The Falcons might be the NFL’s biggest contradiction.
Some drives they look like a team ready to make noise in January. Others they look like they’re still figuring out who they are. And sometimes, that contrast shows up within the same game—or quarter.
At the center of it all is Michael Penix Jr., whose second NFL season has turned into a weekly test of what this team really is (and what it could become).
One week, he looks like the future of the franchise. The next, like a reminder that growing pains don’t vanish overnight.
That’s what makes this version of the Falcons so compelling, and, let’s be honest, so annoying.