It's only the preseason, but the Atlanta Falcons definitely could have started off their 2026 campaign on a better foot. On Friday night, they got dashed by the Denver Broncos at home, 27-7, and that wasn't even close to the worst thing that happened to them this past week. Much worse were their two major losses to the edge rush rotation, which saw Jalon Walker go down for the season with an ACL tear, followed by the eight-game suspension for James Pearce Jr. getting handed down by the league office. Those are the two main reasons that CBS Sports has Atlanta on their list of the league's Preseason Week1 losers. That wasn't the end of it, though.
"Somehow, things didn't get any better when the Falcons took the field. Tua Tagovailoa fumbled his second snap of the game, and with Michael Penix Jr. (knee) still unable to play, this isn't exactly the quarterback competition Kevin Stefanski was hoping for. The Falcons got bulldozed 27-7 by the Broncos, by the way."
Pearce didn't make any kind of impact when he was on the field against the Broncos, and neither did the rest of Atlanta's edge rushers, who finished the game with a grand total of one sack between them. Hopefully the Falcons can see that they need to bring in outside help, because without Pearce or Walker it's going to be very difficult to generate any kind of reliable pressure. Even if they somehow managed to sign prime Reggie White tomorrow it wouldn't help them where they need it the most, though. Tua Tagovailoa had a very quick and forgettable outing against the Broncos and Cooper Rush managed to perform far worse. Undrafted rookie Jack Strand was half-decent, but only against the dregs of Denver's roster. With Michael Penix Jr. still waiting to be cleared for contact, this group has a lot to sharpen up before Week 1 arrives.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons named among NFL's biggest preseason Week 1 losers