'SNF' takeaways: Falcons dominate sluggish Vikings 

It was an impressive effort all around for the Falcons after a Week 1 setback and showed what they can do when all things are clicking.

Another slow start for Vikings

In their opener on Monday night against the Chicago Bears, the Vikings only had four first downs and McCarthy struggled to get in a rhythm with only 48 passing yards in the first half. 

Minnesota turned the ball over on downs and went three-and-out on its opening two drives Sunday night while McCarthy was picked off by Falcons safety Billy Bowman Jr. late in the opening half. Aside from a pair of field goals, Minnesota once again put itself at a disadvantage with poor offense and was unable to put a fourth-quarter rally together to bail itself out this time.

No kicking woes for Falcons this week

After missing a potential game-tying 44-yard field to send the Week 1 game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to overtime, Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo did not travel with the team and was ruled out with a non-injury related issue.

As a result, the Falcons signed former Vikings kicker John Parker Romo on Tuesday. In a game that turned into a kicking contest, Romo excelled, converting all five of his field goals, including a crucial 54-yarder to make it a 15-6 lead with 11:16 remaining, leaving no doubt in his team debut.

Vikings defense needs more help from offense

It might get overshadowed by Minnesota's poor offensive performance through seven of its eight quarters so far, but the Vikings defense has done more than enough to lead its team to a win when points have been at a premium.

With only a pair of field goals and an inability for Minnesota's offense to sustain any drives on Sunday night, the defense was constantly put in difficult situations and still kept the Falcons offense out of the end zone until late in the fourth quarter. Even with two of its starters, linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel (concussion) and safety Harrison Smith (illness), inactive for the game, the Vikings defense played well enough to win and did not get enough help offensively.

Falcons dial up pressure on McCarthy

Atlanta did not give McCarthy any time to operate in the pocket on Sunday night. According to Next Gen Stats, the Falcons pressured McCarthy 16 times and on 53.3% of drop backs, the highest rate by Atlanta since Week 15 in 2018.

McCarthy orchestrated a remarkable fourth-quarter rally in his debut on Monday, but the same outcome was not in the cards this time. While he missed some throws down the field, he was constantly under pressure from a suffocating Falcons defense all night that ended up with six sacks in the game.