All offseason we argued that the Atlanta Falcons deserved to be ranked higher than the high 20s they were usually getting placed at by the national media. We knew they were talented - they just needed the right head coach to bring the best ouf of them and get some respectable play at quarterback.
Enter Kevin Stefanski, who's hit both of those birds with one stone. Under his leadership the Falcons look more dangerous than they have in nearly a decade and he has Michael Penix Jr. performing at a previously unseen level.
According to Ben Solak at ESPN, Stefanski should win the NFL Coach of the Year award, which would be the third time in his career.
"...That the Falcons have readily gotten Penix to think about football in a different fashion altogether
is impressive. Doubly impressive is how Stefanski has this passing game operating in the context of his rushing attack. The Falcons, with Stefanski's longtime partner-in-crime Bill Callahan coaching the offensive line, have one of the league's best rushing attacks (sixth in rushing yards per game, 139.9), and they lean on it like no other. Since Penix returned to the starting lineup, no team has a higher called run rate than Atlanta (46.5%)..."
They are running the ball well, but this week we saw Penix leading the offense to a victory for the first time this season. He threw 34 pass attempts compared to 24 designed runs and he was efficient, accurate and avoided any turnover-worthy throws. His only glaring miss was for a wide open Drake London in the red zone, but Penix punched the ball in soon after, anyway.
It's hard to gauge how much of an impact Stefanski has had on Atlanta's defense, as Jeff Ulbrich is still in charge of that unit - but they are playing well - and far above any reasonable expectations coming into the season given the pieces they're missing up front.
A 3-4 record is not going to win anybody Coach of the Year, but if the Falcons can finish with 10 wins or more then Stefanski will have a very strong case at the end of the season.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: ESPN: Kevin Stefanski should win another Coach of the Year award
