MINNEAPOLIS — Billy Bowman Jr. dove towards the sideline, slicing in front of J.J. McCarthy's intended receiver in the second quarter of the Falcons' win against the Minnesota Vikings on "Sunday Night Football."

In the millisecond it took to wrap his arms around the ball and acrobatically keep his body in bounds, he earned a first for himself and the Falcons. Not only was that interception the first of Bowman's young career, it was the Falcons' first of 2025.

Funnily enough, Bowman earned Atlanta's defense its first sack in Week 1, too.

The interception, though, was one of many plays in Sunday night's win that showed the defensive youth movement in Atlanta is not only alive and well, but thriving.

Once to the sideline after his turnover celebration, Bowman tossed the ball to an equipment manager.

"Hold onto that for me," he said.

In the locker room after the game, he motioned towards his travel bag.

"I got it in there," he said. "Ready to go back (home)."

Bowman's interception was one of a handful of firsts for Atlanta defenders. In a game where the Falcons kept the Vikings' offense out of the end zone and posted a whopping 53.3% pressure rate, all four rookie defenders experienced a first of their own.

Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr. earned the first sacks of their career. Bowman and Xavier Watts came down with their first career interceptions. Heck, even second-year players Ruke Orhorhoro and Brandon Dorlus notched their first career sacks, too. All told, the Falcons had six sacks and 16 quarterback pressures.

"You gotta talk about the kids up front," head coach Raheem Morris said after the win. "And you gotta call them kids. Those young guys came out and played."

This youth movement was expected in Atlanta. After the Falcons spent the draft capital they did back in April adding playmakers to the defense, the expectation from the jump was that these individuals would play a major part early in their careers. The expectation was that interior defensive linemen Orhorhoro, Dorlus and Zach Harrison, too, would step into bigger roles. The Falcons, Morris said during the spring, were going to be "intentional" about playing their young defenders and playing them early.

"We brought those guys in to do that," Morris said.

Simply playing them is one thing. Having the core group make an impact of this significance so early in 2025, though, is something else entirely. Don't believe it? Check the record books. The Falcons' defense did things Sunday night that hasn't been done for Atlanta since the rookie class in question was in diapers... if they were even born yet.

The five sacks the unit racked up in the first half was the most in a half for Atlanta in any game since Week 9 of the 2009 season vs. Washington when it also recorded five in the first half. It was the most in any half of a road game since Week 12 of the 2002 season at Carolina — also five in the first half.

It's the first time the Falcons have totaled six sacks and four turnovers in the same game since doing so in 2004 against the Cardinals.

By any conceivable measure, what this unit did on the road in Minnesota was impressive. And it showed the youth movement is just getting started for the Falcons.

"It's what we talked about all throughout the offseason, those guys having big roles for us whether it was rushing, whether it was ball hawking for us. Both of those things were on display today," Morris said. "I can't say enough about those young guys. I can't say enough about what they've done. They're learning how to play football every single day. They are learning how to live this NFL life every single day and they're loving it and they're embracing it."