The Atlanta Falcons are headed into their third game of the season on a short week, beginning a stretch of three consecutive primetime games where they will be playing in front of the country.

This comes on the heels of course from a start to the year which has been nothing short of disastrous, sitting at 0-2 and putting up two offensive performances which were just not NFL level. Atlanta has yet to take a singular snap in the red zone in a stat which is almost hard to believe and the latest embarrassment -- a 34-3 drubbing at the hands of the Carolina Panthers -- has fans questioning whether or not this team can compete. 

On the bright side, Michael Penix Jr. is set to return this week after being announced on Monday as the team's starting quarterback for the Thursday night game against the Green Bay Packers. While Penix can obviously provide more of a spark than Cooper Rush or Jack Strand, saving the current mess is a lot to ask of a player who has not seen the field since last November.

While most of Atlanta's issues of course revolved around the position of quarterback, the team has simply not looked capable of beating anyone over the first two games. Asking Penix to come in and dig the team out of an 0-2 hole after they have not been able to do a thing is a tall order for a young player coming off injury.

Penix is being thrown into the fire in the way no player in football is experiencing right now. In a way, this is a great way to see if he sinks or swims, because him saving this disaster would certainly make him appear like this team's quarterback of the future.

With that being said, fans had also better prepare themselves for the very real possibility that Penix looks rusty on Thursday night and unable to mask the rest of the issues on this team, at least not at first. If things do play out that way, the reality is that it will be a very long season for the Falcons and one which could be painful to sit through.

Regardless though, the return of Penix takes this team from completely unwatchable to at least intriguing. Fans would do better to manage their expectations for the young lefty quarterback however.