Weekend Reflections: Bizarrely, Raheem Morris said Penix ‘always plays well’

What I think about some things I saw over the weekend …

Maybe Falcons coach Raheem Morris was trying to shield his young quarterback from criticism. Perhaps he needed to review game video to give a fuller appraisal of Michael Penix Jr.’s performance against the Colts on Sunday. It’s possible that Morris was just drained after an emotional loss.

Even if you give Morris the benefit of those doubts, his assessment of Penix’s play after the 31-25 defeat was strange.

“Mike played well,” Morris said after Penix passed for 177 yards on 28 attempts, with a touchdown. “Mike played well, like he always does.”

Penix does not always play well, of course. No quarterback does that every week. He has had some bad outings this season — the shutout loss at Carolina stands out. That’s expected for a quarterback who made his 10th career start Sunday.

Penix was OK against the Colts. At times he looked like the quarterback who can win big for the Falcons. At other times, he seemed rattled by a good defense that blitzed more than usual. Inconsistent play during games is to be expected, too.

Penix made some nice throws, such as a lofted pass to Drake London on a rollout. He was at his best during the go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter: 3-for-3 passing for 42 yards, with two passes gaining first downs and another creating good down-and-distance following a scramble. After Tyler Allgeier ran for a touchdown, Penix zipped a pass to London for a two-point conversion.

“Very, very poised,” London said. “He drove us down the field. He did his thing, made his calls. I think he’s just got to keep doing what he’s doing.

“Obviously, he is going to get way better as the game is going on and the year progresses. We’ve got to do a little bit more as receivers, get open and things like that.”

The worst play of the day for the Falcons, a sack-strip fumble that the Colts converted into a touchdown, did not seem to be Penix’s fault. It appeared that he signaled for tight end Kyle Pitts to cut off his route before the snap, but Pitts didn’t do it.

After the game, Penix said he was frustrated with himself.

“I gotta play better,” he said.

Maybe he should let his head coach know.

More Mo Gueye for Hawks

I’ve never understood why Hawks coach Quin Snyder doesn’t give forward Mo Gueye more playing time. Snyder was playing David Roddy ahead of Gueye last season, even though the latter proved he was better when he got the chance.

Roddy is out of the league now. Gueye showed again Saturday why he deserves more than leftover minutes.

Gueye scored a career-high 21 points (12 shots) against the Lakers, with seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. He scored 11 points to help the Hawks bury the visitors early in a 122-102 victory. Gueye played a career-high 34 minutes because frontcourt starters Jalen Johnson (thigh) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness) were ruled out.

Gueye should be a regular part of the rotation even when those players are healthy. It seems he’s been a victim of Snyder’s preference to play small lineups with shooters. But Snyder can create problems for opponents with Gueye as part of bigger lineups.

Gueye’s inconsistent shooting probably hurts his case with Snyder. But Gueye is a good passer and a strong rim protector. He could help the Hawks improve their poor rebounding (23rd in offensive rebounding percentage, 28th in defensive per Cleaning the Glass).

Gueye is a success story for the team’s player-development program. The Hawks selected him in the second round of the 2023 draft (39th overall). He played in only six games as a rookie. Last season, Gueye averaged 16 minutes while playing only 33 games despite the team’s lack of frontcourt depth.

The Hawks have a much better big-man rotation this season with Porzingis, Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu. Gueye has played in all 10 games while averaging 17.2 minutes during non-garbage time. Snyder could press the advantage of his frontcourt depth and exploit matchups by giving Gueye regular minutes.

Georgia Tech’s ACC title-game path cleared some

The Yellow Jackets were off over the weekend. Their path to the ACC title game got a bit clearer when Louisville lost to Cal and Virginia lost to Wake Forest.

Now there are five ACC teams with one defeat in conference games: Tech (5-1), Virginia (5-1), SMU (5-1), Pitt (5-1) and Duke (4-1). There can be no more than three one-loss teams at the end because Tech plays Pitt and Virginia plays Duke.

If SMU, Tech and Virginia win out, then the Jackets will advance to the ACC title game. That’s because of the win percentage against common opponents tiebreaker: Tech beat Wake Forest, while SMU and Virginia both lost to the Demon Deacons.

Things would be more complicated if Duke beats Virginia and SMU and Tech both win out. There isn’t a common opponent among Tech, Duke and SMU. If they end up in a three-way tie, then the tiebreaker for the two teams to make the championship would be combined win percentage of conference opponents.

If Tech and Duke end up in a two-way tie for second place, then Tech would advance to the league championship game by virtue of its victory over the Blue Devils.

Georgia’s defense played up to its standard

Finally, Georgia’s defense looked like a Georgia defense Saturday in Starkville. Mississippi State scored a touchdown on its opening drive. It gained 87 yards on 25 plays the rest of the half and trailed 38-14 when it scored again.

So, make it seven points on six drives for Mississippi State when it mattered.