The Green Bay Packers (1-1) will host the Atlanta Falcons (0-2) to open Week 3 on Thursday night in primetime, with plenty of exciting storylines to watch despite what may not be the most riveting matchup on paper.
The Packers enter this matchup as 6.5-point home favorites, but in order to secure that win, they’ll be without two of their starters, including right tackle Zach Bako-Bewele (knee) and Jayden Reed (neck), putting additional pressure on head coach Matt LaFleur and quarterback Jordan Love. Green Bay is coming off an ugly win in Week 2, where they were nearly upset by the New York Jets and have plenty to prove in front of the crowd at Lambeau on Thursday night.
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The Falcons, meanwhile, got some better news ahead of “Thursday Night Football,” as they plan for the return of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Penix missed the first two games of the year recovering from a knee injury that ended his 2025 campaign, and boy, were they rough ones for the passing game. With Tua Tagovailoa (back) out, veteran Cooper Rush and UDFA Jack Strand combined for a 55.6% completion percentage, tossing for 247 yards, 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions over two games. They also took a combined seven sacks and had a 38.2 passer rating. Can’t get much worse than that … right?
Follow along to see how it all plays out.
Falcons-Packers start time: 8:15 p.m. ET Location: Lambeau Field | Green Bay, Wis. TV channel/live stream: Amazon Prime
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more as the Packers host the Falcons to open up Week 3.
Live1 updates
After opening the year 0-2, the Atlanta Falcons will turn things back over to their presumed quarterback of the future. Michael Penix Jr. was named the team’s starter for its Week 3 game against the Green Bay Packers, the team announced Monday.
The move comes after Penix missed the team’s first two games while recovering from ACL surgery.
The move also comes after Cooper Rush was pushed into the starting role for the Falcons’ first two games. Rush struggled in both starts — which were made after Tua Tagovailoa went down with an oblique injury just days before the start of the regular season — completing 56.4 percent of passes and tossing a touchdown against a league-leading four interceptions in those appearances.
The Falcons signaled the end of the Rush era during the team’s Week 2 game, when he was replaced by rookie Jack Strand in the third quarter of the team’s 34-3 blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers. Strand threw a pick-six on his first-ever NFL pass attempt.
