Atlanta Just Made A VERY Smart Signing + Falcons FAILING Michael Penix Jr? | Falcons News & Rumors

Lots of stuff to talk about for us Dirty Birds fans. Welcome into Falcons Today by Chat Sports. My name is Moose. It is official. The Falcons have signed a wide receiver, KJ Osborne. And in today’s episode, we’re going to break down him very briefly. We’re going to talk about the best Falcons pass rush ever. Maybe. Could it become that? The quarterback issue continues between Michael Penn Jr. and Kirk Cousins. And this is exactly why you subscribe. News, rumors, all in one episode. I like the sound of that. So, do me a favor, hit that big red sub button. Today, let’s talk about the most recent addition to the Atlanta Falcons. KJ Osborne, former Minnesota Viking out of the fifth round, drafted in 2020 uh by the Vikings, spent a majority of his tenure as a Vikings with Kirk Cousins. 655 receiving yards, seven touchdowns in 2021. And he’s got great chemistry with Kirk Cousins. I was picking the brain of our Vikings host, Mr. Patrick Seatman, and I said, “Does KJ Osborne do anything incredibly well?” And he goes, “You know, not really. I mean, he doesn’t have the greatest hands. He’s not super fast. He’s kind of slowooted, but for whatever reason, it just worked with Kirk Cousins. They were always on the same page. And sometimes it is as simple as that. Sometimes it just gels with a specific player. So, here’s what this means for the Atlanta Falcons. They did sign him to the practice squad, which either means an immediate 53man roster spot for KJ Osborne or an activation for Nick Nash or Chris Blair. Either way, I’m happy about it because there’s another weapon going on of the Falcons, which funny enough, sidebar here, why did it take so long to add another weapon? I digress. But you will be getting Drake London back sure sooner rather than later. you’ll have KJ Osborne or Nick Nash or Chris Blair on the 53 by next week. So, I’ll ask you this question. Is this a smart signing for the Atlanta Falcons? I’m going to type my Y for yes. I don’t think he can hurt whatsoever. I mean, this is a 4 and seven football team. You need all the help you can get. So, worst case scenario, KJ Osborne stinks and you just cut him. You release him and it doesn’t cost you absolutely anything. All right, let’s talk now very briefly about this pass rush because I truly believe the Atlanta Falcons pass rush might be one of the best we’ve ever seen from this team. They currently have 39 sacks in 2025. That is 10th in franchise history. How amazing is that? And I want to highlight because there are a ton of players that have contributed to this pass rush. I can’t highlight every single player, so I’m gonna highlight the two rookies that we just drafted in 2025. Let’s start with James Pierce Jr. Um, [ __ ] them picks. That’s all I got to say. The dude is really coming into his own, he is a special athletic talent. And I had said earlier on in the year, and I said it in the last episode as well, he’s getting pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but he wasn’t finishing the plays. Now he’s starting to finish the plays. I mean, this is just against the Saints. Five pressures, two tackles, a sack and a half, which should have been two sacks, one pass break up, and a pass rush win rate of 26.7. The talent is there, the finishing is there. He now has a sack in three straight games. It’s unbelievable. So, you really see the investment in this pick starting to pay off. So, I know there were a lot of Falcons fans that were like, “Oh, we don’t have a first round pick. Way to go, Terry.” I kind of understood at the time why they went out and did this. Now, am I upset that we don’t have a first round pick in 2026? Of course, I am. I want as many picks as possible. I want to rebuild the franchise and make this as good as possible after we get rid of the coaching staff. But the Falcons defense has never been an issue this year outside of maybe a couple of situational games. The Carolina Panthers just seem to have the Falcons numbers this year. But look at what the Falcons did yesterday as well. Five sacks, six for loss, seven passes defended, eight quarterback hits, one fumble, one interception. They caused five of 16 on third down, and three offensive points surrendered. I get it. It’s the Saints. They suck. But this was still a really great defensive performance. This is a defensive team now with a offense that needs to complement how good the defense plays in spurts. It’s also important to know that the pass rush also has 22 sacks in the last four games. That’s over five a game. It’s one of the best in the NFL by far. I’m really excited to see where this continues to go because it just keeps getting better. Every single game it gets better. The stunts look great. The packaging looks great. creativity getting Billy Bowman uh who by the way now has a torn Achilles. So he’s going to be out for the remainder of uh the season and probably beyond that. But every single week everything just feels cleaner, sharper, more aggressive, and just an overall better looking product. And the two rookies, like I said, we’re going to focus on Walker and Pierce. They’re both outstanding this year. Both with four tackles for loss. Jaylen Walker has five sacks. James Pierce Jr. has four. But Pierce has more pressures also with nine quarterback hits. The only thing that’s slightly different is that Jaylen Walker is a better player against the run. So that’s why his PFF grade is a little bit higher than James Pierce Junior’s. But I’m okay with that. If Jaylen Walker becomes the guy that is great against the run and the pass, and James Pierce Jr. just becomes your get after the quarterback guy, you’ve got two players that will excel in this defense for years to come. So, before I continue on with the quarterback news, I want to ask you a question because this is a positive thing for the Dirty Birds. The Falcons have a top blank pass rush in the NFL right now. I honestly think, and this is no joke, I think it’s top six. I would say it’s absolutely top six. I don’t think it’s quite at the level of the Denver Broncos. I don’t think it’s quite at the level of the Houston Texans, but you can definitely make an argument that it’s somewhere between three and six. Now, before we continue on, like I said, talking about the quarterbacks, Kirk Cousins and Michael Penn Jr., I have to tell you about our friends over at Prize Picks, the holidays are definitely here. Got to love those holiday seasons. And that’s where our friends at Prize Picks come into play. Did you know that basketball matchups, playoff pushes, it’s all happening all at once? 