49ers Upset by Falcons for 1st Loss, Box Score Stats, Highlights for Purdy, Bijan, Penix, More

The San Francisco 49ers' perfect start to the 2026 campaign came to an end in upset fashion on Sunday.

The Niners lost to the Atlanta Falcons 29-20 on the road for their first defeat of the season. Atlanta was 2-4 coming into the matchup, but managed to steal a win after forcing some costly turnovers.

The Niners came out strong and appeared on their way to an easy win when they marched down the field and scored on their first drive on a Christian McCaffrey run.

The Falcons answered with a field goal, but San Francisco went up 14-3 early in the second when Kaelon Black ran it in from 30 yards out.

But the Falcons quickly turned things around.

They scored a touchdown and field goal before halftime to make it a 14-12 game heading into the second half, and they took the lead for the first time in the third quarter when Michael Penix Jr. found Kyle Pitts in the end zone.

The 49ers looked to answer Atlanta's scoring burst, but Brock Purdy threw an interception, and the Falcons capitalized with a touchdown on the following drive to make it 26-14 early in the final quarter.

San Francisco finally managed to answer the scoring run halfway through the fourth when Purdy led a touchdown drive capped off by a throw to Kyle Juszczyk, but another interception from Purdy on the Niners' next offensive drive helped the Falcons seal the win with a field goal.

While the loss stings, the Niners have no reason to panic at this point in the season. They'll look to regroup during the bye week next week before getting back to their winning ways.

The Falcons, meanwhile, will look to use the big win to turn their season around after a rough start.