Michael Penix Jr. spent Sunday night battling through one setback after another, and the Falcons quarterback said the reason he couldn’t keep going in overtime was simple: the pain got to be too much.
Penix had already made his long-awaited return to the same field where he tore his ACL 392 days earlier when the game took another hard turn. After taking a heavy shot from Tavius Robinson late in regulation, he left the field with trainers, came back for one snap, and then watched Atlanta punt the ball away and send the game to overtime.
Falcons head coach Kevin Stefanski said Penix suffered a rib injury, though he did not say how serious it might be. Imaging is scheduled for Monday. Penix said it is still too early to tell whether the issue has any connection to the rib trouble he dealt with in college.
“It’s frustrating, but the biggest thing is I want to be out there, especially in a big moment in a game like that,” the quarterback said. “I felt like I needed to be out there.”
Even with the injury, Penix said he did not think the problem was necessarily a long-term one. He believed there was still a chance he could have gone back in overtime if Atlanta had gotten the ball first. But while he sat through Baltimore’s 14-play touchdown march - a drive that ate 7:03 off the clock - his body tightened up.
“I did not feel like I was going to be able to give our team what we needed to be able to help us win that football game, because of the pain I was feeling,” Penix said. “As I was sitting there, what I was going through, it started getting worse and worse.”
Before the injury, Penix had helped keep Atlanta in control for most of the night. He didn’t complete a pass until the Falcons’ fourth possession, but once he settled in, he caught fire.
After an 0-for-4 start, he hit 19 of his next 28 throws for 240 yards and a touchdown. Thirteen of those completions moved the chains or found the end zone.
He was even sharper when the pressure was highest. Penix finished 9-of-15 for 163 yards and a touchdown on third down, both career highs in the same game. Drake London was his favorite target in those spots, catching five passes from Penix on third down and accounting for 86 of his 118 receiving yards in those situations.
London was one of just six Falcons to catch a pass, but the offense looked in sync while Penix was steering it. Atlanta held the lead for most of the game and seemed to be carrying the momentum from the previous two weeks.
Then the hit to the ribs changed everything.
The Falcons also missed a chance to finish the Ravens off before the quarterback issue even became the headline. Their defense faded late, and Derrick Henry helped Baltimore - without Lamar Jackson - rush for 200 yards. Atlanta’s offense, meanwhile, came up short in too many critical moments.
“There are plays that we can make; there are calls that we can give our guys to be better,” Stefanski said. “In a game like that, all those little plays add up to being a big play.”
Still, it was Penix’s injury that immediately took over the conversation after the final whistle. Just two games after coming back from a torn ACL, he was back in the training room, leaving his availability in doubt.
“I just pray he's alright,” running back Bijan Robinson said. “I know the whole team does.”
Penix remained optimistic afterward, saying he expects to be ready when the Falcons host the Chicago Bears next Sunday.
“Knowing me, I’m going to be ready to go next week,” Penix said, “because I’ve sat out enough in my career.”
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Ravens Found Something Important In Atlanta Without Lamar Jackson
The Ravens went to Atlanta without Lamar Jackson and still found a way to leave with a win, edging the Falcons 30-23 in overtime. Tyler Huntley stepped in at quarterback and kept Baltimore steady enough to survive a late push, with the team leaning on the kind of situational football that can travel well in December and beyond.
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Derrick Henry Had A Message After Ravens Silenced The Doubters
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Backup quarterback Tyler Huntley helped fuel the late rally after Lamar Jackson was ruled out with an injury, giving Baltimore a path back into a game that looked like it might slip away. Henry did his part with 102 rushing yards and the two-point conversion that tied things late, and after the win he had a pointed message for the voices that had counted the Ravens out. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Win Still Exposed A Problem Fans Cant Ignore
The Ravens left Mercedes-Benz Stadium with a 30-23 overtime win, but the kind of victory that still invites a long look at what went wrong along the way. Baltimore had enough answers late, yet Atlantas defense made sure it was not easy, getting four sacks and pressure on the quarterback while Jessie Bates III supplied the kind of impact play that can swing a game. Drake London and Kyle Pitts also gave the Falcons some needed production on offense, helping keep things tense into the extra period.
Still, the most worrying part for Baltimore was harder to ignore than the final result. The Ravens were able to lean on their ground game for much of the night, and Atlanta never consistently solved it even after putting together strong stretches on defense. For a team trying to stack wins and build momentum, the ability to finish was there, but so was the reminder that the run defense remains a real issue waiting to be fixed. [Read more 🡒]