- 7 weeks ago
Mark Zinno is back with a new pod, A to Z with Mark Zinno.
In this episode, Zinno dives deep into the Atlanta Falcons quarterback situation, explaining why the organization is playing a dangerous game with Michael Penix Jr. He breaks down the timeline, the front office decisions, and what this means for the team's playoff hopes. Plus, Zinno turns his attention to the Atlanta Braves as they push toward the postseason, highlighting the dominant pitching duo of Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle.
In this episode, Zinno dives deep into the Atlanta Falcons quarterback situation, explaining why the organization is playing a dangerous game with Michael Penix Jr. He breaks down the timeline, the front office decisions, and what this means for the team's playoff hopes. Plus, Zinno turns his attention to the Atlanta Braves as they push toward the postseason, highlighting the dominant pitching duo of Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle.
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SportsTranscript
00:01Good morning. Welcome to A to Z here on Sports Radio 92.9 The Game, where today I tell you
00:05why
00:06the Falcons are playing a very dangerous game at the position of quarterback. And the Braves,
00:11well, they might not be feared, but they certainly need to be respected. More on that coming up in
00:16just a moment. That's right, folks. A to Z with me, Mark Zinno, is back here on 92.9thegame.com,
00:2192.9 The Game YouTube, and all the social media channels. We'll be doing this show
00:25twice a week here at the outset to keep you guys informed of everything going on
00:29in Atlanta sports. Wanted to get back into the game with you guys
00:33on a sort of bi-weekly basis here as we kick off in football season. We're going to have a
00:38lot of
00:38fun. We'll have some special guests coming in, and we're going to do a whole lot of sports talk
00:42about Atlanta. We're going to get right into it coming up in just a moment. First, let's get
00:47to the intro of A to Z. My calculations are correct. When this baby hits 88 miles per hour,
00:54you're going to see some serious...
00:59It's time for A to Z with Mark Zinno.
01:03It's elite sports knowledge.
01:05I am the smartest man alive!
01:08It's in-your-face opinions.
01:11In the face!
01:12In the face!
01:13No!
01:14We got some good times.
01:15We hate to...
01:16Yeah!
01:18Yeah!
01:18And some good information.
01:20Get the f***ing shit!
01:22When Atlanta talks sports, there's only one place to turn.
01:26You want me on that wall.
01:28You need me on that wall.
01:31A to Z starts now.
01:41That's right. We are back again.
01:43Appreciate you guys joining us here again on 99thegame YouTube, 99thegame.com.
01:47All right, let's start with the Atlanta Falcons here.
01:50As the news came out yesterday that they are going to start Tua Tagovailoa at quarterback here in week one.
01:56Now, let's kind of just put some context into this whole thing before I get into my thoughts here.
02:00Because, look, you know, I am fallible.
02:03I don't get everything right.
02:04You guys know that by now.
02:05You've followed me around for a while.
02:06You know exactly that I don't get everything right.
02:09I thought when this was Tua's job from the outset, I thought the reason they brought him in here,
02:13I thought the reason that he signed here was because he knew he was going to get a starting job.
02:18And that was where he was.
02:20The Falcons knew to a certain extent Michael Penix wasn't going to be ready.
02:23This regime did not draft him.
02:24They did not, you know, pick him.
02:27And so they didn't have any allegiance or alliance to him other than the fact that the organization invested the
02:31overall pick in him.
02:33And so that is where I was initially.
02:36I thought Tua was going to be the starter no matter what.
02:39I didn't think there was a world where Penix was going to start, mostly because he wasn't healthy and, too,
02:43because at this point he hadn't shown that he was much better than Tua.
02:46Well, Tua started playing in preseason and Tua showed that he didn't look that good.
02:52And so maybe my thought process was starting to change.
02:55And, look, folks, I always say it's fair.
02:57When you're presented with new information, you're allowed to change your opinion.
03:01After seeing Tua in the first preseason game and in the joint practices, yeah, that was new information.
