Raheem Morris wasn't thrilled with his team's performance.
The Atlanta Falcons saw the NFL debut of rookie quarterback Michael Penix on Sunday afternoon, but it wasn't under the circumstances they were probably hoping for, as the team was in the midst of getting blown out vs the Seattle Seahawks. Penix didn't have the chance to do much in his appearance in garbage time, and the Falcons dropped to 4-3 on the young season with the defeat.
One person who was not thrilled with what he saw unfold on the Mercedes Benz Stadium field was head coach Raheem Morris, who wasn't in a particularly loquacious mood at his postgame press conference, per Tori McElhaney of the Falcons.
“Came out flat, and didn't play well, for whatever reason,” said Morris.
“We didn't play well as a unit,” he added. “…Today was kind of an anomaly.”
Judging by the last few weeks' standards, Sunday's performance was indeed an anomaly for a Falcons team that had been red hot offensively in their recent three game sweep of their NFC south rivals.
On Sunday, Kirk Cousins largely reverted to the version of himself that fans saw during the Falcons' week one loss vs the Pittsburgh Steelers.
However, more concerning was the team's performance on defense, which is starting to become a trend. Atlanta's pass rush was once again non existent, and the absence of linebacker Troy Andersen loomed large in some coverage busts in the Atlanta secondary.
Can the Falcons bounce back?
Things won't get any easier for the Falcons next week as the team will travel south to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a rematch of the thrilling contest two weeks ago in Atlanta, one that the Falcons one in overtime.
Tampa Bay currently technically sits in first place in the NFC South at 4-2 compared to the Falcons' 4-3, but Atlanta will hope to see that change with a Baltimore Ravens' victory against the Buccaneers on Monday Night Football, giving the Falcons a rest advantage heading into the team's matchup next week.
However, while this is undeniably the Falcons' best team in several years, it's also clear that the team is not going to be truly elite if they can't put together at least an average pass rush, which has evaded them so far this year.
In any case, the Falcons and Buccaneers are set to kick things off at 1:00 PM ET next week from Tampa Bay.
