ATLANTA (AP) — After a two-game winning streak had Atlanta over .500, a night of mistakes against San Francisco provided the painful reminder that the Falcons must avoid those miscues if they are to achieve their goal of their first winning season and first postseason since 2017.

The Falcons (3-3) struggled to contain Christian McCaffrey in their 20-10 loss at the 49ers on Sunday night. Those struggles became overwhelming when quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and his teammates contributed to the difficulty with several crucial mistakes .

The most costly and glaring breakdown came when Atlanta’s defense had only 10 players on the field late in the game when the 49ers led 13-10 and were facing a third-and-13 at the Atlanta 21.

If the Falcons had made a defensive stop, forcing a fi

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