ATLANTA — The final outcome was not what Michael Penix Jr. wanted, but his fight to carry the Atlanta Falcons in Sunday’s season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was still a promising start to his second year in the NFL.
Consider just his fourth quarter on Sunday. Penix led the Falcons on an 18-play, 91-yard drive in which he threw for two third-down conversions, scrambled and dove for a fourth-down conversion, then did the same again on fourth-and-goal, reaching for a go-ahead touchdown with 2:17 left in the game.
And after the Bucs rallied for a touchdown of their own, Penix had a final minute to remember: a 12-yard run and four completions for 48 yards to get the Falcons to their opponent’s 26-yard line. Of course, Younghoe Koo missed a 44-yard field goal with two seconds left, spoiling what would have been a storybook opener for Penix against a division rival.
“I told him after the game that he’s going to be a problem in this league for a long time,” Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield said after the game. “I think he’s a great player. He’s decisive, goes through his reads, trusts his guys. He’s young, but he’s got it.”
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For Penix, a strong showing in a close loss is all too familiar. He made three starts at the end of his rookie season, taking over for a struggling Kirk Cousins, and the last two were both overtime losses, falling to the Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers. Penix had touchdown drives in the fourth quarter of both to send the game to overtime, but the Falcons saw those games slip away there.
Michael Penix made two diving runs on fourth down plays in the fourth quarter, with the second going for a touchdown that gave the Falcons a late lead. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
On Sunday, while yielding the same disappointing result, Falcons coach Raheem Morris said he saw poise from his young quarterback.
“That’s what he’s shown since he’s been here. He’s been excellent,” Morris said. “He’s been poised in great moments … I can’t say enough positive things about the young man and what he was able to do, even up to his last throw, potentially giving us a chance to win it in regulation. I can’t say enough good things about him right now.”
Penix finished with 298 passing yards, with 50 coming on a passing touchdown to running back Bijan Robinson. He also rushed for 21 yards and a touchdown, this after totaling 11 rushing yards as a rookie. The long touchdown drive in the fourth quarter wasn’t easy at all, with the Falcons getting eight snaps inside the Buccaneers’ 5-yard line before Penix was able to reach for the go-ahead touchdown. He said he tries to stay calm on the field, even in the most difficult of circumstances late in games.
“I just tell myself, you know, it’s the same game I’ve been playing all my life. I’ve been playing since I was five years old,” he said. “I’ve made a lot of plays throughout my years. I’ve made a few bad plays. It’s like I know whenever I go out there, I don’t have to be perfect. I have to do whatever I can to help my team win a football game; that’s what I did. I don’t go out there with pressure on my shoulders or thinking, I have to do this, I have to do that. I just let the plays come to me and trust in God and trust in Z-Rob (Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson) to put us in the right position to be able to go make them plays. He did and we were able to convert on those two plays.”
The Falcons swept the Bucs last year, with Cousins throwing for eight touchdowns in the two wins, so the bar was set high for Penix’s first chance against the four-time defending NFC South champs. That Atlanta fell short means that for now, the head-to-head tiebreaker is working against it, though it’ll have a chance to even the score in Tampa on a Thursday night in December.
Still, Sunday was a missed opportunity and a tough loss for Penix, who has the entire season to help the Falcons catch up to the Buccaneers in the standings.
“It’s the NFL, man. It’s tough. It’s tough to score. It’s tough to win in this league,” he said. “Obviously, we all put in all the preparation each and every day coming up to game day to go out there and execute in those big-time moments and not have that lull throughout the game, we got the first touchdown. But at the same time, on the other side of the field, those are NFL players as well, and those guys make plays just how we make plays. Obviously, we want to make more and come out on top, but today they got the better of us.”
In four starts, Penix is building a rapport with the Falcons’ nucleus of talented young offensive players. Robinson is one of the best backs in the league, and he’s shown a penchant for favoring receiver Drake London, another former first-round pick and the team’s most dangerous weapon in the passing game. In Penix’s four career starts, London has averaged 13.5 targets per game, which would translate to 230 targets over a 17-game season, far above the NFL single-season record of 205.
That connection will need to be more productive as well. On Sunday, London had 15 targets, but managed only 55 yards, with none of his eight catches going for more than 12 yards.
Michael Penix Jr. left Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers impressed as he settles in as the Falcons’ full-time starting quarterback. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The schedule has a daunting lineup ahead for Atlanta, with a trip to Minnesota this week and three more playoff-caliber opponents in the next four games against the Commanders, Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers. If the Falcons were even 3-3 after six games, they’d hit an easier stretch against lesser opponents, giving them potential momentum into the final stretch of the season.
Penix will be a central part of their success or failure, but he has the confidence of his coach after a strong season debut on Sunday.
“Him going out there and not turning the football over, getting us to the right reads, the nice protections, throwing the ball in the right areas, making the right plays at the right times. He was lights out,” Morris said. “We’ve got to help that kid and win the game today.”
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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