The Falcoholic
One week down, seventeen to go. Falcons fans, I know this one stings. Sunday didn’t end the way anyone wanted, but Week 1 gave us more than frustration. It gave us answers.
We learned that Michael Penix Jr. isn’t backing down from the moment, that the rookies are ready to make an impact, and, yeah, that there are a few spots on this roster that need fixing fast. It’s a long season, but after one game, we’ve already learned a lot. So, let’s get into it.
Kicker problems truly are the worst, and Atlanta’s got some. Younghoe Koo’s struggles didn’t start Sunday, with his miss of a potential game-tying 44-yard field goal, but they’ve now become impossible to ignore. Since the beginning of last season, Koo has been one of the more unreliable kickers in the league, ranking 29th out of 31 kickers in FG% (73%) with 20 or more field goal attempts since the start of the 2024 season, a stark difference from years prior. From 2021 to 2023, of any kicker with 40 or more attempts, Younghoe Koo had the 11th-best mark (88.3%).
Morris has brought in competition in the form of two practice squad players: Lenny Krieg, who battled with Koo over the summer, and newcomer John Parker Romo.
“There’s no secrets around here how we go about our business; there will always be a highly competitive atmosphere…Obviously, we have a young man in the building that is more of a young, up-and-comer, developing prospect, but we’ll definitely look at outside and inside the building,” Morris said.
If Morris is one thing, he’s loyal to his players. As of this moment, Koo is still the starter for the Falcons, but the turf around him is shakier than ever since the day he donned the red and black.
The Falcons may have done more than just draft a quarterback; they might’ve found the new face of the franchise.
Michael Penix Jr. threw for 298 yards on Sunday, the fourth-most in Week 1, and he did it under fire. The rookie faced the fifth-highest pressure rate in the league (43.5%), yet still generated the fifth-most EPA overall (12.2) and ranked ninth in EPA per dropback (0.27).
One of the best parts of Penix’s game was his ability to keep pressures from turning into negative plays. Coming into the league, that was one of his calling cards; he had the lowest pressure-to-sack ratio of anybody in that loaded 2023 quarterback class.
Well, Sunday may have been the first glimpse into that not only being a positive, but a possible superpower for Penix. According to Next Gen Stats, against pressure, Penix was 10-of-16 (62.5%) for 135 yards and generated 8.2 EPA, the highest of any player last week. The difference between Penix and Baker Mayfield in second is more than the difference between Mayfield and Dak Prescott in eighth.
Pair that with his elite...
