Penix had arguably the best highlight of the game with a <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1964782022834192607" rel="noopener">diving touchdown</a> in the fourth quarter. Penix escaped pressure on 4th-and-goal, took off straight up the middle and dove to keep his knees off the turf as he broke the plane.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">MICHAEL PENIX JR. FOR THE LEAD.</p><p>TBvsATL on FOX<a href="https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt">https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt</a> <a href="https://t.co/IJegJgqlZY">pic.twitter.com/IJegJgqlZY</a></p><p>— NFL (@NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1964782022834192607?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Fans immediately compared the touchdown to Penix’s iconic run at Indiana. On that play, Penix avoided pressure with a similar maneuver before reaching out to hit the far pylon.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">michael penix just tried to recreate this <a href="https://t.co/l7HMOcFBVN">pic.twitter.com/l7HMOcFBVN</a></p><p>— Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) <a href="https://twitter.com/tejfbanalytics/status/1964778655743410484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Many also pointed out how the dive has almost become Penix’s signature play. Although he is not particularly known as a scrambler, Penix is one of the most aggressive quarterbacks in the league with the ball in his hands in the open field.</p><p>Penix’s initial diving score is fondly remembered by Indiana football fans for what it meant to the program at the moment. The Hoosiers went 6-2 in 2020 and ended the year ranked in the top-15, marking their most successful season in decades. They have since risen to national prominence and re-established themselves as Big Ten contenders.</p><h2><b>Michael Penix Jr. leads Falcons in heartbreaking Week 1 loss</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Penix-Jr.-during-preseason.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>After sitting behind Kirk Cousins for most of his rookie season, Penix entered the 2025 season as the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-makes-week-1-guarantee">Falcons’ full-time starting quarterback</a>.</p><p>His season got off to a promising start, ending Week 1 with 298 passing yards and one touchdown, with 21 rushing yards and a rushing score. Penix’s strong play, however, did not result in the victory.</p><p>After Baker Mayfield gave the Buccaneers a 23-20 lead with a 25-yard touchdown dart to Emeka Egbuka with 59 seconds remaining, Penix executed a near-perfect one-minute drill to get Atlanta into field goal range. The effort would ultimately be for nothing, as Younghoe Koo missed a chip shot that would have tied the game with one second left.</p><p>Since taking over for Cousins, Penix is just 1-3 as the Falcons’ starting quarterback. Each of his losses has been by one possession, as he led the team to two overtime defeats at the end of the 2024 season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr.’s diving TD a throwback to Indiana days

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-bijan-robinson-immediately-starts-season-50-yard-house-call');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons RB Bijan Robinson immediately starts season right with 50-yard house call');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Bijan-Robinson.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images.</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons RB Bijan Robinson immediately starts season right with 50-yard house call</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-07T10:17:23-07:00">September 7th, 10:17am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-07T10:17:23-07:00">September 7th, 10:17am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Sunday afternoon, the Atlanta Falcons <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-darnell-mooney-officially-inactive-buccaneers">hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers</a> in an NFC South showdown to kick off the season for both teams. It was a good early season test for<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/buccaneers-falcons-bold-predictions-week-1-2025-nfl-season"> a Falcons team</a> that is looking to finally end their playoff drought this year, which has been in place for nearly a decade.</p><p>The best player on the Falcons is running back Bijan Robinson, and the star got off to <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1964737045777244538" rel="noopener">an epic start</a> to his third season in the league with a 50-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Michael Penix Jr.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">BIJAN ROBINSON. 50-YARD TD. JUST LIKE THAT.</p><p>TBvsATL on FOX<a href="https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt">https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt</a> <a href="https://t.co/sVlo9qOxYp">pic.twitter.com/sVlo9qOxYp</a></p><p>— NFL (@NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1964737045777244538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The play started out relatively pedestrian, with Robinson being Penix Jr.’s check down option after he first looked to throw the ball further down the field. However, Robinson showcased every bit of his speed, athleticism, and dexterity in first finding the corner and then exploding into the open field and ultimately reaching the end zone to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.</p><p>It was also certainly a confidence booster for quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who took over down the stretch of last year in the middle of a playoff race and had some mixed results, with Atlanta ultimately coming up just short of making the postseason.</p><p>Robinson will be especially called upon in the receiving game with Darnell Mooney out of the lineup currently with an injury that hampered him during training camp and sidelined him for Week One.</p><p>The Falcons will hope for many more Penix to Robinson connections over the course of this season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons RB Bijan Robinson immediately starts season right with 50-yard house call

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-darnell-mooney-officially-inactive-buccaneers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons WR Darnell Mooney officially inactive vs. Buccaneers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Mooney-runs.jpg"><figcaption>Dale Zanine-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons WR Darnell Mooney officially inactive vs. Buccaneers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-07T08:57:11-07:00">September 7th, 8:57am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-07T08:57:11-07:00">September 7th, 8:57am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Sunday, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-receiver-game-time-decision-vs-buccaneers">Atlanta Falcons will kick off</a> their 2025 season with a home game against their NFC South <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/buccaneers-falcons-bold-predictions-week-1-2025-nfl-season">divisional rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers,</a> the team that has kept them from winning the division for the last couple of years. Atlanta is hoping for a strong second year from rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who took over down the stretch of last season for Kirk Cousins, producing mixed results.</p><p>Unfortunately, ahead of Sunday’s contest, the Falcons dropped <a href="https://x.com/AtlantaFalcons/status/1964714452252791235" rel="noopener">an injury report</a> that revealed that one of Penix’s top targets will miss the first game of the year.</p><p>“Darnell Mooney is inactive for today’s game,” the Falcons reported on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>Darnell Mooney was one of the leading receivers for Atlanta last year behind Drake London, keeping defenses off balance with his elite speed and route-running ability and staying reliable from a health perspective.</p><p>Unfortunately, that seems to have changed of late, as Mooney has seen his name pop up in injury reports throughout training camp and the preseason, leading some fans to wonder whether or not he would be ready by the time the real thing starts.</p><p>The answer to that question has now officially been revealed as no.</p><h2><b>A tough blow for the Falcons</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Falcons-HC-Raheem-Morris-1.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With Mooney out of the lineup, the Atlanta Falcons may have to lean even more heavily on the talents of Drake London, who had a breakout season last year, turning himself into a consensus top ten wide receiver in the NFL, but who still can’t do it all by himself.</p><p>Atlanta may also look to give even more carries to running back Bijan Robinson, who is looking to insert his name into the Offensive Player of the Year mix this season.</p><p>Overall, the Falcons should be an interesting team to watch this year. Atlanta was clearly well aware that its biggest weakness was its pass rush, adding two first round picks to help out in that department last spring.</p><p>If Penix can build on some of the potential he showed to close last season, this could finally be the year that Atlanta ends its ugly, nearly decade-long playoff drought.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons WR Darnell Mooney officially inactive vs. Buccaneers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-atlanta-steals-defender-sam-roberts-panthers-practice-squad');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons steal defender from Panthers practice squad');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NFL-defensive-lineman-Sam-Roberts.jpg"><figcaption>Scott Kinser-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons steal defender from Panthers practice squad</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-05T14:00:35-07:00">September 5th, 2:00pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-05T14:00:35-07:00">September 5th, 2:00pm</time><address><a>Benedetto Vitale</a>Benedetto Vitale is an avid sports writer who is an expert at covering the NFL, college football, NBA, and UFC. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2016 with a film degree but has since dedicated his career to sports writing.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With the 2025-26 season officially underway after Thursday night’s contest between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, some teams around the league are making last-minute roster adjustments. One of those clubs <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-receiver-game-time-decision-vs-buccaneers">is the Atlanta Falcons</a>, as the front office signed a player off of the Carolina Panthers’ practice squad.