03:07He didn't expect him to look that bad.
03:09Didn't expect him to be that bad, but he was.
03:13And so now you have to start to wonder, okay, well, where are the Falcons with this thing?
03:18And it was also weird timing.
03:21And I found out after the fact that they had nothing to do with each other.
03:23But it was weird timing that after Tua's first bad preseason performance and after the bad joint practices, guess what
03:31happened?
03:31Oh, Michael Penix got 100% cleared to come back to 11 on 11.
03:35But at the time, it felt like, hmm, okay.
03:39Now, again, folks within the organization have told me they had nothing to do with each other.
03:42He was just ready at the time that he was ready.
03:45They could be misleading me.
03:46I try not to think in those terms that they are.
03:50But he comes back, and now we're sitting here wondering, okay, is Michael Penix actually going to get a bite
03:57of the apple here?
03:57And this competition is truly going to kick off, and we're going to see if Michael Penix can win the
04:01thing.
04:02And so, obviously, look, that never materialized.
04:06And go back to my Twitter.
04:07I said it before the final preseason game.
04:09I thought Michael Penix was going to be named the starter.
04:11I thought Tua was fighting for a roster spot at that point.
04:14Like, the Falcons actually, given how well Jack Strand and Cooper Rush had held themselves up, you know,
04:21I kind of just felt like from the beginning or from that point that, like, there might be a world
04:26here for a million dollars.
04:27The Falcons are not a problem cutting.
04:29Now, people online have told me I'm crazy.
04:31What else is new?
04:32But I always kind of felt like, okay, maybe this is a realistic possibility.
04:36Tua did not look good enough like the Falcons needed to keep him.
04:39So, all those things were on the table.
04:41Again, bring it forward.
04:44Tua's name is starter.
04:45Obviously, Penix isn't ready to play.
04:47My problem from the jump, and I've said this repeatedly, my problem from the jump is the way this whole
04:52thing has been handled with the media and the fans
04:54and the way they've positioned this whole thing.
04:57That, to me, has always been a little bit of an issue because I just look at it very simply
05:02as,
05:02all you had to do from the very beginning was say, Tua will take all the reps with the ones
05:06until Mike is healthy.
05:07We'll reevaluate things at that time.
05:10Boom.
05:10It's done.
05:11There's no more questions.
05:12The only question you have to answer is when will Mike be healthy?
05:14Well, that was the other part I thought was handled so sloppily.
05:17They claimed that they had no idea when he was going to be ready.
05:20Penix said out loud, I didn't know when my next doctor's appointment was.
05:23Again, personally, I've had multiple surgeries.
05:26I'm recovering from one now.
05:27I know exactly when my next doctor appointment is.
05:30Like, these are things that are pretty apparent and obvious.
05:34And the Falcons, for whatever reason, seem to play this shadow game with the media and with the fans on
05:38the status of Penix.
05:39Okay, so now he's finally ready to go, but yet he's not mentally ready to play.
05:45I don't get it.
05:46Like, I just, I don't understand it, you know, the way they, and maybe look at semantics.
05:52And I'll say this much, and bear with me here.
05:55When you get cleared medically, okay, when you get cleared from anything, it means that there are no impingements.
06:04There's nothing standing in the way.
06:06That there is, everything is full go, right?
06:09Like, let's just look at this objectively.
06:13When a flight gets cleared for takeoff, okay, the plane works, and you go to the runway and you leave.
06:21Nothing stops you.
06:23If you're cleared, there should be nothing stopping you.
06:27Even if it's mental, then you shouldn't be cleared by definition of it.
06:32If you clear out your bank account, there is nothing stopping you.
06:35There is nothing there.
06:36There is nothing in the way.
06:37You are clear.
06:40Like, you know, am I the only person struggling with the semantics here?
06:45It's just, it was a very weird way that this whole thing was handled.
06:50And that's what I have been stuck on.
06:52Now, some people think I'm a fool for it.
06:54What else is new?
