Dec 22, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. (9) and quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) run on the field before a game against the New York Giants at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images
The story of the Atlanta Falcons in the post-Matt Ryan era—and now I have to specify that it is the post-Matt Ryan
on-field era—is a failure at quarterback. There are many other stories that intertwine with that one, naturally, from a lackluster defense to special teams woes to poor coaching and poor roster building. But the Falcons have been close enough to winning seasons often enough since they shipped Ryan to Indianapolis that it makes sense to focus on the game’s most important position.
Marcus Mariota was a stopgap with some fun moments and a lot of head-scratching turnovers and decisions. Desmond Ridder was a would-be franchise quarterback who could not stop turning the ball over as a starter, and Taylor Heinicke was no better as his backup. The 2024 signing of Kirk Cousins and drafting of Michael Penix Jr. was supposed to fix this very real flaw, but the past two years have instead been injuries and mediocre play sandwiched around stretches of real brilliance.
That very much includes 2025, where an 8-9 campaign got Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot fired. Between the two of them, Penix and Cousins threw for 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions along with over 3,600 yards; if you created a Micirk Penusins (sorry) and made them a single entity, they would have ranked 21st in touchdowns, 16th in interceptions, and 12th in yardage on the year. That’s not awful, but it certainly isn’t
great, and the Falcons invested enough capital and hope in the position that great is what they were shooting for.
With that in mind, let’s look back at 2025 for the team’s two QBs and talk outlook for 2026.
Michael Penix Jr.
Whether it was the design of the offense, Penix’s own ability and comfort level, or some combination of the two, the young quarterback did not look like himself in 2025. His weaknesses were accentuated—the unwillingness to move out of the pocket, the come-and-go accuracy, and the stretches where he didn’t seem to trust what he was seeing—and his considerable strengths did not show up as we expected. Penix took care of the football throughout the season, with the league’s lowest interception rate to go with four fumbles and just three picks on the year, and took just 13 sacks in nine games. He also showed off his wheels occasionally, rushing for 70 yards (he hadn’t had that many in a seasons since 2022 with Indiana) and delivered a handful of the big-time throws we know he can make. The final state line is hardly inspiring, but it’s far from awful.
So what was the problem? The problem was that Penix seemed, for lack of a better term, almost timid for long stretches of his second season. His intended and completed air yards both fell by 1.7 yards per attempt, falling from numbers that would have ranked among the top three in the NFL with a full season in 2024 to 10th and 12th in 2025. He picked up multiple costly intentional grounding penalties because he seemed to shy away from sacks, but also waited to throw the ball away until he was under significant duress, and despite his decent ability to run still took off just 21 times in nine games. The lack of playmaking verve and consistent unwillingness to challenge defenses deep meant you were left with a player who studiously avoided turnovers but was wildly inconsistent on a play-to-play basis with very few of the big plays that can justify the league’s second-highest bad throw percentage and poor accuracy. To put it in some semblance of perspective, Penix threw the ball 20+ yards in the air 16 times in four games in 2024; he did it just 27 times in 2025 in nine games.
Compilation of Michael Penix's misses. Some themes we see
– rushing in a clean pocket
– struggled reading leverage
– low accuracy and low precision
– inconsistent footwork (hips, feet, and eyes are misaligned)
– Darnell Mooney
pic.twitter.com/sC8drVxPxK
— Tre’Shon (@tre3shon)
November 10, 2025
We all know the incredibly unfortunate injury, which came during one of Penix’s best games of the season, wiped out any chance for him to rally and finish his second season strong. Based on the state of the receiving corps, how hard Penix was on his own play, and Zac Robinson’s often baffling offensive design, I don’t know that we would’ve seen Penix become The Guy in his final eight games had he been healthy. What I do know is that we saw far too little of Penix’s absurd arm talent at work in 2025, and the team’s insistence on pistol and a lack of play action when Penix was on the field raise questions about his limitations that the Falcons never answered in satisfying fashion. Was this Robinson’s preference, Penix’s own lack of comfort, or something else entirely?
