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The Atlanta Falcons made a stunning move in wake of their 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football. On Tuesday, the team announced that starting quarterback Kirk Cousins was being benched in favor of rookie Michael Penix Jr.
While Cousins had been playing poorly, the move came as a big surprise for multiple reasons. First of all, the Falcons are still only one game back in the NFC South race at 7-7, just behind the 8-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Falcons also have two wins over the Buccaneers this season, so they own any tiebreaker between the two teams.
Cousins is also in the first year of a huge contact that he signed this offseason that gives him $90 millions guaranteed. Reports were that Cousins was unhappy when Penix was drafted in Atlanta, so he can't be happy about this move despite his poor play.
Regardless, the Falcons are locked in with the former University of Washington star, and it's now on him to lead them to the playoffs over the final three weeks. On Wednesday, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson talked about how the Falcons are preparing to integrate Penix into the offense, via Falcons reporter Tori McElhaney.
“We had a walk through just now and we had about 70 plays of walk through and we made sure he was throwing every single one,” Robinson said. “The guys were jogging through, but we wanted to make sure they were seeing the lefty spin, that they are running through the landmarks they are supposed to be at, the timing, all those things are going to happen but we have to accelerate that. Probably going to have to get extra work after practice tomorrow, routes on air. It'll all be important.”
What the Falcons are getting in Michael Penix Jr.
It's unclear what Michael Penix Jr. is going to look like in the NFL, but he will at least give the offense a different look than what Kirk Cousins did.
While Cousins had become a turnover machine in recent weeks, Penix will not hesitate to push the ball down the field and give the Falcons' skill players chances to make big plays in the passing game. He threw the ball all over the yard at Washington, so players like Drake London and Kyle Pitts will get plenty of looks down the field.
One difference between the two, at least based on Penix's college film, is that he doesn't love to attack the middle of the field. Most of Penix's production comes outside the numbers, so London will be a huge piece of the game plan against the Giants.
The schedule is friendly for the Falcons for the rest of the season, which should allow Penix to ease into his NFL career. After Sunday's game against the Giants, the Falcons will face a subpar Commanders defense before closing out the season against the Panthers. If Penix can win all three of those games, maybe he can lead the Falcons into the playoffs as a rookie.
