McFadden: Penix Has Made Falcons' Passing Game Impossible to Ignore

Two-time Super Bowl champion Bryant McFadden believes Michael Penix Jr. has given Atlanta something it was missing early in the season, according to www.profootballnetwork.com. Speaking on "NFL on CBS," McFadden said Penix provides a quarterback capable of consistently challenging defenses through the air.

Atlanta opened the season 0-2 while relying on Cooper Rush at quarterback after Tua Tagovailoa was out injured. The specific reason for Rush starting and Tagovailoa's injury status are not detailed in the source.

Penix's return in Week 3 gave the offense a different way to attack. The Falcons have since won two straight, with Penix helping create more room for Bijan Robinson by forcing defenses to account for the passing game.

McFadden sees the shift in what defenses now must respect. "Now you have to respect Drake London," he said. "Now you have to respect Kyle Pitts and some of the other pass catchers."

That respect was absent in the first two weeks, when opponents could load up against the run without fear of the downfield throw. Penix has changed the math, and the Falcons' offense suddenly looks like a different unit entirely.

MCFADDEN'S VERBATIM PRAISE

McFadden, speaking on "NFL on CBS," put the transformation in blunt terms. "Penix provides for Atlanta at the quarterback position," he said. "He is an individual that has a pulse in terms of how he handles and orchestrates within the offense."

The two-time Super Bowl champion acknowledged the narrative that this is a Bijan Robinson-led or offensive line-led unit. He did not dismiss it. But he insisted that framing misses the point of what Penix changes.

"But in terms of what Michael Penix can provide when throwing the football," McFadden said, "they were missing that element in the first two weeks."

That missing element is what forced defenses to sell out against the run early in the season. Without a consistent downfield threat, Atlanta's pass catchers were an afterthought. McFadden made the consequences explicit.

"You didn't really respect them like that," he said, "because they didn't have anybody who could push the football down the field in a consistent way."