Heading into Sunday's showdown with the San Francisco 49ers, our main concern was how Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix would handle the Niners' tough zone-heavy defense.
As it turns out, there was no cause for concern at all, because Penix smoked former head coach Raheem Morris' unit in the best game of what's becoming an excellent 2026 season so far. Along the way, he made a bit of NFL history.
According to NFL.com, Penix tied a record by Andrew Luck and Drew Brees in Atlanta's big upset win.
"Michael Penix is just the third quarterback in the last 25 seasons to have three-plus passing touchdowns and no interceptions in a win against a 6-0 or better undefeated team, joining Andrew Luck against the 6-0 Broncos in 2013 and Drew Brees against the 8-0
Rams in 2018."
The details are even more impressive - because Penix got it done by going against his usual type.
Ordinarily Penix embraces an aggressive downfield kind of attack - that normally doesn't hold up so well against a heavy zone defense. Instead, Penix mixed things up by dinking and dunking - with the vast majority of his completions coming in at under 10 yards. The Next Gen Stats passing chart tells the story.
A quarterback who can roast you downfield when you play man and move the chains consistently against zone is going to be a very tough quarterback to beat.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Michael Penix ties Andrew Luck, Drew Brees record in win over 49ers
