The fantasy football landscape shifts each week, bringing fresh opportunities and unexpected challenges that separate the prepared from the pretenders. Savvy managers know that last week’s performance tells only part of the story, and diving deeper into the underlying metrics reveals the accurate picture.
This week presents some intriguing decisions. Here’s insight about key Atlanta Falcons players heading into their matchup with the New England Patriots to help you craft a winning lineup.
Kirk Cousins, QB
Kirk Cousins drew the Dolphins for his first start of the season, but he was a mess with Drake London a late-week scratch.
In the 24-point loss, he turned 31 pass attempts into just 7.1 fantasy points (no completions to the wide receiver position in the first quarter). There was some speculation that Cousins, filling in for an injured Michael Penix, could actually elevate the status of his pass catchers, but this offense never got going.
Atlanta is what Atlanta is, and my opinion of this team isn’t going to change based on the quarterback position. London (when healthy) and Bijan Robinson are weekly must-starts, while Kyle Pitts is a streaming option.
What I learned from this game is that there isn’t room for a WR2. Darnell Mooney was a no-show, and if targets are going to be tough to come by outside of the featured options, he’s on the very fringes of roster-worthy in most formats.
Michael Penix Jr., QB
The knee bone bruise to Michael Penix elevated Cousins into starting duties last week, and it shouldn’t have mattered to your fantasy team at all.
After an encouraging Week 1, the mobility has completely vanished from this profile, and, in 2025, if you can’t run or throw deep, you’re drawing dead.
20+ Air Yard Throws
- 2024: 36.8% complete
- 2025: 17.4% complete
The second-year signal caller is four-of-23 on those throws this season and has one score on 42 such attempts in his career. This Falcons offense has talent, but it has a giant question mark at quarterback, and that’s a major problem.
Bijan Robinson, RB
If the Falcons weasel their way into the postseason, could a 24+ point loss to the Dolphins and Panthers go down as the worst pair of outcomes by a playoff team in the history of the sport?
It’s subjective, obviously, but goodness does this Atlanta offense have a wide range of weekly outcomes.
Robinson was sucked into the vortex last week, recording just 5.8 PPR points, 10.3 points below his previous season low. It looked like he had a chance to turn the corner early in the second half after a 17-yard catch, but he lost his first fumble of the season on the next play, undoing almost all of the gains from the play prior.
He cost you this week, and you need to get over it.
Robinson is one of the best in the game, and this offense runs through him, no matter who is under center. A matchup against the only team yet to allow a running back to rush for 50 yards obviously isn’t ideal, but he doesn’t need to put up a big rushing day to help you.
Don’t get cute or fall for a trade offer as deadlines approach. You have a true game-changer on your roster and would be wise to hang onto him.
Tyler Allgeier, RB
Tyler Allgeier cashed in a garbage-time carry, so if you played him last week in hopes of such a thing, you got there, even if the garbage time was the polar opposite of your expectation.
He’s a good handcuff in a sporadic offense, a combination that gives him zero weekly utility and means he’d carry some risk even if he were to land the lead role.
He’s ranked easily outside of my top 35 this week: if you’re in a super deep league, I’d rather roll the dice on the boom/bust receivers that are widely available, even in formats like that.
Darnell Mooney, WR
Last week was a tough evaluation for the Falcons. Cousins replaced an injured Penix while London sat.
That run out would be optimal more often than not for Mooney, but I’m not sold he’s 100% healthy just yet, and he finished with 11 yards on four targets in the blowout loss at the hands of the Dolphins.
I still like him as the WR2 in this offense, though I’m not sure that role means anything close to consistent production, regardless of who the quarterback is.
Mooney did force a DPI flag that picked up 39 yards, so that’s something. But if there’s the risk of Pitts earning efficient volume (caught all nine targets on Sunday) and KhaDarel Hodge at least being involved (the eight targets from last week aren’t likely to repeat, but if three-WR sets become the norm), I have a hard time seeing Mooney live up to the production he put on film last season.
He’s a viable roster option, but not someone you should feel too tied to. I’d hesitate to cut him with the injury situations being what they are for Atlanta right now, but I’m not blind to the idea that he could become a roster casualty.
Drake London, WR
London popped up on the final injury report with a hip injury after taking limited reps last Friday and was ultimately inactive against the Dolphins.
This was only the second DNP of his 3.5 years as a pro, and given its late nature, I’m assuming he’s on the right side of questionable this week.
New England’s run defense has been its calling card this season, but that doesn’t mean its pass defense hasn’t been good. Of course, their competition has fed into that, but they’ve yet to allow a standout WR performance, and with London potentially at less than full strength, it’s difficult to put him into the WR1 discussion.
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Christian Gonzalez figures to draw the assignment, and if New England can possess the ball, we are looking at a risk of a down week in terms of both quality of target and raw quantity.
It won’t impact my ranking in a major way when the team names their quarterback for the week, but the math on London is pretty straightforward for me this week: downgrade but play in season-long, fade in DFS.
Kyle Pitts Sr., TE
Cousins’ first three completions went to Pitts in the disturbing 24-point loss to the Dolphins last week, and he finished with a season-high nine grabs.
The 30% target share was great to see, but context is needed. The script got away from the Falcons against a bad defense, with a QB who is more adept at throwing than their weekly starter.
That’s a pretty strong set of circumstances, and not ones that I’d rely on sustaining. That said, they were unable to move the ball on the ground and again turned to Pitts as a supplemental option (4.6-yard aDOT).
That, my friends, could happen again as Atlanta stays within the AFC East to face the best run defense in the league.
The ceiling is low, and I’m not 100% sure that the floor is all that high. I just made the case that a stifled run game helped Pitts … it did, but we are talking about an offense with one of the five best running backs in the sport, so that’s not exactly a thread I want to pull on weekly.
He’s running 33.3 routes per game for a team that is an underdog. It’s sad, but that gets you into my top 15 at the position, and the high catch rate that comes with his role in this offense moves him into the top 10 conversation.