Recent history shows losses early in the season do not rule a team out for a postseason berth.
That’s part of the reason the Atlanta Falcons smirked when fans grabbed their pitchforks soon after the team lost its first two games of the year. A win at Green Bay last Thursday paired with the return of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. from injury could have Atlanta right back in the mix with a victory over the New Orleans Saints on Monday.
The Falcons (1-2) will have had 11 days off since their last game, the 35-14 trouncing of the Green Bay Packers that turned Lambeau Field into a flock of boo birds. After third-stringer Cooper Rush gave about as bad of a first two performances by a professional quarterback as you can deliver, Penix returned from a 10-month absence to throw for 256 yards and a touchdown in a convincing victory.
The oft-injured Penix had – and still has – his fair share of doubters. A 26-year-old with his injury history doesn’t exactly bode well for an extensive career. Nonetheless, the southpaw knows there’s a simple way to endear yourself to fans – keep winning.
“It’s always fun when you’re winning,” Penix said. “But it’s also a blessing to be able to be back out there with the guys. I don’t take anything for granted. I’m super thankful for all the people that helped contribute to me getting back so that I can go out there and play good football with my teammates.”
The pieces surrounding Penix ahead of Monday night’s rivalry tilt against New Orleans are falling into place. The Falcons possess arguably the league’s best all-around back in Bijan Robinson, talented pass catchers in Drake London and Kyle Pitts, and a new – but competent – defense.
In short, Atlanta is a functioning quarterback away from making a push at a postseason appearance for the first time in nine seasons. Although still at the early stages of Penix’s third year, Monday is shaping up as one of the more important games of his young tenure.
“It’s going to be really loud. It’s going to be great. It’s going to be awesome,” Penix said of Monday night. “We’re going to all accept the challenge. We’re going to go out there and compete our tails off to find a way to get a win, and that’s what it’s about. It’s definitely going to be rowdy.”
First-year head coach Kevin Stefanski will be in search of his first set of consecutive wins in Atlanta, while looking to carry momentum from a game nearly two weeks ago.
“There’s stuff that we can build off of and there’s plenty that we can clean up on the coaches side of it. And we will,” Stefanski said. “But I think anytime you’re playing this game, you’re trying to be difficult to defend. When you can run the ball with success, it opens up things in the pass game. And if they want to take away the pass game, it opens up lanes for the run game. A big part of our offense is the marriage of the run of the pass and making sure that they feed off of each other.”
As for the quarterback’s attitude towards the hated rivalry, Penix did earn some early brownie points ahead of his first career meeting with New Orleans.
“It’s a nice dome,” Penix said of the Saints’ Caesars Superdome. “That’s probably the only nice thing I can say about it.”
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