06:55People think I'm a fool for a lot of things.
06:57But when I objectively look at the way this thing has been handled, it is so poor and sloppy, I
07:04still can't understand how we got it.
07:06Because if you would have told me from the beginning, Tua has taken all the reps with the ones, that
07:10would have ended it.
07:12It really would have.
07:13And even as bad as he played, okay, even as bad as he played, we would have known the stance
07:19of the organization was Tua gets all the reps with the ones until Mike is healthy.
07:22So you bring Mike back, okay, but like, what are you clearing him for if he's not going to play?
07:28Just keep him uncleared.
07:31Say he's not ready, and it's just neater, cleaner, and easier.
07:35I mean, is it me?
07:37Or do the Falcons just have an awful track record when it comes to handling injuries?
07:43Like, this is their M.O.
07:44The way they handle injuries is so bad, so bad.
07:48Go back to the Kirk Cousins debacle.
07:50Kirk says he was injured.
07:52The Falcons say he wasn't.
07:53I mean, there is a repeated historical track record of the Falcons poorly handling injuries, or at least the presentation
08:02of the injuries, to the media and the fans and the public.
08:06So, and we are here.
08:09Now, manifestly, let's kind of get out of that and move forward.
08:16Tua's leash here, and this is the dangerous game that the Falcons are playing.
08:20And I don't know if everybody understands how dangerous this game really is, because this could end up very poorly.
08:29Like, put it this way, okay?
08:33We are in a world where there is a possibility, and keep your hot takeness to yourself here, where Michael
08:41Penix does not start a game for the Falcons this year.
08:48Is it possible?
08:50Yeah.
08:50I think you're fooling yourself if you don't think it's possible.
08:54I'm not saying it's probable.
08:55I'm saying it's possible.
08:58Like, think of this, okay?
09:03The Falcons, in the first four games, get the Steelers, the Panthers, the Packers, and the Saints.
09:08Three or four of those are on the road.
09:09Steelers, Packers, Saints are on the road.
09:12Now, is it impossible?
09:15Do you genuinely believe it's impossible for after those four games for the Falcons to be 3-1?
09:22Right?
09:24Beat the Steelers on the road in a tight, ugly scoring matchup, beat the Panthers at home, lose to the
09:28Packers on the road, and then come back down in New Orleans, a place that they know they can win,
09:33and win again.
09:363-1.
09:37Are you benching Tua at that point?
09:41Are you pulling the plug at 3-1 on Tua?
09:46I don't know how you can.
09:49If you're 3-1 with two division wins in hand, how in the world do you sit down the guy
09:54who started and got you there?
09:56I don't know that you can.
09:58I mean, you can, but it takes extra large huevos.
10:02It takes a large set of cojones to do that at that point in time, because if it turns around,
10:09and your next three opponents, by the way, the Ravens, Bears, and 49ers all at home, three teams that on
10:13paper are dynamically better than you are, you lose all three of those games, and you end up 3-4?
10:20Okay.
10:22You're going back to Tua at that point?
10:25I mean, it just, this whole thing is crazy.
10:29Like, the only way out of this thing, there's, once again, the Falcons have put together a very small window
10:37for success, which is the same window that they tried to squeeze through with the Kirk Cousins in drafting Michael
10:42Penix, which I said at the time was an abject disaster.
10:45It was an awful idea.
10:47It was one of the worst front office moves I've seen in the history of covering sports, and it blew
10:53up in their face, and it could continue to blow up again, believe it or not.
10:56Because this is a world that there is a possibility of.
11:03Probability, I don't know.
11:04Possibility, yeah.
11:05Falcons start out 3-1.
11:06They don't go to Penix.
11:07They end up scuffling to 500, and they're going into the final three weeks of the season against the Buccaneers,
11:13Saints, and Panthers, all three divisional games in the final three weeks, okay, where they are, what is it?
11:21What would that be?
11:217-7.
11:23Say they're 7-7 going into those final three weeks, okay, then two is your guy.
