The Falcons’ Kevin Stefanski Experiment Is Off to a Brutal Start

The Falcons are 0-2, and the first season for head coach Kevin Stefanski in Atlanta has started with a thud.

The former two-time NFL Coach of the Year inherited an offense with Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Kyle Pitts and a first-round quarterback in Michael Penix Jr. Of course, Stefanski, one of the hottest coaching candidates of the cycle, would choose a loaded Atlanta roster like this one.

Throughout the first two games of the season, the Falcons have scored 16 total points.

“There’s no way to win in the NFL like that,” Stefanski said after Atlanta’s 34-3 loss in their home opener against the Carolina Panthers. The Falcons have yet to reach the red zone this season, despite hiring an offensive guru last year.

Late in the game, Atlanta’s home crowd booed Stefanski’s offense, led by Jack Strand, an undrafted free agent rookie that the Falcons signed following the 2026 NFL Draft out of Minnesota State–Moorhead.

Never heard of Minnesota State-Moorhead? That’s because they’re an NCAA Division II school with an enrollment of less than 5,000 students as of 2023.

How the hell is this kid playing a home opener?

Stefanski’s quarterbacks are all injured. Penix Jr. has recovered from last year’s season-ending injury, but isn’t healthy enough to play quite yet. Tua Tagovailoa, the veteran quarterback Atlanta signed to compete with Penix, was banged up in camp and hasn’t started a regular season game for the Falcons yet.

The Falcons will hope that either of those two quarterbacks can get healthy soon, because Rush and Strand look unplayable in Stefanski’s offense. They’re preparing for back-to-back primetime games, a Thursday Night Football game on Thursday against the Green Bay Packers to start Week 3 followed up by an appearance on Monday Night Football during the first week of October to face the New Orleans Saints.

With London, Robinson and Pitts, the sky felt like the limit for Stefanski’s offense, even with limited quarterback play. After all, this was the coach that took early-career Baker Mayfield to a postseason victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and helped Joe Flacco win Comeback Player of the Year on another playoff run with the Cleveland Browns in 2023.

But that magic has eluded Stefanski in recent years. After an 0-2 start, the honeymoon is over in Atlanta.

Kalshi, a popular prediction market platform that allows users to trade contracts of real-world events like the NFL, currently gives the Falcons the worst percentage of winning the National League South. Over the last few seasons, it’s widely considered one of the worst divisions in football. Atlanta is being given just a 5% chance of winning it on Kalshi after Week 2.

So the Falcons better hope Tagovailoa or Penix can get healthy before this stretch of primetime games, or the memes will stock pile, and the disrespect will continue.