The Falcons have a brewing mess at quarterback
How badly does embattled Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson want to avoid any semblance of a quarterback controversy? It’s fair to say he would go to great lengths.
How about being down 30 points to a division rival you were supposed to stomp and, rather than letting backup quarterback Kirk Cousins move the ball in garbage time to score, you call seven straight running plays for your third-string running back in the final four minutes? Sunday’s ominous 30-0 defeat to the Carolina Panthers came after second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. looked uncomfortable and unsettled again – before he watched the final quarter from the bench after his pick-six cemented the outcome. And this Falcons stumble comes during the rare season in which Atlanta seems to have a potent running game and a defense with at least a little bite.
To say that relations are strained between Penix and Cousins, the veteran who signed a hefty free agent deal in 2024 only to be usurped by the Falcons drafting Penix, is a gross understatement. Rumblings around the NFL about this being a compromised coupling only resonated more loudly as Sunday’s ugly defeat played out. Call it puzzling at best that, after Cousins came in cold to complete 5 of 7 passes, Robinson didn’t call a passing play for the rest of the afternoon. It’s certainly a bit troubling that Penix, selected eighth in 2024, does not look more at ease yet – despite getting all of the reps as the unquestioned starter since Cousins was benched last season. Perhaps Robinson – another one of Los Angeles Rams Coach Sean McVay’s former assistants – is a significant part of the problem. This situation merits serious monitoring if Penix cannot get it going in the next few weeks.
“Zac will do whatever he can to avoid letting [Cousins] play,” said one executive with ties to the McVay coaching tree who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the coach-quarterback relationship. “They can’t have a quarterback controversy.”
Falcons Coach Raheem Morris made it clear to reporters after Sunday’s loss that Penix was only pulled because the game was out of hand and that he would remain the starter going forward. The Falcons host the Washington Commanders in Week 4.
Falcons ownership was not willing to eat enough of Cousins’s contract this offseason to facilitate a trade, according to multiple NFL executives, including some who had at least modest interest in the quarterback. Cousins’s relationship with the Atlanta coaching staff has soured after he struggled mightily in 2024 coming back from an Achilles injury; he never seemed a fit physically or schematically in Robinson’s offense, and the two never quite clicked personally.
“I don’t think they really get along,” said another executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss interpersonal issues on another team’s roster. Regardless of the politics between coach and quarterback, the Falcons’ staff still deemed Week 3 an appropriate moment to thrust Cousins into garbage time. Penix clearly could use any and every additional opportunity to learn and develop, and those mop-up reps could have been better put to use with him. Instead, those wondering whether Cousins might be able to provide at least a flicker of a spark to this foundering offense got their answer on one quick drive. But it was all running plays after that.
Running back Bijan Robinson probably could have kept this game close enough on his own; he often turned nothing into something (38 of his 39 receiving yards came on yards after the catch), but he didn’t see enough of the ball (18 touches for 111 scrimmage yards), in large part because the quarterback couldn’t execute the offense and sustain drives. Again.
Sure, it’s still early, but at a time when top-10 quarterbacks have had signature moments and captured the imagination, Penix has not flashed that way – at least not often enough. His legs have not been nearly as much of the offense as some expected, and despite an array of potential weapons, the Falcons’ playmakers remain underutilized. Zac Robinson can start bracing for pointed questioning if his prized pupil doesn’t start making strides, especially when facing defenses as forgiving as Carolina’s.
The Falcons waited far too long to make the switch from an obviously hobbled Cousins to Penix last year. Might the criticism they received for that personnel matter bleed into their decision-making this season? Can the organization properly assess which of its other top-10 picks on offense deserve extensions without more consistent quarterback play?
Penix is completing just 58.6 percent of his passes despite this being a very truncated attack (6.1 yards per attempt). The second interception he tossed Sunday had more to do with his intended receiver falling than anything else, but it’s not as though this coaching staff is asking him to take deep shot after deep shot – too many layups are clanking off the rim. The passing game has been staccato. Penix has failed to reach 175 passing yards in the past two games.
Robinson might be in over his head, of course, and it takes a village to develop a quarterback. Too often it appears Penix is waiting for plays to come in, and he was visibly frustrated Sunday.
From a personnel standpoint, a solid infrastructure would appear to be in place, including the offensive line, but too many balls are dropped and there hasn’t been much urgency to this operation, with one touchdown scored in the past two games. That can’t reflect well on the offensive coordinator. And in what could be a make-or-break year for Morris, Atlanta already has dropped two NFC South games.
A few more Penix clunkers, and there could be mounting calls for Cousins – as crazy as that seems after so many Falcons fans were clamoring for him to be dealt this offseason. Calls for a new coach might not be far behind. For his part, Robinson will be in no hurry to go back to the veteran no matter how dire things get, and that outcome might not bring out the best in either of them.