About a month ago, when things were going swimmingly in Atlanta, even floating the question "Should the Falcons turn to Michael Penix Jr?" seemed crazy. Now, Atlanta is 1-5 in its last six games, including 4 straight losses, Kirk Cousins has thrown 0 touchdowns and 8 interceptions over those four games, and Falcons fans are losing their grip on sanity very quickly.
Asking for rookie Michael Penix Jr to get some reps doesn't seem so crazy anymore. The rookie quarterback has been waiting in the wings for his opportunity as the Falcons quarterback — an opportunity that Falcons fans assume is coming, they just didn't think it would potentially be coming this quickly.
Kirk Cousins' production has cratered recently
After an uneven but productive start, Kirk Cousins has completely fallen off. He's been bad recently — Really bad. But is throwing Penix into the heat of an NFC South playoff race going to be more helpful or hurtful longterm? And would a rookie Penix at quarterback change the ceiling of this team enough to make it worthwhile? I don't think so — no matter how much Falcons fans want to hear otherwise.
Although it doesn't feel this way, Kirk Cousins won't be this bad forever. He's a good enough quarterback that he's bound for a bounceback, and I think it's coming this weekend. With games against Las Vegas and the New York Giants in the next two weeks, a couple of get-back games are in order. There's no reason to thrust a rookie into two games that shouldn't be overly difficult to win.
If Atlanta loses to Las Vegas, a conversation will need to be had. Because if the Falcons can't beat Vegas, that means Cousins can't even not be a negative as a signal-caller, because that's all the Falcons need from him on Monday night. But for the moment, I don't think the switch needs to be made. I believe in Kirk Cousins to get back on track, which is a sentence that might sound insane two weeks from now.