Why Falcons benched Michael Penix for Kirk Cousins at QB

Billy Heyen

Why Falcons benched Michael Penix for Kirk Cousins at QB image

The Atlanta Falcons had a nightmare Sunday.

Expected to be competitive and probably beat the Carolina Panthers, instead, they got crushed.

And it led to Michael Penix Jr. being benched at quarterback in favor of Kirk Cousins.

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Why did the Falcons bench Michael Penix Jr. for Kirk Cousins?

The Falcons benched Penix simply because of the score.

There have been no indications that Cousins would take over the QB job at any point. This is Penix's team now.

Atlanta trailed 27-0 when Penix was sat down.

The second-year lefty was 18-for-36 for 172 yards and two interceptions.

Cousins completed five of his first seven passes after entering the game.

The Falcons will surely turn back to Penix going forward, but it also can't hurt Cousins' trade value if he plays well.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle