The Falcons’ Week 3 flop in blowout loss to the Panthers was punctuated by a curious coaching decision
The Atlanta Falcons’ Week 3 contest was a total flop in every way — but the team made a surprising decision amid the chaos of a shutout loss.
The Atlanta Falcons have had an up and down start to their 2025 season. A narrow loss to Tampa Bay in Week 1 felt like something to build upon, with a Week 2 win over Minnesota offering some inspiration that a defensive breakthrough may be on the way in 2025. Week 3 offered another promising look at Atlanta’s defense — but the lack of complementary football sank any chance the Falcons had this Sunday.
The Carolina Panthers defeated Atlanta 30-0, a lopsided tilt that tells one story. But in reality, the Panthers scored just 10 points on possessions that started on their own side of the 50-yard line and logged a pick-six of quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to help pour gasoline on the fire. Sometimes it just isn’t your day. But amid the disappointing showing, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris made a surprising decision with his young quarterback.
Penix Jr. did not finish the game, giving way to Kirk Cousins down the stretch.
Falcons choose not to play Michael Penix Jr. in garbage time of blowout loss to Carolina
“The game was out of hand. You move on, keep him out of harm’s way. Keep our guys out of
harm’s way. Take a couple guys out. We had to take some of those wideouts out. We had to get
a young back in, get all those things going. The game’s out of hand; they got us,” said Morris when asked about the decision to remove Penix Jr. from the game.
It’s understandable to protect your top talents when a game is out of hand, but Penix Jr. and the Falcons’ quarterback situation is a bit unique. The Falcons’ 2024 first-round draft choice has 204 career passing attempts. He’s started just six games while completing just over 58% of his passes and throwing more interceptions than touchdowns to this point in his career. Given that the Falcons have one of the league’s best (and most expensive) backup quarterbacks in Kirk Cousins, it is admittedly a bit surprising that the Falcons didn’t embrace the chance to get Penix Jr. more much needed reps — regardless of the score on the scoreboard. They’ve got a sturdy safety blanked behind their starter and their young quarterback needs to take a leap.
He’ll need to work through struggles. Penix Jr., for his part, voiced disappointment in not getting the chance to finish.
“I’m never okay with not playing. At the end of the day, I listen to my head coach and he did
what he feels is best for the team. The decision that was made by him,” said Penix Jr. “So I’ve got to respect it and I’ve got to be there to support Kirk whenever he is out there because he does that for me.”
And so the work will continue. Atlanta has a familiar face coming to town in Week 4, with former Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and the Washington Commanders coming to town. Penix Jr. will need to apply the lessons of this loss (and the rest of his young NFL career) quickly for Atlanta to get back into the win column in Week 4. Here’s hoping Morris’ decision to consider bad reps less valuable than no reps can get him calibrated and ready to roll with another chance to go get a win at home.
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