</p><p>Reports indicate that the Falcons are <a href="https://x.com/MikeGarafolo/status/1964056965568450924" rel="noopener">signing defensive lineman</a> Sam Roberts, according to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network. The 27-year-old defensive tackle will be given a spot on the active roster.</p><p>“The Falcons are signing DL Sam Roberts to their active roster off the Panthers’ practice squad, source says.”</p><p>Roberts is entering the fourth year of his career. He spent his first two seasons in the league with the New England Patriots before playing with the Panthers last season. Through his three seasons in the league, Sam Roberts has only played in 15 total games, making sporadic appearances and starting in one game. He’s totaled eight combined tackles (three solo) so far in his career.</p><p>The Falcons seemingly signed Roberts off of the Panthers’ practice squad to add some depth to the interior defensive line. It’s unclear how much playing time Roberts will receive this year, as Atlanta has several defensive tackles on the roster. David Onyemata and Brandon Dorlus lead the way, while Zach Harrison and Ruke Orhohoro are listed as the immediate backups.</p><p>Roberts may have a chance to play against his former team, though, as the Falcons take on the Panthers in Week 3. It’s possible Atlanta signed the veteran defensive lineman to gather intel about Carolina, as that is a common practice in the NFL.</p><p>Until then, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/buccaneers-falcons-bold-predictions-week-1-2025-nfl-season">Falcons will kick off the regular season</a> with a Week 1 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It’s an opportunity for Atlanta to get an early edge over a divisional rival, who is believed to be the favorite in the NFC South.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons steal defender from Panthers practice squad

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-receiver-game-time-decision-vs-buccaneers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Michael Penix Jr. key Falcons receiver a ‘game-time decision’ vs Buccaneers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Atlanta-Falcons-wide-receiver-Darnell-Mooney.jpg"><figcaption>Dale Zanine-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Michael Penix Jr. key Falcons receiver a ‘game-time decision’ vs Buccaneers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-05T12:26:42-07:00">September 5th, 12:26pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-05T12:26:42-07:00">September 5th, 12:26pm</time><address><a>Zachary Howell</a>Zachary Howell is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints focusing on creating premier MLB content. He is a big fan of the Yankees, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Syracuse Orange. In his free time, he likes to be outside or read.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Atlanta Falcons’ 2025 NFL season opener is a big divisional game. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers represented the NFC South in the playoffs for years, but Atlanta is their primary competition this season. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-makes-week-1-guarantee">Michael Penix Jr. is confident heading into his second professional season</a>. However, Drake London might be his sole target on the outside if Darnell Mooney can’t suit up on Sunday.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-darnell-mooney-escapes-dreaded-injury-update">Mooney is dealing with an injury</a> in the same shoulder that hampered his 2024 season. The veteran receiver is not the flashiest player in the Falcons’ offense, but his contributions this season will be key. He practiced throughout the week, albeit in a limited capacity. Atlanta’s medical staff has yet to make a final decision on whether or not he can play in Week 1.</p><p>According to Falcons beat writer Terrin Waack, Mooney is <a href="https://x.com/TerrinWaack/status/1963693766532903148" rel="noopener">optimistic about his chances to play</a>. However, the call is up to his team, which will wait until just before kickoff to pass judgment on his health.</p><p>“Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney said whether he’ll play Sunday against the Buccaneers is a ‘game-time decision.’” He feels good, though,” Waack said. “It was his right shoulder that he injured; same as last year.”</p><p>Being without a receiver opposite of London is less than ideal for the Falcons. However, Atlanta is ready to sit him if it means that he can stay on the field for the rest of the regular season. Despite Tampa Bay emerging as the favorite to win the division, Penix Jr. and Co. are lurking as a dark horse. If they can take a step forward offensively, the sky’s the limit for the Falcons.</p><p>Penix Jr. took steps forward throughout the preseason. However, the real test comes on Sunday against a divisional rival. He hopes that Mooney will be on the field come game time. However, he can do little else but wait for now.