Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. lost the battle against his 2024 NFL Draft classmate, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, but he still played well in what ended up being a surprisingly close game.
For the second time in Penix's short NFL career, he threw for three touchdowns and zero interceptions in a losing effort. While he did lose a fumble in Sunday's 31-23 home loss to the Bears, Penix nearly led the team back from a 24-point fourth-quarter deficit.
He tossed two of his three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, both going to Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts. Penix also converted both two point conversions - one to rookie Zachariah Branch and the other to Drake London.
Atlanta's home crowd was once again invaded by the opposing
team's fan base. Penix said the Falcons practiced the silent count all week in anticipation of Bears fans taking over Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday.
"We did silent count all week so we were good with silent count stuff," Penix said after the game. "The crowd noise thing, you know, it's always tough whenever you're playing at home and you hear early in the week that we might have to work silent cadence - because you always expect our fans to overrule the opponent's fans, but we were ready for it and I think we executed the silent cadence well."
Even with the loss, the Falcons quarterback has looked sharp since returning in Week 3.. In four starts this season, Penix has 944 passing yards, six touchdowns and a passer rating of 106. However, he knows he must still find ways to improve.
"You're never pleased," Penix said of his performance. "There's always work to do, there's always ways to get better. And that's what I'm trying to do each and every day, you know, figure that out. I'm going to go to the drawing board and see what we did in this game and try to figure out how I can be better for this team to help us win football games."
Watch Penix's full post-game press conference below, as shared by the team's YouTube channel.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Michael Penix Jr. says Falcons anticipated Bears fan invasion
