As Falcons Falter Again, Future in Hands of 'Special' Young Core

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- On the night he hit 1,000 receiving yards for the first time as a professional, Atlanta Falcons third-year wideout Drake London had little reason to celebrate.

London stood at his locker in the bowels of Northwest Stadium in Landover, Md., roughly 45 minutes removed from Atlanta's season-defining, playoff-costing 30-24 overtime loss to the Washington Commanders.

Yet the 23-year-old London, in a moment with his emotions so pure, so fragile, saw the silver lining.

"I think later down in the road, it's going to be really, really fun here," London said.

His confidence was rooted in rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and an offense that had an NFL-high 70% of its production come from players age 25 or younger.

But in Atlanta, hope can be dangerous. The Falcons have endured seven consecutive seasons with a losing record and no playoff appearances. They haven't won the NFC South in eight years. After a 6-3 start, they lost six of their final eight games with their only two wins coming against the Raiders (4-13) and the Giants (3-14).

Offseason optimism -- especially while the playoffs are still ongoing -- has been commonplace in Atlanta. This time, it feels warranted.

***

As second-year running back Bijan Robinson ran and juked his way into a career-high 170 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the Falcons' season finale against the Carolina Panthers, Penix couldn't help himself.

"I hand the ball off, and I got to carry out my fake. Sometimes, I want to peek to see what he doing," Penix said. "So, it's like, man, he's a special player."

After the game, Penix approached Robinson, telling him the craziness of some of the moves he does, such as making three consecutive jump cuts on the same leg.

"He made some cuts like, man, I don't think my knees can handle it," Penix said. "I'm like, I couldn't do that."

Robinson finished third league wide in rushing yards (1,456) and fourth in yards from scrimmage (1,887). He scored 14 rushing touchdowns, which is tied with Jamal Anderson (1998) for the second-most in a single season in franchise history.

"Bijan is special," Falcons coach Raheem Morris said. "The human, the football player, the character -- whatever you ask him to do, he's going to be able to go out there and do. He's a special human. And for me to say that I expected that (production), I don't know. He's as special as you get."

Penix, as he admitted, probably couldn't do some of the things Robinson does. Few can. But it doesn't mean he lacks special traits of his own.

"Absolute poise. He's got a freaking rocket, and he can sling the ball," London said. "He's got that dog in him. He's somebody who's a winner, and I think you see that just right off rip."

The Falcons went 1-2 in Penix's starts, with both of their losses coming in overtime -- after Penix led game-tying scores in the closing minutes. As a starter, the 24-year-old went 58-for-100 passing for 737 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions and one rushing score. He threw for 312 yards and scored three times against Carolina to close the regular season.

Atlanta didn't intend on playing Penix this season. The plan, Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot said, centered around keeping Penix as the backup -- and long-time successor -- to veteran starter Kirk Cousins, who was benched before Week 16 after throwing one touchdown to just nine interceptions in his final five starts.

Yet Penix, as teammates say he's been from the moment he first stepped foot in the locker room for rookie minicamp in May, was unfazed.

And now, the Falcons, in a time of darkness, see tangible hope.

"The light at the end of the tunnel for us ... is the quarterback," Morris said. "The organization has a quarterback that is certainly bright, that is certainly our future, that certainly can go out and make any single play and play in any single game that you can play in. Michael Penix is certainly outstanding.

"He's certainly one of the guys that's going to play in this league and absolutely dominate for as long as we allow him."

It only helps to surround him with a supporting cast full of young, talented faces -- some of whom, like Robinson and London, have already established themselves as franchise pillars.

***

In the waning seconds of the first half of Atlanta's loss to Carolina, Penix took an endzone shot to London, who caught the pass but was knocked out of bounds. Penix said he trusted the 6'4'', 215-pound London, so he threw it again.

London caught it for a touchdown to give the Falcons the lead heading into the locker room. When he and Penix arrived, they'd completed their 10th quarter of action together.

Perhaps lost in the buzz of a playoff push and shiny new quarterback is that Penix didn't get many reps with his starting receivers during the season. He was the scout team quarterback, giving representative looks to the defense while tossing passes to practice squad wideouts.

Everything the Falcons accomplished offensively over the final three weeks -- 27 points per game when subtracting defensive scores, 401 yards per game and the steady ascent of Penix -- came with all the chemistry that can be developed in the span of three-plus weeks.

Morris said he doesn't regret not starting Penix sooner. But timing aside, Penix adapted to the situation admirably.

And, if nothing else, gave the Falcons something to dream about after an offseason spent finetuning chemistry.

"Everybody sees the talent we have," Robinson said. "But I feel with us now, we got to take these things one day at a time and really understand what we have, continue to gel together and just continue to become closer as a team."

The Falcons didn't break apart in their locker room as the season spiraled. Robinson credited that to the culture Morris and Fontenot built.

Now, Robinson says Atlanta, which is already "super close knit," needs to translate its off-field trust onto the gridiron.

"We not even can be, but have to be, dominant," Robinson said. "Because I know there's so much talent on this team, on this offense -- like the young core that we do have, man, it's pretty special."

London finished the season No. 3 in targets (158), No. 4 in receiving yards (1,271) and tied for ninth in both catches (100) and receiving touchdowns (nine).

