And the winner of the Atlanta Falcons' 2026 quarterback competition is... nobody!
Technically speaking, Tua Tagovailoa "won" the battle when he was named Atlanta's Week 1 starter for Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, that win is hollow because the quarterback competition everyone talked about all offseason never really got off the ground.
That's because Michael Penix was only cleared for 11-on-11 drills a few days before Atlanta's preseason finale, a game for which he was inactive. So, even though Tua is at the top of the depth chartfor now, this QB battle is going to extend into the regular season. Here's Jeff Howe at The Athletic making the point that you can't write off Penix yet.
"Michael Penix Jr.’s recovery from a torn
ACL was always going to butt up against the start of the regular season, so the Falcons had to prioritize Tua Tagovailoa’s readiness for Week 1. But with an overhauled leadership regime that inherited Penix, the Falcons needed a thorough assessment of each quarterback before the season. Unless the Falcons get off to a surprisingly hot start, don’t write off Penix for 2026, especially with Tagovailoa’s back already an issue during camp."
Tagovailoa's back is not the concern, though. The real problem is that in his two preseason appearances he never once even attempted to throw the ball past the sticks. Dinking and dunking might work for a little while against the league's most-conservative defenses, but it's also a guaranteed route to failure in the long run for any NFL quarterback.
Unless Tua comes out slinging the ball against the Steelers and shows a far more aggressive streak than we've seen so far there's a good chance that he will be replaced in the starting lineup as soon as Penix is comfortable running the offense.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: NFL analyst says 'don't write off' Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr.
