During the first two weeks of the season, no NFL team got worse results at the quarterback position than the Atlanta Falcons. In fact, you can make a case no team has ever gotten worse quarterback play over Weeks 1-2 in league history. Cooper Rush was THAT bad, and undrafted rookie Jack Strand's brief action in Week 2 wasn't much better.
Any serious QB rankings had the Falcons in last place at this time last week. However, the return of Michael Penix Jr. to the lineup gave a huge boost to Atlanta's offense, which played a big part in the Falcons' upset win over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
As they should, the Falcons' QB room has gotten a big boost in the latest quarterback room rankings from Bleacher Report. They are now No. 22 after
just one start from Penix.
"So far, so good for Michael Penix Jr. The third-year quarterback made his 2026 debut on Thursday night and immediately provided a spark to the Atlanta Falcons' offense. In his first action back from a torn ACL, Penix passed for 256 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and a 101.4 QB rating."
Penix got off to a brutal start against what we thought was a tough Packers defense. He missed a couple of throws on his opening drive and threw an ugly interception to end it. He was also shaky in his second drive, but after that Penix settled down and then got into a great rhythm with his receivers - especially Drake London, who went off for 194 yards on nine receptions.
After those initial mistakes, Penix was calm, confident and as accurate as we've seen him at this level. Hopefully that performance will serve as a confidence booster and he'll go into next week feeling he's capable of competing against anybody.
Next up are the hated division rival New Orleans Saints, who the Falcons will visit next week on Monday Night Football.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Falcons QB room ranking gets big boost from Michael Penix return
