CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Chau Smith-Wade waited and baited Michael Penix Jr. into making the worst throw of his career. Now Falcons coach Raheem Morris was looking across the field, wishing and hoping as game officials gathered to discuss the penalty flag on the field.
Maybe the Panthers would save Morris’ team by negating the play with a foul. The bumbling Falcons needed all the help they could get. But there was no such luck for Morris: Penix’s pick-six stood, and the Falcons were on their way to a humiliating defeat on Sunday.
The Falcons lost 30-0 to one of the few teams that’s been as inept as them over the past several years. What’s worse is that much of the blame was on Penix. Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot deemed him as the next franchise quarterback after Matt Ryan, and now Penix is 2-4 as the starter.
Honestly, I don’t like the quarterback record stat because it often doesn’t tell the real story of the game.
It did on this day.
The Falcons had a lot of issues on offense. Most of them came down to Penix hurting them more than helping.
There was the pick-six. There was another interception that set up a Panthers touchdown. There were lots of inaccurate throws to wide-open targets.
It all added up to Penix’s worst performance in six career starts.
“Some of it was definitely me,” Penix said. “Some of it was the defense. They had good looks and I wasn’t prepared for it, which I have to be.
“At the end of the day, I’ve got to make those plays. I’ve got to find my guys that’s open. It was tough, man.”
Penix sank his team’s best chance to get back in the game.
The Falcons trailed 10-0 at halftime. Carolina got the ball first after the break. The Falcons forced a three-and-out and started a drive at their 14-yard line. That was a long way to go for an offense that had been terrible up until then, but maybe the Falcons could find a way to come back and win ugly.
That thought barely had time to cross my mind before Smith-Wade snagged Penix’s pass and ran 11 yards for the touchdown.
“I didn’t see him,” Penix said. “Good play.”
Hard for Penix to see the defender when he didn’t even look. Penix threw a check-down throw without first checking on the defender. It was an amateurish mistake, especially near the end zone.
The pick-six put the Falcons in a 17-0 hole that was insurmountable given the play of their quarterback. Penix was 18-of-36 for 172 yards with the two interceptions. A few of those incompletions were throwaways but, mostly, Penix just failed to put passes on target.
Penix, a lefty, was especially off the mark on throws to his right. Was he having problems with his fundamentals?
“I felt good,” Penix said. “You just can’t miss. You can’t miss, man. We are playing the best of the best and I’ve got to make sure I give my guys opportunities to make plays. I did mess up on that at times during the game.”
Penix’s coaches didn’t help him. The Panthers easily sniffed out too many of Zac Robinson’s play calls. Falcons wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud III said Carolina defenders were sitting on the short routes.
The Falcons also had issues with play calls getting in late to Penix from the sidelines. He said his helmet headset was “going in and out” early in the game. That surely didn’t help matters, but the Falcons also had issues with late play calls in their first two games.
“I just do what I’m told in the headset and keep it pushing. I can’t control that,” Penix said. “Once I hear the play, I’ve just got to make sure I get the guys out of the huddle and execute at a high level.”
That didn’t happen often for Penix and the Falcons. They never made it past Carolina’s 31-yard line. That happened three times. Those possessions ended with two missed field goals — new kicker Parker Romo is performing no better than Younghoe Koo — and a lost fumble.
The Falcons were down 27-0 after another Penix interception set up a 30-yard touchdown drive for the Panthers early in the fourth quarter.
Morris sent in Cousins to finish up the game.
“Game was out of hand,” Morris said. “Move on. Keep our guys out of harm’s way.”
Morris said Cousins wouldn’t be given a chance to compete for the starting job. That’s the right call. Penix was great against the Buccaneers in the opener (a QB loss that wasn’t on him) and solid in last weekend’s victory at Minnesota.
A quarterback competition would be a knee-jerk reaction to one bad game by the young quarterback.
“I don’t worry about Mike’s confidence,” Morris said. “You’ve got to go back to practice. You’ve got to go to the drawing board.”
Penix couldn’t overcome the Carolina curse for Falcons quarterbacks. Marcus Mariota lost here three years ago while seemingly forgetting how to play the position. The next year, Desmond Ridder’s interception within scoring range left an opening for Bryce Young to lead a game-winning drive for Panthers.
The Falcons won here last season with Cousins. This year, they suffered their first shutout loss since the Patriots beat them 25-0 on Nov. 18, 2021, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. It was Carolina’s first shutout victory since beating the Lions 20-0 on Nov. 22, 2020.
“Very humbling game,” Morris said.
Both the Falcons and Panthers have missed the playoffs for seven years in a row. Only the Falcons were expected to have a chance of getting back to the postseason. That’s in large part because they play in the same division as the Panthers.
Apparently, Carolina fans feel the same way because there were lots of empty seats at Bank of America Stadium. Those who stayed at home missed out on the party, at Penix’s expense.
“It will come,” Penix said. “We are three games in. We’ve got a long way to go.”
It’s hard to imagine Penix playing worse than this.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
