Falcons finish preseason 2-1, but the QB1 call still waits
Tua Tagovailoa handled Miami cleanly and Michael Penix Jr. still hasn't thrown a preseason pass, and Kevin Stefanski isn't ready to pick between them with two weeks left before Pittsburgh.
Tua looked clean in Miami, and Stefanski still won't commit
Tua Tagovailoa went back to Hard Rock Stadium, the building he'd played six seasons in before Atlanta signed him this offseason, and completed 7 of 8 passes for 95 yards in Friday's 17-12 win. Kevin Stefanski's review afterward stopped short of a declaration: "I thought Tua did a nice job operating, obviously moving the football for a couple drives. Plenty to clean up," the coach said, flagging an avoidable center-to-quarterback exchange the staff still wants fixed.
From @NFLGameDay Kickoff: The #Falcons QB question is still an open one, though Tua Tagovailoa having a solid game helps.
Michael Penix Jr. didn't take a single snap in the finale. He was only cleared for full 11-on-11 work this past Monday, nine months removed from the torn ACL that ended his 2025 season, and Stefanski held him out of live reps rather than rush him back. Asked when he'd name a starter, Stefanski told reporters he isn't sure, adding only, "I just know it's not today," per NFL.com.
That leaves Atlanta two weeks from Pittsburgh with no name attached to the job. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Saturday that the question is still open, though Tagovailoa's clean outing against Miami "helps." Whoever it is, Penix has said publicly he still expects to be ready for Week 1 regardless of how the reps shake out this month.
Robinson punched it in early, and camp closes 2-1
Atlanta closed the preseason 2-1 with Friday's 17-12 win over Miami, a tidy answer to the 27-7 opening loss to Denver on August 14. Brian Robinson Jr. scored on the Falcons' opening drive, one of five carries for 14 yards; he also caught a pass for nine yards and lost a fumble, still his most complete outing of camp.
Dolphins17-12
Colts34-6
Broncos7-27Jahan Dotson caught all three of his targets for 27 yards, and Kyle Pitts Sr. was the best weapon on the field, hauling in all three of his looks for 59 yards. Between Pitts stretching the field and Robinson finishing the drive, it was as clean a script as Atlanta's skill players will get running with Tagovailoa under center before anything counts.
None of it is a verdict on the regular-season offense — preseason snap counts don't carry over — but it's the shape the staff wanted walking out of camp: touchdowns instead of field goals, and clean reps for the pass-catchers.
Stefanski opens his Falcons tenure against the division he used to coach against for a decade
The Falcons open the regular season Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, at Acrisure Stadium, as an underdog with the line opened at 3.5 points and the total set at 42.5 — a low-scoring read for a Week 1 game. Pittsburgh finished its own preseason 1-2 and lost its last tune-up 27-28 at Buffalo, but exhibition results matter less than who's actually starting: the Steelers' initial 2026 depth chart lists Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, DK Metcalf and Michael Pittman as the outside receivers, Roman Wilson in the slot and Pat Freiermuth at tight end, per the team's own release.
There's a subplot here beyond the scoreline: Stefanski spent his career on the other side of the AFC North rivalry as Cleveland's head coach, which means his first game running the Falcons is also a return trip to a division he knows as well as anyone in the building he's walking into, as Steel Curtain Network noted in previewing the opener.
Whoever wins the quarterback job in the next two weeks will make his first start in a building that isn't friendly to visitors, against a Steelers offense that already knows exactly who its starters are.