11:31If you make the playoffs, you're not going away from them.
11:33You missed the playoffs, theoretically you could, but guess what?
11:36You know what the downside to that thing is to get back to Mike?
11:38That means you've missed the playoffs for nine straight years.
11:41That means your team was awful again.
11:44And even if you go to Mike halfway through the season and you don't make the playoffs and he's just
11:50average, guess what?
11:52You missed the playoffs for nine straight seasons, and the guy that you drafted eighth overall ain't all that good
11:56because he didn't pull you out of it.
11:59Now you're in a world where you're drafting again, possibly for a quarterback.
12:03So think of the disaster that came out.
12:06And look, you guys are all going to sit here and tell me, oh, Zinno, you're so negative, you're so
12:09negative, so negative.
12:10No, I'm just real about what has happened here.
12:13This is not an opinion.
12:14These are facts, okay?
12:16It's not Mark speaking.
12:17This is actually what factually happened.
12:19The Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a $180 million deal for four years.
12:24They dumped him after two years in favor of the guy that they drafted five weeks after them.
12:28And then three short seasons later, he's no longer the guy because they redrafted a quarterback again.
12:35That's not an opinion.
12:36That is a fact if that's where they are and they lose again this year and they're in the top
12:4010 in the draft, they're going to go take a quarterback.
12:43Like, how do you not?
12:45I mean, at what point do you just give the keys to Penix and say, this is yours, do with
12:53it what you may?
12:54Because that's the situation that everybody sort of wants to see and needs to see.
13:00I'm not a fan of just starting a guy for the sake of starting to see what you have because
13:04they even tweeted that.
13:05No, coaches whose jobs are on the line repeatedly, Kevin Stefanski is right for starting the quarterback.
13:10He believes gives him the best chance to win every single week.
13:12If that's not Penix, then it's not Penix.
13:16But once again, when are we going to see Penix be able to play for a full 17 games?
13:23Because we're three years into this deal and we haven't seen it yet.
13:27He won't play all 17 games this year.
13:2916 maybe, but he won't play all 17 this year.
13:32I mean, what a dangerous game they're playing from the sense of the move that you told everybody was being
13:38smarter than everybody else
13:39when you thought you were outsmarting the rest of the NFL by signing Kirk Cousins and drafting Michael Penix.
13:44Four years later, what would have been Kirk Cousins last year in the deal, this whole thing was an abject
13:51disaster.
13:52It was a complete and utter failure.
13:56That's the dangerous game they're playing.
13:58The only way this all works out is if Mike plays and Mike is good.
14:02Do I think that's possible?
14:04Yes.
14:04Do I think it's even probable?
14:06I lean that way.
14:07I think Penix can be very good.
14:10I don't know if it'll be Josh Allen and Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson in that class, but it'll be
14:17very good.
14:18But once again, that's the only window they have for this thing to work is for Mike to play and
14:24Mike to be good.
14:25If Mike is just average and the Falcons are just average and they miss the playoffs again,
14:29what is everybody going to be saying in the offseason?
14:33Time to draft another quarterback.
14:35That's going to be the general consensus.
14:36I don't know if they'll do it, but that's going to be the general consensus.
14:41So this has gone really, really poorly to this point.
14:47Doesn't mean they can't get out of it.
14:48I'm not rooting for Kevin Stefanski to fail.
14:50I'll say it repeatedly.
14:51Guys, I was one of the few people advocating for Stefanski when he got hired.
14:56I was shouting it from the rooftop.
14:58Stefanski is the guy.
14:59Harbaugh was never coming here.
15:00He was never coming here.
15:01He was the next best coach available in the Falcons.
15:03Good for them.
15:06And I'll add one more thing speaking of good for the Falcons.
15:08I think Ian Cunningham is doing a really good job so far.
15:11I don't like the fact that, you know, he said, who's the starting quarterback is going to be a collaborative
15:17decision.
15:17I don't like that at all.
