Despite SNF defeat, Falcons fans credit Michael Penix Jr. for this impossible feat

It may be too little, too late, but the Michael Penix Jr. era of Atlanta Falcons football seems to be trending in the right direction. In his first two games as the starting quarterback, Atlanta is 1-1 with a blowout win over the pitiful New York Giants, as well as a tight overtime loss on the road to the playoff-bound Washington Commanders. Atlanta finds itself at 8-8 on the season with one game left.

Penix may have had a ton of starts in college at Washington and Indiana previously, but he is still trying to figure out how his game translates to the NFL level. His ball has a ton of zip on it, but he needs to learn when to hone it in a bit during the crucial parts of the game. The good news for Falcons fans in the wake of a Raheem Morris botchjob is that Penix seems to like Kyle Pitts a ton.

Pitts may have been responsible for Penix's lone interception two weeks ago vs. New York, but he had four catches for 44 yards and a game-tying touchdown on five targets in the 30-24 Sunday Night Football defeat to Dan Quinn and the Commanders. He may never be the player we all thought he was coming out of Florida, but Pitts becoming a bigger part of the passing game going forward is so huge.

Here is the fourth-and-goal touchdown from Penix to Pitts that has Dirty Bird Nation buzzing big time!

Penix was 19-for-35 with 223 yards passing for one touchdown and one interception on Sunday.

Michael Penix Jr. is developing an early rapport with Kyle Pitts in Atlanta

On the evening, Penix completed 19 passes for seven different receivers. While he needs to be far more accurate at the next level to help sustain drives, it was nice to see him do more than trying to force feed the ball to Atlanta's No. 1 receiver option in Drake London. The Atlanta offense may still be built around Bijan Robinson's impressive all-around game, but the Pitts wrinkle had been missing.

Admittedly, it may not matter for the rest of this season, as Atlanta needs to win on Sunday and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to lose to win the NFC South. However, Pitts will be back with the Falcons next year after having had his fifth-year option exercised. It will be a critical year if he is part of this team beyond the 2025 NFL season. Dirty Bird Nation can only hope he continues to gel with Penix.

Overall, Atlanta really needed that third offensive weapon to emerge as a go-to threat late in the game. London seems to be built for it, as does Robinson. Not to say that Pitts is not, but he often disappears from games. While being able to lean on Darnell Mooney and Ray-Ray McCloud III had been a boost for Kirk Cousins, it seems as though Penix trusts Pitts a bit more than his predecessor.

This season may go down as a slight failure, but that touchdown is a positive sign to build around.