Marcus Mariota led a time-consuming offense with near-perfect accuracy, two passing touchdowns and a rushing score Sunday afternoon, leading the Atlanta Falcons to a surprising 28-14 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers and spoiling Kyle Shanahan’s homecoming.
Mariota threw a third-quarter touchdown pass of 7 yards to Kyle Pitts to put Atlanta (3-3) up 28-14 and shared the second-half spotlight with the Falcons’ defense, which kept the 49ers (3-3) out of the end zone.
After a 13-for-13 start, Mariota finished 13-for-14 for 129 yards and the two scores. He also contributed 50 yards and a touchdown on six carries, helping Atlanta outrush the visitors 168-50 en route to a third win in its last four outings.
Caleb Huntley (16 carries, 59 yards) and Tyler Allgeier (15 carries, 51 yards) made it three Falcons rushers with 50 or more yards, helping Atlanta run up a 33:25-26:35 dominance in time of possession.
Jimmy Garoppolo threw two first-half touchdown passes to Brandon Aiyuk, but also mixed in a pair of interceptions on a 29-for-41, 296-yard day. George Kittle and Aiyuk each finished with eight catches for 83 yards.
In seeing a two-game winning streak come to an end, the 49ers managed to outgain the turnover-less Falcons 346-289 on a disappointing day for Shanahan, the Falcons’ former Super Bowl offensive coordinator.
A two-fumble touchdown provided the difference in a high-scoring first half in which Mariota threw for one score and ran for another for a 21-14 Falcons advantage.
The unusual touchdown came after Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell scooped up a Jeff Wilson fumble and returned it to the San Francisco 1, where he fumbled into the end zone. Teammate Jaylinn Hawkins recovered it for the score.
Mariota’s touchdown pass was a 2-yarder to tight end MyCole Pruitt to open the scoring. His scoring run was a 3-yarder with 57 seconds remaining in the half to give Atlanta its halftime lead.
Garoppolo rallied San Francisco from an early 14-point hole with 12- and 14-yard scoring strikes to Aiyuk, the latter with 7:07 remaining in the second period, which wound up being the 49ers’ final points.
–Field Level Media
