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ATLANTA — Samson Ebukam called it “an identity game.” Kevin Stefanski agreed.
“Identity is a good word because you can talk about it until you’re blue in the face and you can put it on a T-shirt, but you have to go do it,” the Atlanta Falcons’ first-year head coach said. “We have to go be who we say we are, and I thought today we did that.”
And it resulted in the most shocking result of Week 7 — a 29-20 Falcons win over the previously undefeated San Francisco 49ers. The victory halted a two-game losing streak and kept Atlanta in the thick of a typically topsy-turvy NFC South race.
“We expected to do this,” Falcons defensive tackle Maason Smith said. “We didn’t come into this game thinking they were better than us. You always have to respect the opponent, but it wasn’t a surprise to us what we did. This is what we’ve been preaching about from the beginning of the week, and we just executed the plan.”
Atlanta (3-4) was outgained 400 yards to 295 but won the turnover battle 4-0 and held 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy to his second-lowest EPA per dropback of the season (0.06) and a banged-up Christian McCaffrey (thigh) to 39 yards on seven carries (though he also added 61 yards on six receptions).
“We came out here to showcase what it is we’re about,” said Ebukam, a veteran defensive end who signed with the Falcons as a free agent in March. “We knew who we had in the locker room, so we were just like, ‘If you say you’re going to be a tough guy, be a tough guy. If you say you’re going to run to the ball, run to the ball. If you say you’re going to do your job, just do your job.’ It was pretty cool to see everybody bind together and do what we did today.”
San Francisco (6-1) had just 18 rushing yards in the second half.
“The 49ers are a team that prides themselves on running the ball, and everything we do is centered around stopping the run,” Falcons linebacker Josh Woods said. “They got some leaky yards and good runs, but it was definitely an identity game. It was a heavyweight fight. We understand that they wanted to run the ball. We understand that we wanted to stop the run. So, man up.”
For Atlanta’s offense, the winning identity appears to be keeping quarterback Michael Penix Jr. unhurried and unharried. After two weeks of struggling against pressure from the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears, Penix got the ball out of his hands quickly all afternoon. His average of 5 air yards per target was the lowest of his career as a starter — and half of his average last week against Chicago. The result was an efficient outing — 25-of-34 for 213 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions — that allowed the Falcons to narrowly win the time-of-possession battle.
“I thought Mike was really, really good throughout the day,” Stefanski said. “That’s a great defense, and they don’t give up big plays. We took our shots when we had them, and when we didn’t, I thought Mike saw it really well. We trust Mike.”
Penix was pressured on a career-low 8.8 percent of his dropbacks.
“Everybody gets credit for that,” Stefanski said. “I would start with the players and the guys understanding the plan. Protection takes all 11 guys. It’s not just an offensive line stat, and I thought (offensive coordinator Tommy Rees) and the offensive staff put together a great plan today going up against that type of defense.”
The Falcons fell behind 14-3 but scored 26 unanswered points from the 8:48 mark in the second quarter until 14:55 remained in the fourth quarter.
“That’s a great offense, great coaches and a quarterback and team playing as well as anybody in this league,” Stefanski said of the 49ers. “You’re not going to shut them out. We understand it was going to be a 60-minute game.”
The Falcons sealed the victory when rookie linebacker Kendal Daniels, who was carted off the field and taken to a local hospital after a scary neck injury last weekend, intercepted Purdy to set up a decisive field goal. Daniels led the Falcons with 11 tackles.
“Just gave him a game ball, and he deserves it,” Stefanski said. “What a seven days. Seven days ago, we were in here talking about him being in the hospital and talking to his family. And then to go play in a game against Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy and (call the defense), that is unbelievable. And then to make a play at the end. Really proud of him.”
It was the first home win of the season for the Falcons, who are now just half a game behind the Carolina Panthers (3-3) in the division. Atlanta now must get ready for its third division game of the season against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that beat Carolina 43-13 on Sunday.
“This is only a step in the right direction,” Ebukam said. “It’s not like it’s the Super Bowl. We just have to keep it going.”
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