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Use code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code CLNS to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks. It is good to be right. All right. So, uh, I want to go back to this really quick because I know that there were a lot of Falcons fans that got down in the comment section and they had a lot of really strong opinions and strong takes. And I understand that this is kind of an infuriating topic, right? Because it did look so different when Kirk Cousins was under center this week. I’m also aware that last year Kirk Cousins was in the pistol all the time. But something changed this week and Raheem Morris said that Kirk Cousins is more comfortable under center than Penn is. You could call Raheem Morris a lot of things. You can’t call him a liar. He’s not a liar. He might not be great at the microphone. He might not be a great head coach. He might not even be a great coordinator. But what he is is truthful. He would never lie about this. But here’s my question for you, Raheem and Zack and Terry. Why would you take a quarterback eighth overall if he doesn’t like playing under center? That is one of the hallmarks of playing quarterback at the NFL level. Also, isn’t it your job to develop him? Correct me if I am wrong, producer Reed, but head coaches and offensive coordinators, they’re supposed to develop young quarterbacks. You don’t have to develop Kirk Cousins. He’s already a finished product. Michael Pennix Jr. is a lump of clay to mold. So either you were neglectful in your self- scouting of Michael Penn Jr., shame on you, or two, you just thought he could just develop as a rookie quarterback essentially, which is also a shame on you. And remember, this is a team that was almost dead last in playing under center going into the game against the Saints. Here were the numbers of where the Atlanta Falcons ranked going under center. 31st in the NFL. What’s something you notice about all these teams? The New Orleans Saints terrible record. Chiefs positive record, but one of the worst they’ve had in so long. The Bengals losing record. Falcons losing record. Washington Commanders losing record. And then on the flip side, the inverse of this, the top five teams under center. Los Angeles Rams probably the best team in the NFL right now. Seattle Seahawks, positive record. San Francisco 49ers, positive record. Lions, Bears, playoff teams, guys. Playoff teams. The best NFL offenses play under center. It opens up play action. That is one of the benchmarks of a successful NFL offense. Anybody with a brain, my mother could watch that and say, “Yeah, that you should probably do what those guys are doing.” And yet somehow Zack Robinson and Raheem Morris believe that their [ __ ] doesn’t stink and that they can run their successful offense from the pistol. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Speaking of the Falcons play action rate, which by the way was also dead last in the NFL up until the Saints game. I it still might be dead last, but did you know on 23 passing attempts yesterday, the Falcons ran nine playa action attempts? That’s 32% compared to the 9% they had going into the game. On those nine attempts, Kurt Cousins completed seven for 117 yards and a touchdown. One of the incompletions, by the way, was a drop. So, and I’m pretty sure that was on Kyle Pittz. So, we could essentially look at this and go Kirk would have been 8 for9 for about a buck 35 and a touchdown on play action. I honestly don’t know why they didn’t do this sooner or why it changed so quickly. Maybe it was Kirk that went to Zack Robinson and said, “We’re going to run these different concepts against the Saints.” Maybe it was Zack Robinson that said, “I have more faith in Kirk Cousins to run this style of offense than I do with Michael Penn.” Maybe it’s a combination of both. Either way, it had to have fixed or been fixed earlier than where we’re at now because even though we’re only two games beyond the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I still feel like the playoffs are a pipe dream. Maybe not mathematically, but look at the standings. Tampa Bay 6 and5, Carolina 6 and5, Falcons 4 and seven. If the Carolina Panthers lose tonight and they’re six and six, you have legitimately a chance to make the playoffs. And I’m not saying that like, holy cow, we’re going to make a playoff push. This is still a team that is light years away from being a playoff team in my eyes. But mathematically speaking, you still have a chance to do this. So why on earth we are are we just making these decisions now? Why do we have to wait until the sky is falling and everybody’s calling for everyone’s jobs before somebody makes a smart decision? Zack Robinson finally allows this team to go under center. You finally sign another weapon. It just makes literally no sense. So this is just more coaching and competency in my opinion. And yet at the same time we’re doing things right now at least somewhat. It’s a step in the right direction. I don’t know. I don’t know. I I may maybe I’m just I’m I’m reaching here. Maybe I’m just a YouTube host. Maybe I’m a conspiracy theorist. But uh some something feels weird to me right now about this season. Something feels odd. I can’t quite put my finger on it because when we win a game, it’s almost like we make smarter decisions and when we lose games, we double down on bad decisions. I I just don’t get it. All I do know is the Falcons signed a wide receiver. Kurt Cousins played under center and the Falcons won a football game against the Saints. That’s all I got for you today. Rise up and be cool.