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Michael Penix Jr. key Falcons receiver a ‘game-time decision’ vs Buccaneers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/nfl-stories/nfl-news-bears-bills-falcons-create-cap-space-with-contract-restructures');   ga('set', 'title', 'NFL news: Bears, Bills, Falcons create cap space with contract restructures');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Buffalo-Bills-and-Chicago-Bears-during-a-2025-regular-season-game.jpg"><figcaption>Matt Marton-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>NFL news: Bears, Bills, Falcons create cap space with contract restructures</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-03T06:40:31-07:00">September 3rd, 6:40am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-03T06:40:31-07:00">September 3rd, 6:40am</time><address><a>Gerard Angelo Samillano</a>Gerard Angelo Samillano is an Associate Editor for ClutchPoints, with his focus primarily on the NBA, NFL, MLB and NCAA Football. When he's not writing for CP, Gerard can often be seen playing VALORANT or playing pick-up basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With the 2025 NFL season coming soon, there’s almost no room for teams to make major changes. There are some exceptions, of course: the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cowboys-rumors-more-details-emerge-of-micah-parsons-ultimatum-after-last-ditch-effort">Green Bay Packers’ trade for Micah Parsons is proof of that</a>. That being said, most of the moves that teams will do at this point are just minor moves to chip away at their cap space.</p><p>Three NFL teams made such moves today. The Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, and Atlanta Falcons<a href="https://x.com/FieldYates/status/1963223621926633517"> restructured the contracts</a> of their players just before the start of the season. Dion Dawkins, Jaylon Johnson, and Darnell Mooney all saw their contracts get updated to help the team save some money.</p><p>“The Falcons created $6M by restructuring WR Darnell Mooney’s deal,” Field Yates reports. “The Bills created just under $8M by restructuring OT Dion Dawkins’ deal. The Bears created $8M by restructuring CB Jaylon Johnson’s deal.”</p><p>Contract restructuring is a common way for NFL teams to make sure they have enough cap space in the middle of the season. Cap space is a valuable resource in the middle of the season. It allows teams the flexibility to make moves mid-season if they need anything on the roster. With enough cap space, a team can pivot to either going all-in or finding a replacement player after an injury to keep the team competitive.</p><p>The Bills (29th), Bears (24th), and Falcons (31st) are <a href="https://x.com/FieldYates/status/1963223621926633517">ranked towards the bottom of the NFL in terms of cap space</a>, with the Falcons in particular being in the negatives before the restructuring of Mooney’s contract. The team with the highest available cap space this season is the Bills’ division rivals New England Patriots, followed by the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions.</p><p>Expect more teams towards the bottom of the cap space rankings to make similar moves over the next few days to free up much-needed space. After all, flexibility is king in the NFL.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NFL news: Bears, Bills, Falcons create cap space with contract restructures

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-rookies-earn-todd-bowles-endorsement-buccaneers-clash');   ga('set', 'title', 'Falcons rookies earn impressive Todd Bowles endorsement before Buccaneers clash');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/full_5cbdd4.jpg"><figcaption>Brett Davis-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Falcons rookies earn impressive Todd Bowles endorsement before Buccaneers clash</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-01T15:47:37-07:00">September 1st, 3:47pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-01T15:48:36-07:00">September 1st, 3:48pm</time><address><a href="https://matthew516sports.substack.com/">Douglas Fritz</a>Douglas Fritz has been writing about sports for almost four decades and publishes a Christian sports newsletter and podcast on Substack at Matthew516Sports. He started as a reporter for the student newspaper at East Tennessee State University, worked his way up to Editor-In-Chief, and began his sports writing career at the Johnson City Press daily newspaper while still in college. During 30-plus years at the Press, he covered University of Tennessee football, men's and women's basketball, ETSU athletics, and high school athletics. Among the people he has interviewed are Dale Murphy, Bobby Cox, John Smoltz, and Bruce Smith. He is also a Christian-based screenwriter (five feature-length and one short), book writer (three completed manuscripts and one novel), and songwriter.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Things had gotten tough <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-atlanta-loses-starting-tackle-kaleb-mcgary-season-week-1">for the Atlanta Falcons on the offensive side</a> of the ball. But they still <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/buccaneers-falcons-bold-predictions-week-1-2025-nfl-season">enter the season opener</a> with high hopes. And part of the reason is the defense. A pair of Falcons’ rookies earned an impressive Todd Bowles endorsement before the clash against the Buccaneers.</p><p>Jalon Walker and James Pearce bring <a href="https://x.com/gregauman/status/1962595849277415733" rel="noopener">plenty to the table</a>, according to a post on X by Greg Auman.</p><p>“Todd Bowles had praise for Falcons rookies Jalon Walker and James Pearce: “Pearce was a heck of pass rusher in college. He could really run. I got to see Walker a few times myself, one of my favorite players in the draft coming out.” His son Troy played with Walker at Georgia.”