The Atlanta Falcons struggled to get to the end zone in Week 2 of the NFL season. But their barrage of field goals was more than enough to secure a 22-6 “Sunday Night Football” victory because the Minnesota Vikings were having an even more disappointing night on offense. The Falcons split to 1-1 by stopping the repeat of Week 1, when the Vikings couldn’t advance yards and score more than three quarters in Chicago before they resorted to a double-digit fourth-quarter comeback led by quarterback J.J. McCarthy, in his first career start.
Minnesota (1-1) trudged through three quarters again. But this time, there was no fourth-quarter McCarthy magic, as his second interception with two minutes to go closed out the victory. McCarthy was enjoying a roller-coaster week of professional and personal highs. After becoming the first NFL quarterback since Steve Young in 1985 to author a double-digit fourth-quarter comeback in his initial game on Monday in Chicago, he was a father four days later.
But on Sunday, he struggled to find time to throw the ball and was sacked six times — a franchise worst since 2022. When he did throw, he didn’t get star wideout Justin Jefferson very often in Atlanta’s coverage, and he went 11-for-21 for 158 yards. Jefferson had a team-leading three receptions for 81 yards. His 50-yard reception late in the first half set up a field goal as the second quarter concluded to place the Vikings at 9-6 in an all-field goal game. The Falcons then tacked on 13 points without reply to pull away, featuring the game’s sole touchdown with 3:22 left in the fourth quarter to lead by the final margin.
Minnesota managed just 10 first downs and 198 yards overall, its fewest since November 2022. The loss ended a remarkable win streak for McCarthy, who had not lost a regular-season game he started since 2018, when he was a sophomore in high school. Falcons running back Bijan Robinson rushed for 143 yards and became the first player since 2013’s LeSean McCoy to have two 100-plus rushing yards and 100-plus receiving yards games to start a season. Atlanta quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was 13 of 21 for 135 yards.
The Falcons’ best offensive asset was their freshly promoted kicker, Parker Romo, who had been brought onto the active roster only this week — he was so new that he didn’t even know the name of teammate Leonard Floyd, Romo admitted afterwards — in place of the Falcons sitting out their veteran starter after a string of missed kicks dating back to last season.
