Michael Penix Jr. Has Been Named the Falcons' Starting QB With Atlanta Still in the Thick of a Playoff Race

What a year it's been for the Atlanta Falcons. They gave Kirk Cousins $180 million in the offseason right before drafting Michael Penix No. 8 overall because they said Cousins would be so good that the team wouldn't be in a position to draft a good quarterback for several years. And now just 14 games into the Cousins era, Kirk is benched for the rookie with the Falcons still very much in the playoff hunt. I love this beautifully stupid franchise.

If we've seen Cousins's last start in a Falcons uniform, what a ride it was. He went from looking like trash in the first game of the season to an MVP-caliber quarterback for a few games and then right back to hot ass for the second half of the year. Whatever you want to say about Kirk, you can't say he didn't keep you on your toes.

But now with Atlanta trailing the Buccaneers by a game with three games to go, we'll really get to see what Penix is made of. It's a pretty unfair position to put your rookie quarterback in, but the Falcons have never been ones to manage things extremely well. I guess the good news for Penix is that the worst-case scenario is he isn't very good for a few games in an impossible situation and then presumably gets a full offseason knowing he's the starter heading into 2025. And best-case, he comes in and lights it up to lead the Falcons to the playoffs. It's pretty much all upside.

Let's see what the rook's got, I guess. Goodbye, Kirk. We hardly knew ye.