</p><p>Walker, a linebacker, went to the Falcons with the No. 15 overall pick. The Falcons later traded up to the No. 26 spot and grabbed edge rusher James Pearce Jr.</p><h2><b>Falcons rookie LB Jalon Walker looking solid</b></h2><p>Depsite some lingering preseason injuries, the Falcons expect Walker to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6565492/2025/08/21/falcons-rookie-report-jalon-walker-james-pearce/" rel="noopener">ready to go</a> in Week 1, according to nytimes.com.</p><p>“No doubt about it,” outside linebackers coach Jacquies Smith said. “We have a plan to use him Week 1, and we’ll be able to deploy that plan because he’s doing a really good job of everything we’ve asked of him.</p><p>“The reps that he has been getting are very promising,” the coach said. “We like what we have been seeing out of him. He’s taking everything in stride and working at it the right way because he is a pro. He’s been doing a really great job this camp.”</p><p>Walker is right at the head of the list to win defensive rookie of the year honors, according to sports.betmgm.com. He’s listed at +900. That’s <a href="https://sports.betmgm.com/en/blog/nfl/jalon-walker-odds-to-win-defensive-rookie-of-the-year-bm25/" rel="noopener">well behind favorite</a> Abdul Carter of the Giants, but still good enough for the second spot.</p><p>As for Pearce, Smith said he’s in a good spot, too.</p><p>“I feel good about where he is,” Jacquies Smith said.</p><p>One thing Pearce will need to do better is to get control of his emotions. Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said NFL opponents won’t take it easy on him in that regard.</p><p>“Teams are going to come in here and try to antagonize him,” Morris said.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Falcons rookies earn impressive Todd Bowles endorsement before Buccaneers clash

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/buccaneers-falcons-bold-predictions-week-1-2025-nfl-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Buccaneers vs. Falcons bold predictions for Week 1 of 2025 NFL season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Buccaneers-vs.-Falcons-bold-predictions-for-Week-1-of-2025-NFL-season.jpg"></figure><h1>Buccaneers vs. Falcons bold predictions for Week 1 of 2025 NFL season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-09-01T05:29:19-07:00">September 1st, 5:29am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-09-01T05:29:19-07:00">September 1st, 5:29am</time><address><a href="http://hoopnut.blogspot.com/">Enzo Flojo</a>Enzo Flojo is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints and a columnist for Asian basketball at FIBA. He brings a dynamic spirit and background, having expertise that spans writing, analytics, coaching, and broadcasting. He is also currently an Assistant Coach on Scouting &amp; Analytics for the Philippine national youth basketball team.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Atlanta Falcons</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>For the 2025 NFL season, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers don’t have the luxury of easing into the action. Their opener comes against an NFC South rival desperate to prove itself, the Atlanta Falcons. With storylines galore, from Michael Penix Jr stepping into his first full season as Atlanta’s starter to Tampa Bay’s veterans aiming to show they remain contenders, this Week 1 matchup could set the tone for both franchises. The Buccaneers have continuity, leadership, and proven star power on their side. Meanwhile, the Falcons are banking on youth, upside, and the promise of a new era. That contrast makes this one of the more intriguing divisional openers on the schedule.</p><h2><b>Buccaneers-Falcons preview</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Michael-Penix-Jr.jpg"></figure><p>The Buccaneers and Falcons square off <a href="https://www.espn.com/nfl/game/_/gameId/401772830/buccaneers-falcons">on Sunday, Sept. 7</a>, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in a game loaded with both divisional implications and plenty of intrigue. For Atlanta, this is about <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-drawin-matthew-stafford-comparisons">ushering in the Penix era</a>. The rookie-turned-starter had flashes of brilliance last year. He tossed three touchdowns, but his three interceptions in limited action showed just how steep the NFL learning curve can be. Now, with a full offseason under his belt, Penix will try to prove he belongs against a veteran Bucs defense that prides itself on confusing young quarterbacks. Expect Tampa’s front seven to test his pocket presence while their secondary, bolstered by Antoine Winfield Jr, dares him to take shots downfield.</p><p>The Falcons have also wisely tried to shore up their defense, drafting linebacker Jalon Walker and edge rusher James Pearce Jr in the first round. These additions might be franchise cornerstones someday. However, Week 1 is rarely kind to rookies asked to immediately slow down established stars.</p><p>Tampa Bay returns much of its offensive core. This includes quarterback Baker Mayfield, wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and a line that has had a full offseason of continuity. It’s not far-fetched to call this an early-season elimination game in the NFC South. Atlanta is eager to prove it can keep up in what they hope will be a shootout. