The Atlanta Falcons are off to a 1-2 start to the season. Atlanta opened the season with second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. as the starting quarterback after he wrestled the job away from veteran Kirk Cousins last season.
Penix Jr. seemed set to finish the season in that same role, then Sunday happened. The 0-30 loss to the Atlanta Falcons was undoubtedly the worst game of the young quarterback’s career thus far.
Penix Jr. went 18/36 for 172 yards, along with zero touchdowns and two interceptions. Many fans suspected that Falcons head coach Raheem Morris would turn back to Cousins after such a horrible outing from Penix JR.
Morris addressed the situation on Wednesday.
“Kirk lost his job last year. We’re not even close to that with Mike. He had a bad game,” he said, per Underdog NFL.
Fans reacted to Morris’s statement on social media.
“keep in mind Kirk was recovering from a rushed Achilles tear & was given the wrong kind of offensive philosophy to match his game. They did zero on enhancing Kirk’s footwork too. Just a bad spot for Kirk to begin with,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“Michael Penix does not have a career win when his opponent scores more than 7 points,” another fan added.
“This team is stacked and can barely win games with an elite defense, great pieces on offense. An elite TE and an elite RB. Heads will roll eventually, blame everybody but coaching and play calling,” someone else wrote.
It’ll be interesting to see how many starts Penix Jr. is afforded before Cousins’ name gets called.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.