After years of inconsistent quarterback play, the Atlanta Falcons finally appear to have found their franchise QB in Michael Penix Jr. The former first-round pick put together another excellent performance in the Falcons' 29-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Penix passed for 213 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions while completing 73.5 percent of his pass attempts. It was Penix's second straight game with three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
In fact, the third-year QB has passed for nine touchdowns to just one interception in five starts this season. Somehow, Penix has managed to minimize turnovers while still pushing the ball down the field. Obviously, there are many ways to play quarterback effectively in the NFL,
but the great ones have a few key traits in common.
During Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski's Monday press conference, he laid out two key traits of successful quarterbacks. According to Stefanski, it comes down to taking care of the football while not being scared to let it rip.
"Taking care of the football is a great trait to have at the quarterback position," said Stefanski. "Now, you're going to throw interceptions. That's an occupational hazard. It's going to happen, but understanding when you're going to take a chance and understanding when you're going to let it rip into a tight window because that's what the game calls for, and when you're going to check it down."
One thing that's obvious watching Penix play over the last three seasons is that he isn't afraid to air the ball out, which is why we felt he was a better option than Tua Tagovailoa to maximize this team's offensive talent. Stefanski explained that while you don't want to force it, NFL quarterbacks must be willing to take chances.
"What you don't want is a quarterback then that just decides that you're going to play small ball all the time and you're not going to push the ball down the field, and that's definitely not Mike," said Stefanski. "We want - when the opportunities are there - to let it rip and when they're not, we want to make great decisions."
The Falcons truly seem to have found a happy medium between the two, and Penix's discipline against a dangerous 49ers defense on Sunday was a sign of his progression.
"I think for any quarterback, the more experience you have going up against different defenses and getting put in different situations can only benefit you," said Stefanski. "I think that's what I see from Mike is stacking these games, both in a literal sense, you know, the wins and those type of things, but also stacking all of these experiences and learning from them. Already in the ballgames we've seen a bunch of different coverages, bunch of different pressures, different philosophies in the red zone."
Check out Stefanski's full Monday press conference below, per the team's YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Kevin Stefanski says Michael Penix's success comes from 2 key traits
