Dirty Birds Dispatch: The Falcons are rolling

FLOWERY BRANCH — Michael Penix Jr. knew the dangers of the Falcons’ 0-2 start. He hasn’t lived it as a professional, but the third-year quarterback entered his first start of the season in Week 3 understanding the urgency necessary to turn the tide.

Two weeks later, Penix has the Falcons rolling. They’ve won back-to-back games — the latest a 45-24 undoing of the New Orleans Saints on “Monday Night Football” — during which their offense has scored a league-high 80 points and their defense has hit the opposing quarterback a combined 24 times while allowing just 67 rushing yards total.

It’s fair to say the Falcons responded to their slow, uninspiring start.

“Whenever you get two losses early like that, some teams can just sit there and soak into that and not really have that energy,” Penix said Wednesday. “But for the guys to still come with that same energy every day, that competitive mindset to want to go out there and get better each and every day, it helps elevate everybody.

“Everybody that you’re seeing making all these plays, it’s because of the energy and the culture that we have here and just the will to want to win.”

The Falcons, Penix said, are bought in and trust the process. They also trust their 26-year-old signal caller, who has completed 73.3% of his passes for 479 yards, two touchdowns and one interception thus far.

Under Penix’s leadership, the Falcons have scored on 13 of their 18 drives, excluding end-of-half and end-of-game possessions. And of those 13 scoring series, 10 ended in touchdowns. The Falcons scored touchdowns on each of their three full possessions in the second half Monday night and on five of their final six.

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The Falcons have found an identity. They’ve become fun — Brian Robinson said he’s having more fun now than at any point in his five-year NFL career — and entertaining. And Penix is the well-acclaimed captain of this speedboat.

“He’s been phenomenal, man,” Robinson said. “It ain’t really much other words I can say about the way he’s been playing.”

Can the Falcons keep it rolling? We’ll find out at 8:20 p.m. Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. Let’s dive into this week’s Dirty Birds Dispatch for more.

Penix an underrated part of Falcons’ stout run game

The Falcons have the NFL’s second-best rushing attack, and they’ve found a new gear since Penix returned. They’ve rushed for more than 200 yards in back-to-back weeks for the first time since 2010 behind Bijan Robinson and Brian Robinson, who have a fair claim as the league’s best running back duo.

Beyond a stout ball-carrying tandem, a reliable offensive line and a group of skill players that offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said blocks better than any other in the league, there’s a hidden component that’s a bigger key than most assume: Penix.

“To have rush success, it really is an 11-man operation,” coach Kevin Stefanski said postgame in New Orleans. “And I thought Mike got us in and out of things. Did a nice job.”

Penix told reporters Wednesday he couldn’t count the number of times he checked — or changed — running plays at the line of scrimmage against the Saints.

“There were probably quite a few,” he said.

The next time the Falcons hit a big run, consider the presnap component: Did Penix change the play? Did he flip the direction?

Sometimes, those things can’t be picked up live. But the Falcons have given Penix full authority to read opposing defenses and get their offense into the right play, and he’s validating their faith.

Henry still starring at 32

Ravens running back Derrick Henry is something of an ageless wonder. He’s 32 years old, a long way removed from winning the Heisman Trophy at Alabama. That was 2015, during which, we think, Bijan Robinson was in eighth grade.

Age, however, hasn’t slowed Henry, who leads the NFL in carries (89) and rushing touchdowns (seven, tied with Bills’ QB Josh Allen) through four games. He’s also fourth in the league in rushing with 374 yards.

“My respect for him is out of this world,” Robinson said Wednesday.
“Like, the things that he’s able to do still to this point is a blessing. I’m really excited to get to watch him play in person, because he’s one of the role models who I look up to, and even just me and him talking to this day, it’s nothing but respect for each other.

“So, to be able to play against him, it will be pretty cool.”

Next box for the Falcons to check offensively? More from Pitts

Last week, while a reporter asked Rees about previous comments noting his desire to get tight end Kyle Pitts rolling in the offense, the Falcons’ first-year offensive coordinator interrupted.

“We did not,” Rees deadpanned.

Rees and the Falcons grew a step closer to accomplishing their mission Monday night, as Pitts, who had only two catches in the season’s first three games, caught three passes for 47 yards in New Orleans.

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Pitts’ biggest highlight was an explosive 28-yard catch-and-run on an underneath pass from Penix, which illustrated his run-after-catch ability. The Falcons spent much of the offseason program using Pitts in ways where he could put his post-catch playmaking skills on display, but opportunities haven’t come often.

For the Falcons to meet their ceiling offensively, Pitts’ involvement needs to take another step. The Falcons have run plays with two or more tight ends on the field 45% of the time, the fifth-highest rate in the league, according to Sharp Football Analysis. For such a high usage rate, Pitts’ production should — and the Falcons expect it will — be higher.

“Because he’s a competitor, man, I know he wants it (and) we want it for him,” Bijan Robinson said.
“So, we’re going to keep supporting him on the practice field, on the field. But yeah, I feel like it’s going to come together for Kyle and we’re going to be right there with him supporting him through everything.

“We got to keep playing our game and then go see him work.”

Pearce back in Falcons’ facility

Outside linebacker James Pearce Jr. — suspended eight games for an alleged altercation in February with ex-girlfriend Rickea Jackson that brought three felony charges against him — is back with the team.

Pearce wasn’t allowed to be with the team for the first four games of his suspension. Now, he’s permitted to be in the facility. He can’t practice or play until Week 9, when the Falcons face the Cincinnati Bengals on Nov. 8 in Madrid, but he’s no longer prohibited from having contact with his teammates and coaches.

Here’s what Pearce, who finished third in The Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year race last season, is permitted to do:

• Have on-site rehabilitation and treatment with medical and athletic training staff
• Meet with player engagement staff, mental health consultants, team chaplain, treating clinicians and other professional resources
• Attend team meetings
• Meet individually with the head coach, coordinator and position coach
• Participate in individual workouts with the strength and conditioning coach
• Take meals in the cafeteria and use team facilities on an individual basis