Atlanta Falcons rumors after beating the Saints 24-10 seem to have Falcons fans up in arms over the development of Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS and use code CLNS and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! Is there officially a quarterback controversy in Atlanta? Or is this just a minor story being blown up by Falcons insiders and social media fans? Falcons Today host Trace Moustakas claims that this is more of an indictment on Zac Robinson and Raheem Morris failing to develop Michael Penix Jr’s ability to play under center. The Atlanta Falcons are currently only 2 games back from first place in the NFC South and unbelievably, the Falcons can win a multitude of games heading down the stretch of the 2025 season.

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Falcons Play Action Rate vs. Saints:
“On 23 pass attempts the Falcons ran 9 PA(32%) against the Saints on those 9 attempts Kirk Cousins completed 7 for 117 yards and 1 TD. 1 of the incompletions was a drop. Highest rate of 2025 season by far.”

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You think you know ball? Prove it by commenting now:
– The Falcons have a top __ pass rush in the NFL right now!

Atlanta Falcons 2025 draft picks:
Rd. 1: OLB Jalon Walker
Rd. 1: OLB James Pearce
Rd. 3: S Xavier Watts
Rd. 4: DB Billy Bowman
Rd. 7: OT Jack Nelson

Falcons fans, turn your notifications on right now!
Michael Penix Jr under pressure:
COMP%: 55.2
YPA: 6.4
PFF GRADE: 55.7
QB RTG: 65.4

Kirk Cousins when blitzed vs. the Saints:
Kirk vs. Blitz in week 12
8/10 completions
91 passing yards
1 Touchdown
0 Interceptions

James Pearce Jr. stats vs Saints:
PRESSURES: 5
TACKLES: 2
SACKS: 1.5
PBU: 1
PRWR: 26.7%

NFC South standings after NFL week 12:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6-5
Carolina Panthers: 6-5
Atlanta Falcons: 4-7
New Orleans Saints: 2-9

