FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Welcome back to Early Bird Report!

The morning always seems just a bit brighter after a win against the New Orleans Saints, doesn't it? And few victories in this longstanding rivalry have felt better than the one the Falcons delivered on Monday night. From start to finish, Atlanta controlled the game and looked like the superior group on a night when fans inside the Caesars Superdome were looking for any and every reason to get loud.

The reaction from players and head coach Kevin Stefanski was positive and measured. There was obvious excitement about what they'd just accomplished, mixed with a resolute understanding of the long road ahead and a wariness about getting too far ahead of themselves. In short, the Falcons kept a growth mindset even after this 2026 team has seemingly grown up right in front of our eyes in the last two weeks.

"Very pleased with the effort, and I'll start with turnover margin," Stefanski said. "We knew that's going to be a big deal going into this football game, and [CB] C.J. [Henderson] punching the ball out; technique was outstanding; and then turning that into points. That's just a big part of winning games on the road. So, execution was at a high level in a ton of areas. Are there things we can clean up? Yes, there are. Didn't like a lot of those penalties. That's one area that I know we will focus on. But big thing here is getting home and then getting to work on a short week."

The day after each game this season, we will collect all the nuggets we haven't used and organize them in a digestible way to give fans as comprehensive a view of the team as possible.

Here are the notes and quotes you should know from Falcons vs. Saints.

Michael Penix Jr.'s presence makes a difference

Not to overstate the obvious, but Michael Penix Jr.'s return to the starting lineup has been huge for Atlanta's offense.

His presence has opened up the Falcons' passing game and, in turn, has allowed the run game space to breathe. The duality of Atlanta's offense has been felt in full force the last two weeks, and it's proven very difficult to contend with.

"He just helps out everybody," Bijan Robinson said. "He helps out the run game; you can't just stack the box because you have to respect that he can get the ball anywhere on the field. And then, for us in the run game, we try to open up those lanes so he can dip it to anybody on the field. Mike, he just makes the offense complete. We're going to keep running behind him and making sure that he's confident every time he steps on the football field."

Penix was 15 of 20 for 223 yards with a touchdown; his passer rating in the game was 127.7, the highest mark of his career. Look no further than Atlanta's first drive of the game on Monday night to see how the pass can set up the run.

"I thought Mike played well," Stefanski said. "I thought he took care of the football, made some really good throws. I thought the throw late in the game on that third down to get the ball to Drake [London] was an excellent play. There is a bunch of great stuff out there, but I really like Mike's demeanor on game day. I like how he's operating."

The adventures of Robinson Two-soe

There are some pretty good running back tandems in the NFL, but you'd be hard-pressed to find one with a better performance than Bijan and Brian Robinson had on Monday night. The pair combined for 207 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 33 carries, averaging 6.3 yards per attempt. Bijan got off to a strong start with a 59-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game and added another score at the end of the first quarter. From there, it was Brian who found pay dirt three times in the final three quarters. He's now got four touchdowns in the last two games, which he's pretty happy about.

"It's extremely fun," he said. "Like I was just telling [Bijan], man, this is the most fun I've been having in my career. It's great. I love this team. I love what we're building, and I'm excited for the future."

As a pair, the Robinsons threaten defenses in multiple ways. Bijan is one of the most singular athletes in the NFL currently—and perhaps in the league's entire history—producing spectacular plays through a combination of vision, leg strength, body control, and, as we saw on that 59-yard score, high-octane speed. Brian is a decisive one-cut runner who picks up yards quickly and will run through any defender who dares get in his way. It's as fun to watch as it is exhausting to defend.

"It's special," Bijan said of their offensive approach. "We're in the huddle, and the first thing we say is 'We've got to score on this drive.' The mindset is get the ball in the end zone. Just seeing the opposing side—you just take the air out of the opposing side—it's a great feeling. They can't do nothing else. They have nothing left, really. For us, it's our job to continue to put the hammer to the nail and score on these drives. Not only does it help us as an offense, but it helps the defense start to do whatever they want when they attack the quarterback. They can't keep running the football, so it's the complementary football that plays into it, and that's what we've got to keep doing."

Falcons are focused on raising the bar

Despite a couple of impressive wins in recent weeks, the Falcons aren't anywhere close to satisfied. Players and coaches are aware of how long the season is and that there will naturally be swings in fortune throughout the coming weeks. The NFL is quick to punish those who rest on their laurels, and the Falcons believe a day-to-day focus can prevent complacency from setting in.

"Everyone wants to learn," defensive end Samson Ebukam said. "Everyone wants to get better. We have that angst about us, but it's nothing bad at all. It's just like, man, we want to be so much better, especially for those around us and especially behind us that's covering all these routes. We want to get there faster for them, so they don't have to cover as long. We're just trying to get better for them and for ourselves."

The improvement Atlanta has shown since its Week 2 loss to Carolina has been impressive. After that loss, Stefanski said, "That was not up to our standard. We will look at ways that we can be better." They've found those ways and are now determined to approach each week with that same level of urgency.

"It's how hard we work in practice," Bijan Robinson said. "We don't let these moments get in the way of anything. We've just got to go out here and work hard. The coaches do a good job of not letting us get complacent. As a leader of the team, I try to make sure that the guys don't get complacent and we're always trying to stay humble and stay focused on the task at hand. As soon as you start creeping into social media, 'They're doing this, they're doing that really well,' it gets in your head and creeps into your mind. So I've got to make sure I try to do a good job of eliminating that for the team."

The accolades are stacking up already

Given the large number of milestones being hit and records getting broken on both sides of the ball, let's conclude this week's Early Bird Report with a quick rundown of some of the impressive feats the Falcons accomplished on Monday night and so far this season.

• The Falcons have recorded 200-plus passing yards and 200-plus rushing yards in consecutive games for the second time in team history. They also did so in Weeks 2 and 3 of the 2010 season. No team since 1950 has done so in three straight games.

• Atlanta rushed for five touchdowns on Monday at New Orleans after having three at Green Bay the week prior. The eight rushing touchdowns are tied for Atlanta's most in a two-game span in team history. They previously did so in Weeks 5 and 6 during the 1973 season.

• Bijan Robinson has rushed for a combined 339 yards over his last two games. That is the second-most rushing yards in a two-game span in team history, 1 yard behind Warrick Dunn's 340 yards in November 2003.

• Through his first four games this season, Robinson has 614 total yards from scrimmage. That is the highest scrimmage yards total he's had in his career through four games and 30 yards more than he had entering Week 5 last season, when he ended the year as the NFL's scrimmage yards leader.

• Atlanta has allowed 48.3 rushing yards per game this season, which are the seventh-fewest rushing yards allowed by a defense through its first four games in NFL history. Monday night marked just the fourth time in franchise history that Atlanta held its opponent to 50 rushing yards or fewer in back-to-back weeks.

• Robinson had his fourth-straight Monday game with 125-plus rushing yards, tying him with Eric Dickerson and Emmitt Smith for the longest such streak in NFL history.

• The Falcons became just the third team since the NFL merger to score the fewest points in Weeks 1-2 and the most points in Weeks 3-4.

• Monday night was just the third time in franchise history that the Falcons scored five rushing touchdowns in a game.

• The Falcons have at least one sack in 20 straight games, the third-longest active streak in the NFL.