After sitting at 3-2, the Atlanta Falcons have dropped to 3-5. There’s no questioning the players’ effort in this one, and it yielded some good performances despite the outcome.
Here’s the Week 9 3 up and 3 down.
3 up
Jalon Walker
Walker put it all together as an edge defender in this game. He was stout against the run and lived in the backfield all game (anything else that happened was woke, off-ball nonsense). The time out clearly did him good;
his lower-body explosiveness was noticeable.
Walker was considered a project on draft night; he’s been learning and playing a more defined position and has improved every game. Two sacks every week probably isn’t sustainable, but Walker just needs to keep focusing on doing his job at a high level, and good things will continue to happen.
Drake London
London went off and tried to will his team to a win with his hat-trick performance. The physical receiver caused problems all over the secondary. He makes every 50/50 ball feel like a 70/30, and he’s proving to be a young quarterback’s best friend. London is going to want top dollar in the offseason, and games like these will command it.
The slow start is behind him, and while teams will certainly adjust and send more bracket coverage his way, it’s going to be hard to keep him bottled up. Even when he’s covered, he’s open.
Michael Penix
If you can’t be happy about a three-touchdown, zero-turnover game, then that’s on you. It wasn’t a perfect game, but in his 10th start and coming back from injury, Penix did enough to keep his team in the game until his kicker botched it. Penix’s raw completion % will rile up some fans, but his adjusted completion % (accounts for drops, throwaways, and spikes) was 71.9%, according to PFF.
We saw the QB stretch his legs on multiple occasions and hopefully that gives him the confidence to do that more. Penix has mostly struggled on the road as a pro, but he actually did well behind a patchwork line that had him under pressure most of the day. He delivered some good balls and yes, will want others back, but this was a positive step in his development.
3 down
#ClapGate
Defensive backs clap in the secondary to grab each other’s attention and communicate all the time, trying to blame that, and initially stating it was done strategically was embarrassing. Ryan Neuzil should’ve owned the mistake, and Raheem Morris should’ve never passed that excuse along.
The issue isn’t this one embarrassing moment; it’s the high volume of hijinks the Falcons find themselves in the middle of that drives their loyal viewers crazy, like having to burn a timeout after a penalty. This is who they are; this is what it means to be a Falcon.
Injuries
The Falcons are one more injury away from you playing. Better start stretching now.
Honestly, I was impressed by how much the offense was able to get done behind this battered offensive line, but that doesn’t mean they’re playing well enough to compete week to week. The Falcons are going to have to juggle all these injuries carefully. Right when the defense gets Walker back, Leonard Floyd goes down. I would also like to stop seeing JD Bertrand play defense, but it sounds like Troy Andersen isn’t coming back. Injuries are part of the game, but the Falcons don’t have the depth to absorb all these hits.
John Parker Romo
There’s absolutely no reason we should be having this conversation in Week 8, but here we are. The Falcons kicking competition never ended, and it feels like it also never started. What more can you say about the situation?
It was bad process to sell an international project player as competition when it’s clear you never intended to play them. Camp was the time to address the issue and be done with it, but the Falcons are in the same spot they found themselves in late last season. The unfortunate truth is that you need to prepare to see a kicker cost them again, even if it is a new one.
The Falcons have to break this losing streak before it breaks them. Atlanta is back on the road in Week 10 against a tough Indianapolis Colts team coming fresh off a loss.
