The Atlanta Falcons have their starting quarterback.
The Atlanta Falcons finally announced the decision fans have been waiting for on Monday morning, handing the reigns to Tua Tagovailoa to begin the season after a summer quarterback battle that was never really a battle.
With game week now finally here, Atlanta simply ran out of time on Michael Penix Jr. and notably, he will not be active in Week 1 with Cooper Rush serving as the backup to Tagovailoa to begin the year. To state the obvious, this was not a popular decision among the fanbase after the way Tagovailoa struggled in camp and especially in preseason showings with very little ability to push the ball down the field, but ultimately this was the only decision to be made.
Barring the team winning out of the gate and Tagovailoa playing well, Penix taking over is a when not an if, and while Tua may not be popular with the fanbase, the Falcons have no choice but to start him this week.
Falcons Had No Choice But to Announce Tagovailoa as Starter
Reading between the lines of the way this played out, it's obvious that Atlanta wanted to give Penix as much time as possible to try to be ready to go because of the way Tagovailoa struggled. While fans may be frustrated, Penix not being active and not being physically ready to go ultimately means there was not a real decision to be made here.
Rushing Penix back onto the field does not benefit anybody, and the Falcons are playing it safe here rather than pushing the young quarterback before he feels he is ready to go. Penix may be cleared by doctors, but having just a couple of weeks to ramp up from full practice participation to regular season games is a huge leap to make.
Tagovailoa is going to get the first shot because Atlanta has nowhere else to turn, not because he beat out his competition. The Falcons are going to have to try to manage the game, not turn it over on offense and score enough points to stay in the game on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers this week.
While this has not exactly been the strength of Tagovailoa throughout the last couple of years, it will be up to Kevin Stefanski to put him in some strong spots and allow the offense to flourish.
Tagovailoa will be under a very close microscope over these first couple of weeks, and if he does not play exceptionally, Penix will be in there sooner than later.
