BS Report: The Falcons Did …Good?

If you’re an Atlanta Falcons fan of a certain age, like my age, you had to truly appreciate what happened on Sunday when the Atlanta Falcons defeated the previously undefeated San Francisco 49ers by the score of 29 to 20. I say that because those of us of a certain age went through a lot back in the 1980s and even in the 90s, when the 49ers were in their heyday, they had Joe Montana and then Steve Young.

They had Jerry rice, three of the best names in football, but a cast of characters as well, that made those teams very, very special. And they abused the Atlanta Falcons on a regular basis. So any time the Falcons could get a little bit of payback, even though all the players on the team now weren’t even born, those of us are very, very appreciative.

It was a good win for the Falcons as they beat a very good team. Even though the 49ers had some players out, well, so did the Falcons. So that kind of matches up as you approach the midway point of the season where both teams are usually fighting injuries. The Falcons, though, did well. They needed to do and had a good performance from Michael Penix, who was 25 out of 30 for 213 yards, three touchdown passes and no interceptions.

That was the deal. The Falcons did everything they had to do to win the turnover margin. It was four for San Francisco and zero for Atlanta. And as we found out last week in Athens when the dogs lost to Auburn, turnovers matter. So there’s no question that was a big win for the Falcons. And they really are needing to play good football.

And I think you have to put the win on Sunday in that category. It wasn’t the best performance in the world. It wasn’t like oh gosh here come the Falcons. They’re back or they’re going to make the playoffs. But it was simply a solid performance against a very good team. And I think that was another thing. We were kind of needing to see teams that are trying to win have to learn how to win, and that includes winning against very good football teams.

And again, San Francisco was undefeated coming in. But the Falcons have to now turn around and keep it going. And they have a road game against Tampa Bay, a team that has not been very good this year overall, but a team that got its quarterback back on Sunday when Baker Mayfield was back and the Bucs just absolutely killed the Panthers in Charlotte.

So this is not going to be an easy game. This is going to be tough. And the Falcons have a very tough schedule leading up to their bye week right around Thanksgiving. So they need to continue to play well. And look Michael Penix is doing

what we want him to do and that is to stay on the field to stay upright.

The Falcons offensive line did not allow a sack on Sunday, which is very good news. Of course, you always look at that along with the turnovers. I look at it like turnovers and sacks. What does that bring you? And so that is a big deal of course for them to keep Michael Penix upright and to try to keep him healthy.

And as long as he can do that and utilize his weapons on offense like Bijan Robinson and Drake London and Kyle Pitts, when he gets involved a little bit more than that’s going to be very important for this team. Look, I’m still very realistic when it comes to expectations for the Falcons. I don’t have dreams of them going to the playoffs or even a winning record this year.

I don’t it’s a first year head coach, and I always try to temper my enthusiasm with a team. Goes through a first year head coach. There is a transition period, especially for a team like the Falcons that has a lot of new players, but just to see them play well, especially against good teams. With Michael Penix doing well, yeah, that’s a pretty good Sunday afternoon for you.