It's only preseason — and that goes for everyone.
The players. The coaches. The fans. All of it. We're all in this together. We're all kicking off the rust and getting back into playing shape together.
It's a marathon, not a sprint.
That being said, things didn't go great for the Atlanta Falcons in Friday's opener against the Denver Broncos. For starters, new QB Tua Tagovailoa was pretty 'meh.' He completed a handful of short passes to Kyle Pitts, and fumbled the second snap of the game.
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That was Tua in midseason form, by the way. Nobody loves a good fumbled snap more than him. Trust me. I had to watch it for four seasons.
Anyway, Atlanta went into the locker room trailing, 24-0, and Denver coach Sean Payton made sure to kick the entire city while it was down:
Sean Payton is in midseason form
"Yeah ... a lot of people dressed up as empty seats today, so, anyway ..."
Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos looks on during the third quarter against the Atlanta Falcons in an NFL preseason game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 14, 2026, in Atlanta, Ga. (Getty Images)
Lordy. Brutal shot at the Atlanta faithful. Not great! A couple things ...
- The Braves are home this weekend, and were playing at the exact same time as the Falcons last night. They're in the thick of a division race right now. The Falcons are not.
- It's preseason. Who goes to a preseason game? Especially the first preseason game? Everyone knows if you're gonna force yourself to go to a preseason game, it's the second one. And even then, it's a big ask.
That being said, Sean Payton is very clearly in midseason form. He's ready to rock and roll this year. The Broncos were a healthy Bo Nix ankle away from going to the Super Bowl last season, and they've only reloaded for this year.
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Payton is coming out of the gates hot and setting the tone. Judging by last night's 27-7 throttling, it appears his team is following suit.
Tua Tagovailoa #1 of the Atlanta Falcons recovers his own fumble against the Denver Broncos during the first quarter of an NFL preseason game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 14, 2026, in Atlanta, Ga. (Getty Images)
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Welcome back, NFL. Let's get this preseason over with so we can get to the real thing.
Zach Dean is a writer for OutKick.