Fellow receiver Darnell Mooney had a resurgent 2024 season in his first of a three-year contract. He caught 64 passes for 992 yards, falling eight yards short of the 1,000-yard mark after missing the season finale due to a shoulder injury.

Despite Mooney's narrow shortfall, Robinson noted it's uncommon to see two receivers on the same time produce at that level in the NFL. Toss in slot receiver Ray-Ray McCloud III, who set career highs with 62 catches for 686 yards and one touchdown, and Atlanta's receiving core has plenty of weapons -- all under contract for next season.

Penix touted the Falcons' offensive line. Robinson threw a shoutout to tight end Charlie Woerner for his stout blocks and mentioned tight end Kyle Pitts as another piece to the unit moving forward.

"Michael Penix in these last three games has definitely shown us that, and that's definitely our positive," Morris said. "Pairing him up with Drake London, with Bijan Robinson, and watching that combo get a chance to start fresh and do some things will really be positive.

"Getting Mooney back are some of the things that's going to be positive, obviously, watching those guys go and grow. There's some things that you want to really, really lean on."

Morris acknowledged the harsh reality of Atlanta's season: the Falcons, at 8-9, were only one game better than the year before. They know words mean little when the results don't reflect well.

But Falcons left guard Matthew Bergeron, who's known only the past two years of Falcons football, believes the organization is in a healthy place -- and much stronger than at the end of 2023.

"The future is bright," Bergeron said. "We just got to keep stacking and keep getting better. But you can see that things are going to get better and we're going -- we took a step in the right direction this year, for sure."

Proof of progress, Penix implied, is in the roster. The Falcons are one of the NFL's oldest teams overall, but Atlanta's offense featured eight starters 27 years old or younger, and both Woerner and running back Tyler Allgeier -- a pair of complementary assets -- only add to the list.

"We got a lot of young players and a lot of guys that make big time plays," Penix said. "There's just a lot of talent around us, around this team. And I feel like a lot of people see that, and a lot of people are believing in the culture and believing in this coaching staff, and we're going to continue to grow as the years go on."

***

In mid-November, the Falcons had a 5% chance of being in this position.

Atlanta's playoff drought appeared poised to end. Penix's rookie season seemed destined to end the way most expected it to: with little action. Cousins had already won two NFC Offensive Player of the Week awards.

Then came the $180-million question nobody in Flowery Branch knows the answer to: what happened to Cousins?

All that's certain is Atlanta's future came early. Now, the Falcons have to maximize on having several young stars on rookie contracts, though Penix's financial gain is mitigated by Cousins's $37.5 million guaranteed if he's on the roster past March 17.

Fontenot acknowledged it's "critical" to maximize the rookie deals. Morris, amid his frustration with the way this season ended, found comfort in the Falcons' Penix-related timeline being sped up.

"When you look at those guys on the offensive side of the ball, it does create a certain urgency and a certain excitement for you personally," Morris said. "It's a disappointing day because you want those guys to be able to showcase that at a high level. And we'll get there."

The next step for Atlanta's offense under Penix is building better chemistry. Penix feels he has a good, communicative relationship with offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, but he needs more time on task with his pass catchers.

This summer, Penix wants to get all of the receivers together at some point, be it at his training complex in California or crossing paths in another location.

"My connection with the guys, that's something that's going to be very vital and special in order for us to be successful in the future," Penix said. "So, I'm definitely going to get with those guys, and whenever I'm not taking my time myself, I'll make sure we're putting in a lot of work to be great."

McCloud felt the Falcons' offense, which produced 537 yards of offense -- 312 through the air, 225 on the ground -- in the season finale against Carolina, showed "glimpses" of what it can be next fall.

The key, McCloud said, is exactly as Penix said: chemistry.

"Now it's us as veterans coming in and getting behind him and just working, working, working," McCloud said. "Building chemistry and just come next year and light it up."

Fontenot has drawn criticism for his use of top 10 draft picks -- he selected Pitts at No. 4 overall in 2021 before taking London, Robinson and Penix at No. 8 overall in the past three drafts, respectively.

As a result, Atlanta's defense has endured a handful of highs but more steady lows. The Falcons feel they have foundational pieces defensively in safety Jessie Bates III, cornerback A.J. Terrell, inside linebacker Kaden Elliss and defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.

Still, Atlanta needs more pieces. Morris and Fontenot plan on addressing a pass rush that finished with 31 sacks, the second-worst mark in the league.

If the Falcons fail to build a better defense, their young offensive core may be for naught -- but their offensive investments have netted a unit Penix feels is the best in the NFL.

"Player for player, I feel like we the best out there," Penix said. "We just got to go do it. And it's going to start with this off season. We got to attack it the right way."

After the Falcons fell to Carolina, London said he had a bad taste in his mouth. He felt the fans got a taste of what Atlanta's offense could do, and he wants that explosive performance to be a more consistent phenomenon.

But most importantly, London wants to win. He wants to play for something real. He said he had a ton of fun in 2024, but in 2025, wins need to follow.

And for Atlanta, there are no more excuses.

"This is a growing team," London said. "We got a young core, young cast, and I just feel like, if we keep on putting it together -- we have more time together -- the sky's the limit for us."