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers will be equally determined to flex their veteran muscle. If the Falcons want a track meet, the Buccaneers may be happy to oblige, but they’ll do it on their terms.</p><p><i><b>*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV <a href="https://www.fubo.tv/stream/football/?irad=356362&amp;irmp=492408" rel="noopener sponsored">(click for a free trial)*</a></b></i></p><p>Here we will look at and discuss some bold predictions for the game between the Buccaneers and the Falcons in Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season.</p><h2><b>Bold prediction 1: Penix Jr. struggles in early start</b></h2><p>Penix is the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/atlanta-falcons/falcons-news-michael-penix-jr-makes-week-1-guarantee">future of the Falcons franchise</a>. That said, his first Week 1 as a full-time starter is a baptism by fire. He faces a Buccaneers defense that thrives on creating pressure and forcing mistakes. That’s exactly the formula that frustrates young quarterbacks. Todd Bowles’ unit knows how to disguise coverages. With Winfield patrolling the back end again, Tampa Bay should severely limit Atlanta’s explosive opportunities.</p><p>The Bucs’ pass rush will be relentless. With Caljiah Kancey, Vita Vea and now Haason Reddick coming, Penix will likely find himself under siege more than once. The prediction here is that Penix throws at least two interceptions and gets sacked three or more times. As such, he never finds consistent rhythm. Atlanta may see glimpses of his potential, but it won’t be enough against a defense that’s built to punish inexperience.</p><h2><b>Bold prediction 2: Evans makes history early</b></h2><p>Mike Evans has been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nfl/tampa-bay-buccaneers/buccaneers-news-mike-evans-gets-brutally-honest-on-potentially-surpassing-jerry-rice-record">rewriting the record books</a> since he entered the NFL. 2025 offers another milestone within reach. Evans is on the verge of surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s record for the most consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. To break that historic streak, Evans must keep his production steady from Week 1 onward. There’s no better opportunity than against an Atlanta secondary that has consistently struggled to contain him.</p><p>Look for Evans to top 60 yards in this opener. That would put him on pace to once again reach that vaunted 1,000-yard plateau. He’s the perfect foil to Mayfield’s aggressive mentality, and his size-speed combination makes him nearly unguardable in contested-catch situations. With Godwin stretching the field and Bucky Irving forcing defenses to respect the run, Evans should have plenty of one-on-one opportunities to dominate. Week 1 will mark the beginning of what could be his most memorable season yet.</p><h2><b>Bold prediction 3: Atlanta’s weakness is exposed</b></h2><p>For years, Atlanta’s biggest defensive flaw has been its inability to stop the pass. Even with investments in Walker and Pearce, those are long-term moves. They are not Week 1 solutions. Against Tampa Bay’s proven duo of Evans and Godwin, expect that weakness to show up once again.</p><p>Mayfield thrives on finding matchups he can exploit. Against Atlanta, there will be plenty. The Falcons’ young corners will be tested early and often. Even if they show improvement, they simply don’t have the experience to win those battles consistently. Tampa Bay could realistically eclipse 300 passing yards, with Evans and Godwin both threatening to find the end zone. Atlanta’s defense may have promise, but Week 1 will serve as a harsh reminder that promise doesn’t equal production.</p><h2><b>Bold prediction 4: Buccaneers secure an early win</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Baker-Mayfield-with-Tampa-Bay-Buccaneers-3.jpg"><figcaption>Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Buccaneers already a higher probability of victory. Tampa has the continuity, the leadership, and the offensive firepower to control this game from start to finish. Sure, Atlanta might hope for a back-and-forth shootout. However, the more likely scenario is Tampa dictating tempo and leaning on its defense to close the door.</p><p>The final score may not be a complete blowout, but it should feel decisive. Expect Tampa Bay to secure a 27-17 victory. That would send a clear message to the NFC South that they remain the division’s team to beat. Atlanta will leave the game with more questions than answers about its readiness to compete for a playoff berth. For the Buccaneers, this will be the kind of Week 1 statement that sets the tone for another strong campaign.</p><h2><b>Final thoughts</b></h2><p>The Buccaneers-Falcons Week 1 matchup may not look like a marquee NFL showdown on paper. That said, it’s exactly the kind of divisional clash that carries massive weight for the months ahead. Tampa Bay is banking on its proven stars, while Atlanta is hoping its young talent develops faster than expected. We see the how veteran Bucs will hold serve, Evans will make history, and Penix will endure growing pains.</p><p>For Tampa Bay, this is the chance to start fast and remind everyone that their championship window remains open. For Atlanta, it’s a reality check: promise takes time, and in the NFC South, time is rarely a luxury.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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