15:18Should be Stefanski's decision.
15:20But I think there's a clear picture for this roster.
15:22I think there's a clear picture for how they want this to go.
15:25And I think Cunningham's done an above-average, very good job so far with what he's had to work with.
15:35So I'm not upset at all.
15:36I didn't love the four quarterbacks on the roster.
15:38You could have cut Cooper Rush.
15:39There was no reason to keep him.
15:41There's not.
15:43There's no reason to keep Cooper Rush.
15:45I'm not a huge fan of three quarterbacks.
15:48Like, if you're getting to your third quarterback in a game, you've lost that game already.
15:51And you know what you're doing the very next day?
15:53You're scouting the waiver wire for somebody else who can go start for you.
15:57That's just the reality of it.
15:58So, I think that when you look at all this, it's going to get very interesting week one.
16:05I think the Falcons have got a shot to win because I don't think the Steelers are that good.
16:07But I do also think that how the first four weeks play out.
16:13And again, the Falcons have said repeatedly, well, we're going to evaluate week two at week two.
16:17Okay.
16:19Okay.
16:21Pull the plug on two after one start.
16:23Well, you know.
16:25But nobody knows when Penix is going to be ready.
16:27Like, Penix doesn't know when Penix is going to be ready.
16:28We will never know.
16:30We will never know until they tell us.
16:32Which is one weird way to play this whole thing.
16:38All right.
16:39If you guys remember the old version of A to Z, we're bringing it back.
16:42It's time now for the Shovel of Wisdom.
16:45Brace yourselves because it's time for the Shovel of Wisdom.
16:59All right.
16:59You know how we do it every single show.
17:01We're going to give out a Shovel of Wisdom to somebody who did us, said something stupid.
17:03And today my shovel goes to Doug Eddington.
17:07Okay.
17:08Well, if you haven't figured out, sorry, Doug Eddings.
17:11Doug Eddings is the umpire.
17:13Last week, who decided he was going to tell St. Louis Cardinals rookie pitcher, Hans Sellerin-Cohen, that he had
17:20to straighten his cap.
17:22What an ass.
17:23What an embarrassment this was for Major League Baseball.
17:25This was absolutely gross, what Doug Eddings did.
17:29And they forced him to make an apology, and he did.
17:32But listen, I am not a fan of the crooked cap either.
17:35I despised CeCe Sabathia when he pitched for the Yankees with the crooked cap.
17:39Hated it.
17:40Absolutely hated it.
17:41But guess what?
17:41It's not against the rules.
17:43And you as an umpire don't make it about you.
17:45It's not about what you want to do.
17:46It's not about how you feel.
17:48It is about just understanding what your job is.
17:53And your job at this point in time as an umpire is to just shut up and call the game.
17:57Stop trying to eject people.
17:59Stop trying to make the moment bigger than it is.
18:01Just sit back there.
18:02Call the game.
18:03Get as many strikes right and outs right as possible.
18:05And then move on.
18:07Like, my God.
18:09That was embarrassing for Major League Baseball.
18:11They should be ashamed.
18:13And they were right to punishment.
18:14This is bad.
18:15This is a bad, bad, ugly look.
18:18So, Doug Eddings, this is for you, baby.
18:22All right.
18:23Let's get to the Atlanta Braves here as they start a series with the Tampa Bay Rays coming up here.
18:29And they have three straight series against playoff teams.
18:34Well, I mean, what do we want to say about the Houston Astros at this point in time?
18:37Do they feel like a playoff team?
18:40I don't know.
18:41But what it's worth, they are in first place in the AOS.
18:44And it's only two games above 500.
18:46So, it looks like they may go to the playoffs.
18:48But back to the Braves here, okay?
18:50So, it's three against Tampa, three against Philly, three against Chicago, three against Houston before they finish up the Reds
18:54and Miami.
18:55You are in the homestretch here.
18:57And I keep seeing how people are afraid to play the Phillies, how people are afraid.
