Michael Penix Jr. was the Falcons' biggest winner in Week 1 despite not playing a snap

The Atlanta Falcons were one of the most hyped up teams this offseason but you wouldn't know it watching them play on Sunday. The Pittsburgh Steelers walked out of Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a win despite not scoring a touchdown and Falcons fans are furious.

You know it's not a good day for your team when the backup quarterback might have walked away as the biggest winner from the embarrassing loss. Not only that but Michael Penix Jr. was one of the biggest winners despite not playing a single snap in his first-ever NFL game.

The Falcons spent the eighth overall pick on Penix despite signing Kirk Cousins to a four-year deal worth $180 million in free agency. The Penix pick surprised a lot of people but now, it might end up being a smart decision for Atlanta, as Cousins did not look good in his Falcons debut.

Cousins completed 16-of-26 pass attempts for an underwhelming 155 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Meanwhile, Penix patrolled the sidelines as the backup quarterback and came away as one of the weekend's biggest winners.

Michael Penix Jr. didn't play but was still a massive winner for Falcons

Not only did Cousins' performance make Penix a winner but the rest of the rookie quarterbacks who started games this weekend didn't exactly wow anybody. Caleb Williams threw for a pitiful 93 yards, Jayden Daniels' team got blown out, and Bo Nix threw some of the worst interceptions of the weekend.

While his draft classmates went out and either lost or put together underwhelming performances, Penix watched as the guy ahead of him on the depth chart stunk it up.

Week 1 can sometimes be a fraud when it comes to determining which teams might be good and which might be bad. Falcons fans shouldn't fully panic yet considering it was just one game, the Steelers have a good defense, and Cousins is learning a new offense while getting used to playing after his Achilles injury last season.

If this poor offensive performance continues, however, then it'd be okay if Falcons fans started to panic a bit more. The front office shelled out a lot of money to bring Cousins in (even going as far as tampering to ensure he came to Atlanta) so if this doesn't work out, it'll be a massive blow to the team.

Let's hope that Cousins starts putting together better performances and that Penix isn't one of the biggest winners going forward (unless he's seeing playing time, of course, then that's a different story).