Falcons' Michael Penix Jr. mirrors Matt Ryan's early struggles, showing no need to hit panic button

Hunter Cookston

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Falcons' Michael Penix Jr. mirrors Matt Ryan's early struggles, showing no need to hit panic button image

The Atlanta Falcons are coming off a terrible week that they’ll need to flush quickly with Sunday’s game looming. However, the performance was so poor that offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has come under serious fire all week.

“Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson's play calling has been the subject of criticism among the fanbase—and Sunday only saw the noise grow louder. His play calling has been uninspired, predictable, and flat-out wasteful of Penix’s best trait—his rocket arm. Against one of the softest defenses in football, Atlanta never threatened downfield and repeatedly sputtered on third down. And with Atlanta consistently struggling to get the play in on time, fans' perceptions of the second-year OC have seriously soured,” Blogging Dirty’s Jason Kendal wrote.

The performance from Michael Penix Jr. wasn’t great, but truthfully, no one on the offense played well. Still, head coach Raheem Morris made it clear that Penix remains their guy moving forward.

“Mike had a bad game. We had a bad day as a team,” Morris said. “And it’s easy for everybody to pile on the head coach, the coordinator, obviously, the quarterback. You’re first in line for the wounds. He’s just in line right now. He had a bad game, but he’ll bounce back, and I have a lot of confidence he’ll bounce back.”

While some fans are already slamming the panic button on Penix, a look at Matt Ryan’s rookie season shows a very similar situation.

“Ex-Falcons QB Matt Ryan had a similar game in rookie season. He led the Falcons to a W over Detroit and then in the next game faced the late Monte Kiffin and a stout Bucs defense. Ryan completed 13 of 33 passes for 138 yards and two INTs. He had a passer rating of 29.6,” AJC’s D. Orlando Ledbetter posted.

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That comparison should ease the worry surrounding Penix, especially since Ryan went on to become the franchise QB for over a decade. Penix is still essentially in his rookie year when it comes to NFL game experience.

There will be growing pains, and that's to be expected. But calling for his job already is premature and unnecessary.

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Hunter Cookston

Hunter Cookston began his career as a sportswriter for the Marion Tribune, where he covered local high school football, basketball and baseball. His passion for sports started at the age of four when he played his first year of tee ball. Growing up in Tennessee, he developed a deep love for the Tennessee Volunteers and Atlanta Braves. Hunter is currently attending Tennessee Wesleyan University, where he is pursuing a BA in Sports Communications/Management.