The San Francisco 49ers’ injuries finally caught up to them.

The 49ers battled the Atlanta Falcons, which was commendable given their long injury report. But trailing 26-20 late, Brock Purdy threw an interception to linebacker Kendal Daniels. That was it for the 49ers and their undefeated streak to start the season. They are 6-1 after the Falcons won 29-20.

Losing a road game that was an early start in the Eastern Time Zone isn’t a big deal for a team that was 6-0 and up multiple games in the division. Nobody expected the 49ers to go 17-0. The problem isn’t a single loss. It’s the injuries.

Most other teams dealing with the 49ers’ list of injuries would be closer to winless than undefeated. They overcame numerous injuries last season to make the playoffs and then were dealt the same hand this season. Last season and through six games this season, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan found a way to get his team to rise above it.

Sunday brought a new challenge, and that was playing without wide receivers. San Francisco had six receivers either inactive or on injured reserve. Mike Evans is dealing with an Achilles injury and left the team’s Week 6 game early due to it. In Week 7 Evans was inactive so he can start to get healthy. That mean Brandin Cooks, who is 33 and hasn’t posted a 1,000-yard season since 2021, and Jordan Watkins, who had five career catches before Sunday, started at receiver against the Falcons. It wasn’t just receiver injuries. Defensive end Nick Bosa missed another game. Christian McCaffrey had to manage a thigh injury during the game.

If it was a normal team, even injuries wouldn’t be a big deal. Players like Evans and Bosa should be back soon. Every team dealls with it. But the 49ers have been the most injured team in the NFL over the past few seasons, and while that seems like terrible luck, it’s not turning around. It’s also an older team, especially among the elite stars, so more injuries and wearing down over a long season are concerns.

And there’s a dropoff to their second team. Without Evans, Deebo Samuel Sr. and other receivers the 49ers got very little out of their receivers. With McCaffrey banged up, rookie Kaelon Black fumbled on back-to-back plays, losing the second one. That lost fumble changed the momentum of the game.

The 49ers are off to a great start and one loss doesn’t change that. They’re still in good shape in the NFC West even with a loss. But it was the first time the 49ers couldn’t overcome their injuries. And now they just have to hope that, somehow, the bad injury luck doesn’t continue.

Here are the rest of the winners and losers from Week 7 of the NFL season:

WINNERS

They both teamed up for an impressive 27-21 upset win over the Houston Texans in overtime on Sunday.

McCarthy got the start after a hot finish to last week’s loss, after he replaced Jameis Winston. It was a tough assignment on the road against a good Texans defense, but McCarthy played well. He completed 20-of-28 passes for 252 yards.

Skattebo did too after being practically benched last week. He got no carries against the Saints Week 6 after fumbling in overtime the week before, but on Sunday he came up with a huge play, a 42-yard run in overtime that got the Giants in field goal range. They didn’t need the field goal as Devin Singletary walked it off with a 30-yard touchdown run for the 27-21 victory. Skattebo had 124 yards rushing and a touchdown.

McCarthy will get more starts going forward after looking good against Houston. And Skattebo is unlikely to be benched again anytime soon.

But Harrison’s retirement didn’t last long, as he came back before the season. Then on Sunday he sealed a win with his 40th career interception. The 16-10 win for the Vikings wasn’t pretty, and the Indianapolis Colts had a shot to win it at the end on the final drive. But Daniel Jones was pressured and threw downfield, where Smith stepped in front of the receiver for an interception to win the game.

The Vikings are playing great defense this season. They allowed only 218 yards on Sunday. After falling behind early they shut out the Colts in the second half. The Vikings are 6-0 and while there are things to correct after Sunday, particularly on offense, it was a good day to cheer for a franchise legend.

The Cleveland Browns are 5-2 and one of the best stories in the NFL. They had another dramatic win Sunday, driving down for a field goal after the Tennessee Titans tied it with 58 seconds left. Andre Szmyt hit the game-winning field goal as time expired and the Browns won 27-24.

Monken took over a situation that seemed terrible due to questions at quarterback. But Deshaun Watson has played well enough, especially with multiple game-winning drives, and the Browns keep winning. That has to be a satisfying start for the rookie head coach.

Quarterbacks who are creeping up on their 43rd birthday aren’t supposed to be effective anymore, unless you’re Tom Brady, and they surely shouldn’t be scrambling for first downs to clinch wins. But Rodgers’ 8-yard scramble on third-and-6 gave the Pittsburgh Steelers a key first down in a 16-10 win over the New Orleans Saints in the first-ever NFL game in Paris.

More than the play itself, that scramble epitomized how much juice Rodgers still has left in what he has said is his final season. The Steelers are 5-2, putting them in great position to make the playoffs. Rodgers had 212 yards and a touchdown on Sunday. While his numbers are a bit down from his fantastic career level, he’s still far better than anyone other than Brady has been at his age. If this is it for Rodgers, he’s having a pretty good sendoff.

LOSERS

The Jets lost 28-25 at home to the Miami Dolphins, who were 0-5 coming in. It was a good win for the Dolphins, and the first for Jeff Hafley as an NFL head coach. Miami won’t get any 0-17 questions. The Dolphins played like a team that knew it had a shot to beat a poor opponent. And that played out. The Jets didn’t play well in any phase. The Jets won their opener against the Titans but have won just once since. The Jets trailed by 11 late, got a touchdown and a two-point conversion, but couldn’t stop a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak just inside of the two-minute warning and the Dolphins ran out the rest of the clock for their first win.

The Jets didn’t want to fire Glenn after just one season, even though they went 3-14 and there were some alarming signs from Glenn. Glenn replaced most of his staff over the offseason. The results are the same. An embarrassing loss on Sunday is a terrible development for Glenn, who might not make it to the end of the season as Jets head coach. It’s possible he won’t make it to Week 8.

The Ravens, whose first two losses came after leading 14-6 and 10-0 at halftime, led the Cincinnati Bengals 13-0 after the first half Sunday in a big AFC North showdown. Then the offense, without Lamar Jackson, stopped moving the ball. And the defense, which had pressured Joe Burrow often in the first half, got run off the field in the second half. Burrow had 249 yards and four touchdowns in the second half alone and the Ravens won 35-13 with five unanswered touchdowns in the second half. You can’t blame Jackson’s absence for that. The Bengals trailed by 13 at halftime but blew the Ravens out so bad in the second half that they pulled Burrow for the final few minutes.

The Ravens will be division contenders again after Jackson returns. But there’s frustration growing with why he was out again with an ankle injury, and there’s plenty of other issues that are now nagging at the Ravens.

The Carolina Panthers’ momentum hit a wall on Sunday. The Buccaneers, 1-5 coming into Sunday’s game, blew out Carolina 43-13. It got ugly early. A strip-sack on Bryce Young, who had been playing very well before Sunday, was returned by the Bucs for a touchdown (with a flip into the end zone from 280-pound Calijah Kancey) and a 17-0 lead. Bryce Young had just 163 yards, two interceptions and a lost fumble. When the Panthers finally scored, their extra point was blocked and returned by Tampa Bay for two points. The Panthers played a sloppy game on offense, defense and special teams. Baker Mayfield was back but the Buccaneers hardly needed him. Mayfield had just 64 yards passing but the Panthers were imploding on the other side of the field.

It’s hard to say a 2-5 team is back in a division race, but it’s not like the NFC South has any good teams, it appears. That’s nothing new.