While we can make a pretty educated guess as to what kind of team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to be in 2025 — NFC contenders if everyone stays healthy — you could hardly say the same about the Atlanta Falcons.
While it’s easy to assume the Falcons are just going to be the terrible-to-middling franchise they’ve been for most of the last decade, there is one piece of the puzzle that should give any prognosticator pause.
That piece is second year quarterback and 2024 first round pick (No. 8 overall) Michael Penix Jr., who started the final 3 games of the season for the Falcons in 2024 and enters this season as the team’s unquestioned leader.
Penix’s place in Atlanta’s plans was underlined this week when the team announced he’d been elected one of their team captains.
Atlanta opens the season at home against the Buccaneers on Sunday, September 7.
“The Falcons announced their captains on Monday and the group includes the team’s young starting quarterback,” Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons wrote on September 1. “Michael Penix Jr. has been voted a captain for the first time, Atlanta announced. Penix, the No. 8 overall pick of the 2024 draft, made three starts last season. But Sunday’s game against the Buccaneers will represent the first time he’s an opening-day starter.”
Penix Didn’t Flash Upside During 3 Starts
In a series of moves that kind of underlined what’s wrong with the franchise as a whole, the Falcons signed free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins to a 4-year, $180 million contract in March 2024 … then drafted Penix one month later.
The Falcons decided to bench Cousins with 3 games to play and very much still in playoff contention. They watched Penix go 1-2 and didn’t show he was capable of doing much more than Cousins in term of igniting the offense.
In those 3 starts, Penix went 61-of-105 passing for 775 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions while completing 58.1 percent of his passes.
Cousins made approximately $62.5 million in 2024 and will make approximately $27.5 million in 2025 as Penix’s backup. Penix is playing on a 4-year, $22.8 million rookie contract.
Falcons Had Bucs Number in 2024
While the Buccaneers ultimately walked away with the NFC South Division title last season by going 4-2 against division foes, it’s worth pointing out that the Falcons swept the season series against Tampa Bay.
You can make an argument that the high point for Atlanta’s season in 2024 came against the Buccaneers in a 36-30 overtime win in Atlanta in Week 5 in which Cousins threw for career highs of 509 yards and 4 touchdowns.
From ESPN: “Cousins broke Matt Ryan’s team record for passing yards in a game (503) with one of the most prolific performances in NFL history. Only 14 quarterbacks have thrown for more yards in a game, led by Norm Van Brocklin’s mark of 554 yards that has stood since 1951.”
Former Tampa Bay HC Leading Way In Atlanta
One of the storylines anytime the Buccaneers and Falcons play will be that Atlanta’s current head coach, Raheem Morris, was Tampa Bay’s head coach from 2009 to 2011.
Morris, who is in his second season in Atlanta, went 17-31 as the Buccaneers head coach before he was fired and replaced with Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano.
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