Michael Penix Jr. says the Falcons “played our brand of football” after his three touchdown passes end the 49ers’ unbeaten start

Michael Penix Jr. did not want the credit for ending San Francisco’s unbeaten start. After throwing three touchdown passes in Atlanta’s 29-20 win over the 49ers on Sunday, the Falcons quarterback kept steering the conversation toward the men on the other side of the ball.

“We just played our brand of football,” Penix said after the game. He described the afternoon as a complete team win, with the offense, the defense and the kicking game each carrying a share, and he singled out a defense that took the ball away four times and gave his unit short fields to work with.

Mike's Way pic.twitter.com/npNbWi3zfl

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 25, 2026

A clean day from the pocket

His own line was efficient: 25 completions on 34 attempts, 213 yards through the air, three scores and not a single turnover. The Falcons trailed 14-3 in the second quarter before he steadied them. His three scoring throws went to three different targets.

• A 1-yard flip to tight end Nick Muse, the first touchdown of Muse’s career, cut the gap to 14-9 before halftime.
• A 5-yard throw to Kyle Pitts opened the third quarter and gave Atlanta its first lead, 19-14.
• A 21-yard strike to Drake London early in the fourth quarter made it 26-14. It was London’s first touchdown of the season.

Penix never put the ball in danger. That mattered on a day when the 49ers turned it over four times and Atlanta converted those mistakes into 13 points. Rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels sealed it with a late interception of Brock Purdy.

Where his season stands

Penix took over as the starter in Week 3, and Sunday was his second straight game with three touchdown passes after he also threw three in the Week 6 loss at Chicago. Counting this game, he has completed 96 of 144 passes, 66.7 percent, for 1,157 yards, nine touchdowns and one interception this season.

The win was Atlanta’s first at home this season. It snapped a two-game losing streak and lifted the Falcons to 3-4, while San Francisco fell to 6-1. The scoring and drive detail are in the Game Center, and the full account of the game is in our Falcons-49ers recap.

What comes next

Division play starts for Atlanta next week in Tampa, where the Falcons meet the Buccaneers at 1:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 1. Tampa Bay is coming off a 43-13 win at Carolina. San Francisco rests over its bye week, then welcomes the Raiders to Santa Clara on November 8.