19:03That's the team they don't want to see because of, you know, the starters that they have with Lizardo, Sanchez,
19:10and Wheeler.
19:11And I get it.
19:11Those three have been tough.
19:12And the Phillies have been great with them on the mound.
19:14And when you talk about playoff baseball, you only need three real starters, and that's it.
19:17If you get a luxury of a fourth one, it's great.
19:21But, you know, the Braves have really held themselves pretty well together, given that they had that stretch there with
19:29the White Sox, the one-game thing, Milwaukee, and the Dodgers there, as they won, what is that, five of
19:35the seven games that they played against those two teams, came back, swept the Rockies, like, you know, split the
19:39series with Philly coming out here.
19:41And I know there's only four games left.
19:43And while a lot of people don't necessarily fear the Braves, I think you have to respect them.
19:48I think you have to respect what this team has done and what they've put together.
19:52I think the one-two punch of Sale and Mali feels pretty good to me.
19:56And we're going to find that out this coming weekend as Philly comes to Atlanta.
20:00You're going to get Sale and Mali on Friday and Saturday, and that's going to be a big deal.
20:04That's going to be something that I think really, you know, you'll see mano-a-mano, head-to-head, how
20:11that all works out for them.
20:13And so I think when you obviously evaluate the Braves' lineup and what their ability to do and how they're
20:19scoring runs,
20:20I think you absolutely have to give them respect that they are a team that could knock off anybody in
20:27the National League.
20:28And the whole American League stinks, so we know the winner of the World Series is coming for the NL
20:32this year.
20:33But you just respect what the Braves have put together this year from an offensive standpoint and the bullpen that
20:39they have.
20:39I mean, look, Walt Weiss has done a great job at managing a bullpen, keeping them fresh, keeping them in
20:46games,
20:46and putting together a bullpen that really is the best in the National League and one that can carry them
20:51through the playoffs.
20:52Because in reality, you get four innings out of your starters in a playoff series, that's enough.
20:59And when you have the Braves' bullpen, that's enough for you to overcome it.
21:02And so I am somebody here who genuinely thinks that this Braves team probably isn't getting enough credit for where
21:11they are.
21:12And I know Braves fans are down on this team.
21:14I've heard it so much over the course of the past couple of weeks and months, this whole entire summer,
21:19about what, you know, about what they are or they aren't.
21:24I mean, I don't think you should be anything upset about what the Braves are.
21:29It doesn't always have to be pretty, but it's pretty damn effective.
21:32And the Braves are showing you time and time again that as long as they get the pitching that they
21:37need,
21:38I think they're going to be fine.
21:39I don't think the Phillies are going to catch them for what it's worth.
21:42When you look at, you know, the two teams and the schedules down the stretch,
21:47I don't know that Philly necessarily is going to have an easier time catching them.
21:52They get Houston, they get Atlanta, they get the Nats and the Mets,
21:57and then they also get Milwaukee and Tampa Bay the final six games of the season.
22:00So for them to catch the Braves with those final six games may be very, very tough.
22:06But we'll keep our eyes on the final sprint towards the postseason in September for these two teams.
22:15All right, that'll do it again for our first installment here of A to Z on 92.9 The Game,
22:20YouTube, 92.9thegame.com.
22:21Make sure you give a thumbs up, like, and subscribe to this.
22:25Drop a comment down below.
22:25Let me know what you guys' thoughts on everything that I've had to say.
22:28Of course, hit me up on socials to see it there on the scroll,
22:30at Mark Zinno on Instagram and on X.
22:33And we will be back again next time.
22:35Appreciate you guys watching.
22:36I hope you guys will interact with me here.
22:38It's going to be a lot of fun.
22:38We're going to continue to do this here on 92.9thegame.com.
22:42As A to Z is back, baby, by popular demand.
22:45Don't really know who demanded it, but they did.
22:47Appreciate you guys watching.
22:48We will catch you next time.
22:51We'll catch you next time.