Michael Penix Jr.'s return to NFL action spurred his squad to their first victory of the season.
Penix, who has been recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL, was expected to be the starter for the Atlanta Falcons when healthy. His backup, Tua Tagovailoa, suffered an oblique injury before Week One, which forced the Falcons to play third-string quarterback Cooper Rush for the first two weeks of the season while Penix finished the last portion of his rehab. The results were paltry: Atlanta did not reach the red zone, the only NFL team to do so through two weeks, and scored only 16 points with an offense that looked like it would be comprised almost entirely of star running back Bijan Robinson.
By halftime, Penix had led the Falcons to more points
than they had scored in the first two weeks, taking a 17-7 lead over the Green Bay Packers into the break.
#Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr. started 1/5 with an INT. After that?
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 25, 2026
🔴17/20
⚫️239 yards
🔴1 TD
⚫️0 INTs
Atlanta had 500+ yards of total offense in the win over the Packers. https://t.co/8Rk0w3I3vd pic.twitter.com/gYIX0sGtrs
Penix threw an interception over the middle on the fourth play of the game when Packers safety Xavier McKinney lulled the former Washington star into a false sense of security before jumping the route and giving Green Bay a jolt in their home opener. Atlanta's next drive was fruitless as well, and the Falcons punted with Penix having completed only 2 of his first 7 passes.
A roughing the passer penalty on Penix by Packers edge rusher Brenton Cox Jr. bailed the Falcons out of a third-and-11 in their own territory on the next series, however, and Robinson immediately followed it up with a 55-yard run to set up Atlanta's first red zone snaps of the season. Robinson capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run, and from there on out, Penix settled in and led the Falcons to a blowout win.
In the second and third quarters, Penix completed 13 of his 15 passes, went 5-for-5 on third down, and threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to tight end Austin Hooper just before halftime. Brian Robinson ran for a touchdown of his own in the third quarter to extend the lead to 24-7 and put the game away for the Falcons, who won by a final score of 35-14 for their first win of the year.
With the win, Penix became the fastest Falcons quarterback by games started to reach 3,000 yards and has the most passing yards through 13 starts by any quarterback in franchise history. His top receiver, Drake London, had 9 catches for 194 yards, while Bijan Robinson had 29 carries for 194 yards and 2 touchdowns.
It was a triumphant return for the former Huskies standout, who safety Jessie Bates III revealed after the game was crying in the locker room before Atlanta's final preseason game this August because he knew he was not yet ready to return from his ACL surgery.
"I know how much it means to him," Bates said. "I know how much he means to the locker room."
Penix said that the interception was the catalyst for the rest of his evening, but was focused on how he and the rest of the team could improve going forward when speaking with the media after the game.
"Definitely after that interception, I started getting a rhythm, and everything started clicking," Penix said. "We got a long season to go. That game was far from perfect, and that's what we're striving for each and every day. So, obviously we're going to go back and look at the film, find things that we can do better."
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski also spoke highly of Penix after the game for the way he pushed through his rehab.
"It's not easy to rehab from injuries," Stefanski said. "That's a tough thing to do when he's putting himself through the extra workouts in the weight room, the extra treatments in the training room. All those times that he's out on the field running and no one was watching. It's just him and the trainers and the medical staff. So proud of all of that. I got to witness it, and this, tonight, is something you can build on."
Penix and the Falcons return to primetime for their next two games. They take on the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football on October 5, then host the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football on October 11.
This article originally appeared on Huskies Wire: Michael Penix Jr. leads Atlanta Falcons to 1st win in return from ACL
