Michael Penix's Injury Could End Season for Atlanta

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00:00Sticking in the NFC South, tough news out of Atlanta.

00:03Michael Penix with a knee injury.

00:05Potentially could be season ending.

00:07And I think what is tough for Atlanta,

00:11Michael Penix was having one of the best games of his career

00:13while he was still out there against the Carolina Panthers.

00:16And this is the second time we have seen Kirk Cousins step in for Penix

00:20and look absolutely shot.

00:24Kirk Cousins, I think, is throwing away any opportunity

00:28at being given a chance to be a starter next year in this league.

00:32But maybe more important than any of that, Joe,

00:35with respect to Penix and the injury,

00:37is Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers getting their sixth win of the season.

00:41Bryce Young, your guy, usually a sell-me-something candidate.

00:45I can see you're angry, and it's definitely because you didn't alt his yardage.

00:48Throws for 4-48-3.

00:51I mean, 167-and-a-half was his total, Kev.

00:56You could have made a fortune based off of Bryce Young.

01:00And, you know, this is twofold.

01:02This is Bryce Young's performance.

01:04This is Dave Canales now doing a fantastic job in year number two.

01:09And the third factor is basically Raheem Morris in Atlanta

01:12being a carbon copy of exactly what they were under Arthur Smith 2.0.

01:17They haven't elevated their game.

01:19They have playmakers.

01:20They have no offensive identity outside of Drake London and Bijan Robinson.

01:25They don't utilize both players correctly.

01:27And their defense now has fallen apart at the end of the regular season.

01:31And, again, why they decided to go Raheem Morris' route,

01:35I still don't know at this particular point.

01:38But what I can tell you is if Carolina does potentially play like this the rest of the way,

01:44they're going to be a very difficult out.

01:46They have to get more consistency.

01:49We talked about it in the pregame.

01:50One week they're up.

01:52The following week they lose.

01:54The next week they have a marquee win.

01:56They dial it up with a loss to the New Orleans Saints as a four-and-a-half,

02:00five-point home favorite.

02:02You can't have that in the back nine.

02:04They need to find their treading.

02:05But if they can channel this,

02:07they have the opportunity to be a potential nine-win football team.

02:10Back on the Atlanta side, though, Joe,

02:13Raheem Morris is a coach that I know you don't have a lot of belief in,

02:15willing to fade.

02:16It's part of the reason you liked Carolina in that game.

02:19We're seeing now in the prediction markets, look at Kalshi,

02:22odds to be the next coach fired in the National Football League,

02:26Raheem Morris is trending as the favorite,

02:29surpassing Mike McDaniel, who I do not think, you know me,

02:33I don't think he's going to be fired at all.

02:35He's definitely not getting fired in season is how it feels.

02:37There's Stefanski gaining traction as well as Jonathan Gannon.

02:41But right now, Raheem Morris is the favorite.

02:45What have you done for me lately, Kev?

02:47Let's not forget, how long ago was the Thursday night victory

02:50over the Buffalo Bills?

02:52It looked like everything was there for the taking for the Atlanta Falcons.

02:56What have they done since that time?

02:58Critical loss after critical loss,

03:00and they lose to a team that's basically in a rebuild

03:03in the Carolina Panthers.

03:05Those Raheem Morris and Kirk Cousins specifically

03:08that came in after Michael Penix was hurt

03:11were supposed to elevate this team, Kevin,

03:14past where Arthur Smith was

03:17and not getting this team to the playoffs.

03:19And I'll keep going back to it.

03:21Where are they now?

03:22He's a defensive wizard.

03:24The defense is terrible.

03:26The defense allowed, after they had a basic 21-3

03:30first-half lead, they lose in overtime 30-27.

03:34Where are the adjustments?

03:36You and I sit on the desk every weekend,

03:39and we say, how stupid can you be

03:41that not give the football to your workhorse,

03:44B. John Robinson, week to week to week?

03:47Now, yeah, he got the football against Carolina last weekend,

03:51but is that going to happen the following week?

03:54Or is he going to get seven touches the way he did

03:57in the loss to New England?

03:58This is what we're talking about

04:01when we talk about head coaches being brought in

04:05to elevate teams to the next level.

04:07And maybe Mike McDaniel will save his job,

04:10but Raheem Morris hasn't done anything

04:13in basically a year and a half

04:15to believe that this team is any closer

04:18to a wild-quartered division title.

04:21I will say, I think Stefanski could have some value

04:24in this market.

04:25Shador Sanders enters the game

04:27due to a Dylan Gabriel injury,

04:29and seemingly, they say the owner really likes Shador.

04:34And if the results don't stack with Sanders,

04:39which they are not likely to,

04:41that could then point the eye towards Stefanski.

04:45And maybe Stefanski at a moment is like,

04:48hey, I'm going to go back to Dylan.

04:49Dylan, owner's like, you're absolutely not going back to Dylan.

04:53We're selling out with Shador.

04:55I just think, right or wrong, right?

04:59We sometimes agree, sometimes we don't.

05:01I think you could see Stefanski,

05:03that next man out in Cleveland.

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