All that said, do I think there’s a good quarterback in here? Yes, albeit one who still has to get more accurate to hit his ceiling and stay healthy besides. Penix clearly committed to avoiding costly mistakes in 2025 and did quite well at it—he had some lucky throws that were not intercepted, but the lowest rate in the league is not an accident—and the arm talent is still readily evident to anyone with two eyes and an honest heart. An improved offense around him and a coaching staff set to build around his strengths will help, but Penix has to harness his talent and play without fear to really excel. There’s nothing in his profile as a pocket passer who can fit any throw into any window that suggests timidity is a good idea, and the latest major injury means we’re going to be watching for his level of comfort.
Kirk Cousins
The avatar of perfectly cromulent football play in 2025, Cousins was absurdly good against the Buccaneers yet again and decent against everyone else. Taking away his three touchdown explosion against Tampa Bay, Cousins never threw more than two touchdowns or one interception in any other games, and threw for under 200 yards in six of his eight starts. He did so with Drake London hurt for long stretches, Darnell Mooney never able to shake his injuries, and a wide receiver depth chart that was ugly as sin overall, all mitigating factors that suggest Cousins did about the best he could.
He also saw his intended air yards per attempt dip by a half a yard and his completed air yards per completion dip by 1.6 yards, dropping him to 33rd in the league in the former and 37th in the latter. Owing again to Robinson’s offensive design, his own preferences, and a heavy reliance on tight ends, Bijan Robinson, and screens, Cousins was a big-time dink and dunker whose lack of pocket mobility curtailed an already unambitious offense. Cousins has been a very good quarterback most of his career; it’s clear that for reasons ranging from injury to age, he’s simply not that caliber of player any longer….unless he’s playing the Bucs.
What that meant is that Cousins came in, said all the right things, and (mostly) played well enough to give the Falcons a shot to win after relieving Penix; the fact that he handled all of it with a certain level of grace is a point in his favor. He also didn’t do anything that would convince the previous regime or the new one that his onerous contract was worth keeping around, and the renegotiation of his deal was clearly geared around ensuring he can hit the open market and chase a starting role elsewhere heading into his age 38 season.
The deal will go down as a substantial miss, as Cousins will pocket north of $100 million in total for 22 starts, 5,229 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 21 interceptions to go with a 12-10 record as a starter. If the Falcons were paying a deal that was commensurate with his play, Cousins would be heading into 2026 as Kevin Stefanski’s starter based on his limited but still useful results in 2025; instead, he’ll either hang up his cleats or chase a job elsewhere.
Outlook: Uncertain
Two years after investing so much in the quarterback position, Atlanta will go into 2026 with at least one new face in the room. Cousins will be released, Penix will look to recover as quickly as possible and compete for a starting job, and a new front office and coaching staff will have to weigh whether they want veteran competition, a short-term stopgap starter, or a Penix replacement.
That’s not where this franchise wanted to be, and now Penix has to deal with the pressure that comes with A) recovering from a major injury and B) proving himself to an entirely new head coach, general manager, and PRESIDENT FOOTBALL. Atlanta’s limited avenues to supplanting Penix—they don’t have a massive amount of cap space and are missing their first round pick—means they’re not likely to outright replace him. They also can’t afford to go into the upcoming season with, say, Easton Stick as their backup because there’s just no way to be 100% confident that Penix will be available from Week 1 or for the entire season until the team sees him out there. While I remain a believer in the talent, you’d have to be delusional to think that Penix has shown enough or quelled enough questions about his health to be viewed as the unquestioned starter, much less the franchise option.
So long as he’s healthy, the opportunity will be there for Penix, but another middling year like 2025 or any further major injuries will mean the Falcons are likely starting over yet again in 2027. The pressure is on for Penix to show a new regime with few attachments that he can be
their guy, lest they use a rich 2027 quarterback class to go get that guy.
