Sunday’s regular-season finale between the Falcons and Carolina Panthers in Atlanta will be a must-win game for the Falcons.
If Atlanta (8-8) had managed to beat the Washington Commanders last Sunday, they could have secured their first NFC South title since 2016 with a win over the Panthers (4-12).
Now, the Falcons need a win along with a loss from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7) against the New Orleans Saints (5-11) to clinch the division.
At the start of the season, the Falcons didn’t expect to rely on rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to help them make the playoffs. However, with veteran Kirk Cousins struggling and being benched, Penix has stepped in during the final three weeks of the season.
In the two games since Penix became the starter, the eighth pick in the 2024 NFL Draft has completed 37 of 62 passes for 425 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. His first career touchdown pass came with 1:19 left in last week’s 30-24 overtime loss to Washington, a perfect pass to tight end Kyle Pitts.
Despite the unexpected shift at quarterback, Penix’s experience playing crucial games in January is seen as beneficial for his future.
“We wanted him to be able to go through the process and learn behind Kirk,” Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said of Penix. “He did that for a long stretch, and now his time has come. He’s gone out there, executing and doing a really good job for us.
The whole idea with him is just to keep getting better each week. His job is to go out and win football games. He won one of them and gave us a chance in the other. Now we’re going to try and get our ninth win and finish the season strong.”
Atlanta can’t afford to focus on other teams. The Panthers, who defeated the Arizona Cardinals 36-30 in overtime to knock them out of playoff contention in Week 16, are still dangerous. However, Carolina was beaten 48-14 by Tampa Bay in their last game.
In this matchup of young quarterbacks, Bryce Young has thrown four touchdowns and no interceptions in the past two weeks. The 23-year-old will face Atlanta’s defense for the first time, as he was backing up Andy Dalton during the Panthers’ 38-20 loss to Atlanta on October 13.
“I have a lot of respect for (Atlanta) as a team and a defensive unit,” Young said. “They have a lot of good players; they play well together. We’ve got to do everything we can to put ourselves in a position to execute. We know it’s going to take everything to try and have success.”
In 13 games, Young has thrown for 2,152 yards, 12 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He has also run for four touchdowns.
Carolina has several key injuries, including linebackers Amare Barno (shoulder) and Josey Jewell (concussion), defensive backs Jaycee Horn (hip), Lonnie Johnson (shoulder/neck), and Nick Scott (illness), defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson (neck), and offensive lineman Robert Hunt (knee), all of whom missed practice on Wednesday.
For Atlanta, cornerback Kevin King (concussion) also did not practice on Wednesday.
