Michael Penix Jr. has to play much better if the Falcons are going anywhere this season.
The defense was stout enough and created opportunities. But the offense, with Penix at the controls, failed to capitalize on those opportunities in the 20-10 loss to the 49ers on Sunday in Santa Clara, California.
Kaden Elliss created a turnover, and the offense couldn’t convert it into points.
There was the intentional grounding right before the half that cost them points.
You can’t blame Penix for the fourth-and-1 pass play, but that was abhorrent. What kind of football team do you have that can’t line up and get a yard?
“We had a lot of opportunities to win this game,” Penix said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t capitalize on the big moments, especially that big fourth down late in the game. There were a lot of little things we missed on offense that ended up making a big difference.”
Here are the five things we learned from the loss to the 49ers:
1. Where was the bread and butter?
The Falcons had their rushing attack, which is supposed to be the bread and butter of their attack, shut down.
“I don’t know,” Penix said when asked about the rushing attack. “I feel like that’s something we have to go look at the film, see what it was and how we can get better in that aspect.”
Penix didn’t have answers for a couple of things. He forgot about his injury, too.
“I don’t even know what happened,” Penix said. “I got rolled up on, but I feel good right now.”
Penix has started nine games and the Falcons are 4-5. Teams have video on him now, and the 49ers’ pressure seemed to fluster him. He handled the Bucs’ pressure well in the season opener.
“We have to find a way to win, whether it’s on the ground or in the air,” Penix said. “The San Francisco 49ers did a good job stopping the run, but with the talent we have on this team, there’s no excuse. We’ve got too many good players not to find a way to win.”
2. Run defense
The Falcons’ fast and quick defense is designed to play with a lead.
The 49ers decided to maul the smallish front and ran the ball down their throats.
The 49ers got in an old-school I-formation and ran the ball downhill at the Falcons. They averaged 4.5 yards per carry.
The Falcons can expect to see a steady dose of power runs until they stop them.
Also, it didn’t help that linebacker Divine Deablo left the game with a forearm injury. JD Bertrand took over at inside linebacker and finished with 10 tackles.
3. Intentional grounding call
The Falcons were poised to make the score 10-6 before halftime, but then disaster struck.
Penix apparently thought he was outside of the tackle box and that was a costly miscalculation.
“I’m sure he thought he was out of the tackle box when he made his steps to the left,” Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. “Went up, and I thought we had one more second to kick the field goal right there. It landed at 11 seconds. We had the 10 second runoff. We thought we would have one (second left and could) still kick the field goal. They ended up resetting the clock, making it 10 seconds. So, they were able to get us out of there with no points. It definitely came back as a fact that hurt us.”
4. Who’s going to step forward?
The 49ers keyed on Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Drake London, who caught 4 of 10 targets for 42 yards.
Tight end Kyle Pitts caught 7 of 10 passes for 62 yards.
Darnell Mooney, who has been battling injuries this season, caught 3 of 5 targets for 68 yards, including a 38-yarder.
Casey Washington caught 1 of 2 targets for 17 yards.
The Falcons were without wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud, who was sent home last week and was inactive for the game.
“It felt good to be back out there,” Mooney said. “I’ve been dealing with some injuries this year. I happy to be back. I’m grateful to be back.”
The offense needs to score points so teams can’t load up on the run and maul the defense.
“I feel like the offense has been doing very good,” Mooney said. “I just want to be able to add to everything that’s been going on. Let’s just find our way. Be a threat.”
The Falcons need to find the end zone more often.
“When we go out there, we are going to get six no matter what,” Mooney said. “You want the other team to know like, they are going to score some points. When you have that fear and you put that fear on the other team, you put that fear on the other offense to put up some points as well. We’ve got to get that.”
5a. Return game
Returner Jamal Agnew broke loose on a 45-yard return to help set up the offense for a six-play, 48-yard touchdown drive.
Agnew’s return was the longest Falcons kickoff return since Cordarrelle Patterson’s 103-yard return for a touchdown in Week 11 of the 2022 season.
5b. Zach Harrison is balling
Defensive tackle Zach Harrison has turned into a player.
He had a sack and currently leads the team with 3.5 sacks. He had three sacks as a rookie playing defensive end in a 4-3 alignment.
He had to bulk up to play more inside in the 3-4 defense.
He finished with four tackles, two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit against the 49ers.
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