FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Atlanta Falcons (7-7) are making a switch at the quarterback position, replacing Kirk Cousins with Michael Penix Jr. as the starting quarterback in Week 16, according to a statement sent out by the team on Tuesday night.
“After review we have made the decision Michael Penix will be the Atlanta Falcons starting quarterback moving forward,” head coach Raheem Morris said in the statement. “This was a football decision and we are fully focused on preparing the team for Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.”
This news comes after Morris was questioned about the quarterback situation in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon. He reiterated then that the Falcons need more from the quarterback position.
Though the Falcons beat the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football, the offensive performance and lack of production overshadowed the 15-9 win that snapped a four-game losing streak for the organization.
Atlanta never made it to the red zone despite successful field position to begin a handful of drives. As an offense, the Falcons have struggled in the last month to score points, and the conversation around Cousins’ role in that inefficiency has only grown since the end of October, when he led the league in passing yards.
Since then, however, Cousins — along with the team at large — has seen a firm lead in the NFC South slip away.
Exiting Week 15, Cousins led the league in interceptions with 16. For context, nine of those interceptions came in the last five games. During that same time frame, Cousins has only thrown one touchdown pass and the Falcons have only won one game.
“We didn’t play particularly well at the quarterback position,” Morris said Tuesday afternoon. “We didn’t play well (Monday) at that spot. I like to be open and honest about those things. It’s always going to be those questions marks. It’s always going to be those question marks when it comes to head coach, when it comes to the quarterback. And you got to be really transparent about it. We got to play better. I think that’s the thing that’s got to be put out there, that we got to play better, and that’s the thing that’s got to be addressed. This thing’s got to happen in order for us to find ways to win versus our next opponent, which is the New York Giants.”
The Falcons will now look to their No. 8 overall draft pick in Penix to take over the offense.
For the organization that signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million contract in March, this wasn’t the original plan.
The plan was to have Cousins as the starter now, and Penix as the starter of the future.
After the issues the organization faced at the quarterback position when it traded Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts in 2022, the Falcons were not willing to return to quarterback carousel of the years that followed. They wanted — and needed — stability at the position. So, they brought in Cousins in free agency and drafted Penix two months later in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
“If you believe in a quarterback, you have to take him,” general manager Terry Fontenot said after the Falcons drafted Penix. “And if he sits for four or five years, that’s a great problem to have because we’re doing so well at that position. So, it’s as simple as, if you see a guy you believe in at that position, you have to take him.”
That was the original plan as explained by Morris and Fontenot back in May. That plan, however, has changed.
The Falcons will now look to Penix, who led the NCAA in passing yards in 2023 when he was with Washington. Penix will take over an offense that — despite its recent struggles to score — has individual playmakers on career years.
Running back Bijan Robinson broke the 1,000-yards rushing mark on Monday night. He is 24 scrimmage yards away from 3,000 career scrimmage yards. Wide receiver Drake London holds the longest active streak of touchdown receptions in consecutive primetime games. He’s also the only player in franchise history with at least 65 receptions in each of his first three seasons. Darnell Mooney has been a welcomed addition to the unit since signing with the team back in March. He averages over 15 yards a completion and is on pace to come close to his most successful season’s receiving output (2021).
Meanwhile, the Falcons defense is picking up steam after beginning the season with a plethora of pass rush questions. In the last three weeks, the Falcons are the only team in the NFL with an active streak of at least four sacks in three consecutive games.
Despite all of this, the Falcons are 1-4 in their last five outings. They are a game behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South standings. With three games left in the regular season (against the Giants, Commanders and Panthers), the Falcons will rely on Penix to help get them the wins they need to stay in-step with the Buccaneers. The Falcons hold the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay, so they can realistically punch their ticket into the postseason by having the same record as Tampa Bay at the season’s end.