When the Atlanta Falcons desperately needed a win, Michael Penix Jr. delivered arguably his best performance as an NFL quarterback.
Trailing the unbeaten San Francisco 49ers 14-3 at the beginning of the second quarter, Penix helped Atlanta spark 23 unanswered points en route to completing a 29-20 comeback in Week 7 on Sunday, Oct. 25.
“Poise, calmness,” said Falcons wide receiver Drake London. “He’s the calmest one out there. He just deals. That’s just MP.”
Penix finished completing 25-of-34 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns. It was his second consecutive three-touchdown performance, following last week’s 31-23 loss to the Chicago Bears.
“Mike was really good throughout the day,” Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “That’s a very good defense; they’re excellent. And they don’t give up big plays. We took our shots when we had them, and when we didn’t, I think Mike saw it really well.”
A large portion of Penix’s successful afternoon was Atlanta’s offensive line play, which was nearly flawless in protection.
And that was against a 49ers defense that entered the game No. 4 in NFL total defense and in the top half of the pass rushing, led by defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, a former head coach of Atlanta.
According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, Penix was only pressured three times out of 34 dropbacks.
“It was unbelievable,” Penix said. “To see those guys, the work that they put in every day throughout the week, for them to come out this game, and I don’t get pressured much at all – it’s awesome to be able to see. Those guys work extremely hard, so credit to what they’ve been doing.”
“I don’t remember being hit too many times at all,” Penix added.
After an incompletion on his very first pass, clean pockets helped Penix complete 11 straight completions. Checkdowns, opportunistic shots downfield, and taking care of the football.
“Just making sure we didn’t make any mistakes and go out there and play our brand of football,” Penix said. “We’ve got guys around with the skillset to get open. So for me, I just got to find a way to get them the ball whenever that opportunity is there.”
After basically redshirting his rookie year and then partially tearing his ACL last year, Penix has posted a stat line of 1,157 passing yards, nine touchdowns, and a lone interception. His 109.1 passer rating is fourth in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least five starts this season.
“It’s been great,” Falcons running back Bijan Robinson said when asked about Penix’s development. “I think he’s been growing a lot as a player and doing a lot of great stuff for the offense. He wants to continue to get better. But his process has been really good. And I’m excited to keep playing with him every game coming up.”
Penix now has a full season’s worth of NFL starts at 17. He’s 7-10 as a starter, but more importantly, he's 3-2 this season.
And he’s starting to take command of what this Falcons offense is and what it could potentially be.
“We trust Mike,” Stefanski said. “I know he’s a young player in terms of starts in this league. I get that part. But we trust him.”
The Falcons next travel near Penix’s hometown of Dade City to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC South clash this Sunday at 1 p.m.
Add us as a preferred source on Google