On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons came crashing back down to Earth with a brutal 16-0 road loss to the divisional rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers, dropping them to 3-5 on the season. The Falcons became the first team in the modern era to lose while giving up zero completed passes in a game, with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. tossing four interceptions in the loss.
Up next for the Falcons is a game in Madrid against the Cincinnati Bengals, and the team has already gotten a rough injury update ahead of that matchup.
“Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski says Samson Ebukam and Zachariah Branch have hamstring injuries and are out this week,” reported NFL insider Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network on X, formerly Twitter.
Losing Ebukam will be a blow on defense for Atlanta, although not many players performed well on that side of the ball for the Falcons on Sunday, with the team consistently surrendering big gains on the ground despite knowing what Tampa Bay was going to do.
Meanwhile, Branch has quietly started making some plays in the last couple of weeks after a disastrous outing vs the Chicago Bears last month, so that loss will also be felt against Cincinnati.
Article Continues BelowThe good news for Atlanta is that star pass rusher James Pearce Jr. is now eligible to return to the lineup after serving his eight-game suspension, and he figures to provide a boost against a lethal Bengals passing attack.
In any case, kickoff between the Bengals and Falcons is set for next week at 9:30 am ET from Madrid.