ATLANTA -- Seven days earlier, Kendal Daniels left the field on a stretcher, strapped to a board, headed to Grady Hospital with a neck injury suffered against Chicago. On Sunday, the rookie linebacker wore the green dot, called the defense in place of the injured Divine Deablo, and made the two plays that ended San Francisco's unbeaten season.
With 2:34 left and the 49ers trailing 26-20, Brock Purdy threw for Jordan Watkins on third down. Daniels leaped in front of it, bobbled the ball, secured it and returned it 29 yards. Nick Folk's 31-yard field goal made it 29-20. On the 49ers' last drive, George Kittle broke a long catch-and-run and fumbled going to the ground. Daniels recovered.
"That's remarkable, truly," Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski said. "That's unbelievable to just do that and then to make a play at the end. Man, really proud of that kid."
Atlanta (3-4) beat San Francisco (6-1) at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, snapping a two-game skid and winning at home for the first time this season. The Falcons scored 13 points off four turnovers. The 49ers had committed six in their first six games.
"Plus-four in the turnover margin is where it starts," Stefanski said. "When you're playing a good team -- you know great coaches, great players on that side -- you have to be about your business and take care of the rock. We took care of it, we took it away, so that's a great recipe for winning in this league."
It did not start that way. Christian McCaffrey carried the 49ers on the opening drive, catching a 24-yard pass to the Atlanta 5 and going over the pile on fourth down from the 1. He left on the next series with a thigh injury, and his rookie backup, Kaelon Black, ran 30 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. San Francisco led 14-3.
Then the ball started coming loose. Black fumbled on back-to-back plays and lost the second one, forced by Maason Smith and recovered by Gervon Dexter Sr. at the Atlanta 29. Atlanta had already answered the Black touchdown with a 1-yard pass from Michael Penix Jr. to tight end Nick Muse, his first career score, though the extra point was no good. After the takeaway, the Falcons ran the final 4:20 off the clock and Folk hit a 33-yarder at the gun. It was 14-12.
Khalil Herbert, elevated from the practice squad Saturday, returned the second-half kickoff 38 yards. Ten plays later, Penix found Kyle Pitts from 5 yards for Atlanta's first lead, 19-14. Jessie Bates III then picked off Purdy at the Atlanta 10, and the Falcons went 90 yards in 11 plays, finishing with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Penix to Drake London on the first snap of the fourth quarter. That made it 26-14, and 23 straight Atlanta points.
Penix completed 25 of 34 passes for 213 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. London caught seven passes for 66 yards. Bijan Robinson ran 20 times for 63 yards and caught five for 59.
"I thought Mike was really good throughout the day," Stefanski said. "That's a very, very good defense. ... They don't give up big plays. And we took our shots when we had them, and when we didn't, I thought Mike saw it really well."
San Francisco had its chances. A lengthy replay review took away an apparent 23-yard touchdown pass from Purdy to Watkins, and Za'Darius Smith sacked Purdy on the ensuing fourth down. Purdy later hit fullback Kyle Juszczyk for a 1-yard touchdown with 5:05 left, but Eddy Pineiro's extra point sailed wide left, his fourth miss of the season. A shanked Jake Bailey punt gave the 49ers the ball at their own 47 with about four minutes left. Daniels took it from there.
Purdy finished 27 of 40 for 288 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Kittle caught eight passes for 88 yards. McCaffrey, who returned for the second half, had seven carries for 39 yards. The 49ers played without receivers Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel.
San Francisco has its bye next. Atlanta visits Tampa Bay on Nov. 1.