Can’t get enough Atlanta Falcons YouTube videos? We have got you covered:
– HOLY CRAP THE FALCONS WON! Instant Reaction To Falcons 24-10 Win Over New Orleans Saints https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RB_v0ObEwHU
– Michael Penix Jr. Replacements: Falcons QB Targets Ft. Kyler Murrary, Diego Pavia & More https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKz559VNzdg
– 🚨Atlanta Falcons Get Even More BAD News | Billy Bowman Jr. Suffers Achilles Injury During Practice 🚨 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNrJE9cf60k

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47 comments

  8. This is the full quote on Kirk under center:

    "You know, Kirk- that's what he's been throughout his whole career. You know, obviously when he came off the injury last year, he felt a little bit uncomfortable in the pistol. He's back to what he's been in the past and what he's played, the 12-13 years he's been in the National Football League. So we did what accommodated Kirk and what made him look the best and what made us feel the best about going out there and operating."

    This means that Zac switched off of his Pistol formation to fit Kirk's needs, and not that he isn't putting Penix under center because he can't play there.

  14. You are full of it, I would say something, but I will let it to be continued, get real, the Falcons have really lost 3 games, the others were really good performances, but just coming up short. GET A LIFE

  16. This is how good defense beat up on bad offense they did their job as a falcons fan being excited about defense just feel different and I love it win will follow as we build

  20. Yea hopefully JP jr will be worth a top 5 pick. He will prob be good but still a high pick to give up when they prob should of just waited for the right moment and get the great qb or talent instead of forcing the need like they often do. But i like the picks just not the capital given up or the money for Kirk. Penix not sure. Hes got potenial but the QB management is a shit show.

  21. I STILL support you Michael Penix jr. F*ck anybody that speaks ill of you. Get better soon come back and tell these naysayers to k*ss your @$$. I said what I said. Those idiots are trying to set Michael up for failure. Don't letem do it Michael, you're better than that.

  22. Exactly why even Drsft Penix if all these issue with the system or whatever. You done paid Kirk way to much ride with him and then get the guy when the opportunity hits. Dont force it especially with all the injuries prior.

  23. This win does not impress me at all, I mean come on we played a sorry team. As far as kj being signed, it’s a reason why he wasn’t on a nfl team. What do yall think he is going to come in and do? I’m a real fan but it’s no more hope for this team this season. I’m just telling how it is…. This team and coaching lacks a bunch of things that I’m not going to explain because it’s too much.

  27. I can 100% call Raheem Morris a liar. Last year we were under center, shot gun and pistol those last 3 starts with Michael Penix and he played very well our defense just let us down. Even as Washington I believe he was in shotgun most of the time and then he was under center sometimes. Then this year Zac completely abandons everything for the pistol until Kirk comes back. Also Mike McDaniels as HC and Bobby Slowik as OC next year? Keep ulbrich as DC

  32. It's Zac Robinson's incompetency as adjusting the schemes. I promise from watching all the games Penix has played, every snap where he's under center has accounted for positive yardage. There's at least 8 plays this season. I need to compile the footage. Penix CAN PLAY UNDER-CENTER. It's something between Zac & Raheem that's keeping it so Penix doesn't snap under center often. Something is foul and it's leading to Zac Rob.

  37. No, it will just hurt the moral of the guys who are waiting on the practice squad how haven't gotten a chance yet. Nash hasn't even gotten a chance yet. Talk about believing in your draft picks. They need to see the field in this losing season. Makes no sense to me. This is not a playoff bound or Super Bowl bound team.

  42. Here's another tid bit,that wr was signed from vikings practice squad that had a good connection with cousins from when he was on the vikings.
    I can only see one reason for why Penix wasn't getting the same treatment. 😮

  45. Y'all Boohoo'n wanting your cake & eating it man. JPJ27 is a Baller who goes in the top 5 of any other draft w/out the Smear Campaign. Just face it, we're a helluva lot closer than fair weather fans think. On & off ahh ppl man. Never wanted to fire anyone w/ the injuries we've had. Y'all wanna Blow it up when you're close as L. Stupid Atlanta fans thinking you can just wave a magic wand & walla! Instant Contention. C'MON
    RISE UP FRFR🎉🎉🎉

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