Across the last couple of weeks, the Atlanta Falcons have seen some encouraging play out of Michael Penix Jr. to the point they may finally feel comfortable rolling with him as their franchise quarterback. But that doesn't mean things have been perfect, as some red flags did surface.
While the Falcons are averaging 31 points per game with Penix as the starter and his return has unlocked the offense, he has struggled when pressured. According to SumerSports, the only qualified QB with a worse EPA per dropback when pressured is Jalon Daniels, an undrafted rookie.
It seems as though that teams were starting to figure Penix out because blitzing and sending extra rushers is the way to overwhelm this offensive line and throw him off balance, but that idea didn't work in Week 7 against the San Francisco 49ers as everything clicked for this Atlanta offense.
The Falcons pulled off a shocking 29-20 upset over the unbeaten 49ers on Sunday, and a large reason why is because they finally set No. 9 up for success. The play-calling was better, the offensive line held up, and despite a matchup with one of the NFL's better defenses (that was led by former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris), Penix was delivering strikes like this all afternoon long.
Penix gets his third touchdown pass of the day.
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Penix completed 25 of 34 pass attempts for 213 yards and three touchdowns with no turnovers, which marked the second consecutive game in which he threw three scores and no picks. And he also recorded a 118.9 passer rating since his best start of the season was primarily a group effort.
The Falcons made Michael Penix Jr.'s life a lot easier in Sunday's victory
The primary reason Michael Penix Jr. shined in the upset win is because the play-calling was better and the Falcons stayed true to their identity, They ran the ball almost 30 times in Week 7 and Bijan Robinson's 20 carries were more than double what he had against the Chicago Bears last week.
But that's not all. The offensive line bounced back after a rough showing last week, surrendering just three pressures on 34 dropbacks, and the clean pocket was in large part because Penix was getting the ball out quicker than normal--and Tommy Rees deserves some credit because he was in his bag as a play-caller.
The Dirty Birds made it a point to be more physical this week, and it paid off. The 49ers focusing on stopping the run helped take pressure off of Penix, and that set up the play-action game this offense loves to turn to. And the newfound creativity made it easier for him to spread the football around.
The 26-year-old completed passes to nine different receivers (and a 10th was targeted), as all four tight ends and both running backs caught passes, as well as several different wideouts. That's the sort of variety we've ben waiting to see from this Atlanta offense, and Rees even stole the hook-and-ladder play the Bears used against the Falcons last weekend.
The third-year signal-caller out of Washington has proven that when he's given time (like he was yesterday), things can be dangerous. But Rees confirmed why he's the play-caller to get the most out of Penix, as he found ways to counteract his biggest red flag and adapted before this offense gets figured out any worse--and this was against one of the best teams in the NFL mind you.
Michael Penix Jr. may not be in the Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes-tier and likely never will be, but the Atlanta Falcons truly set him up for success for the first time all season in Week 7, and in turn, the offense was firing on all cylinders.
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