Rich Weighs In on the Falcons’ 35-14 Beatdown of the Packers to Kick Off NFL Week 3

Two teams left Lambeau Field at 1-2 on Thursday night. Only one of them felt good about it.

"When you're one and two in Green Bay right now, you're like, 'What the hell's happened?'" Rich said. "For the Falcons, you're like, 'Yeah, baby.'"

The reason is Michael Penix. Rich had predicted, in his higher register, that Penix was going to straighten out the Falcons. Nailed it.

It didn't start that way. The first couple of drives didn't look good, and Penix threw a brutal interception on his first possession. "You're wondering, okay, what's he seeing? Is he seeing ghosts?" Rich said. "Nah-uh, after that."

The turning point was a roughing the passer call that gave Atlanta a fresh set of downs. Rich said it could have gone either way. Kirk Herbstreit was confident it was a penalty, and Rich did see contact to Penix's head and neck area, but something similar on Jordan Love a few quarters later went uncalled. That's why this stuff should be reviewed, he said, "but that's for another day."

What Atlanta did with the gift is the story. The Falcons handed it to Bijan Robinson, who ripped off a touchdown run of almost 70 yards. "That just flipped the script," Rich said. Bijan couldn't be stopped, the run game took over, and Penix found his rhythm and found Drake London.

London finished with 194 receiving yards. Rich remembered a camera catching London barking at somebody during the blowout home loss to Carolina. "The bite showed to be far worse than the bark last night," he said. A buck 94 in the air for London, a buck 94 on the ground for Bijan. "And the defense did the rest."

Rich also caught a bit of history. The final score of the Falcons' wild card win at Lambeau in January 2003 was 27-7. That was the exact score heading into the fourth quarter Thursday.

Is the quarterback competition over? "Oh, I don't think you're seeing two anymore unless there's an injury. That's the end of that," Rich said. "Penix, this is his gig."

He sees the full offense still coming. At some point Kyle Pitts will come to the fore, and then we see how it looks full bore. And he framed the night as exactly what Atlanta drew up: first win for Kevin Stefanski as head coach, first win for Matt Ryan as team president. Bring in Stefanski and his offense, get the quarterback right, give him all the weapons.

Stefanski was proud of his quarterback. "It's not easy to rehab from injuries," he said. "What he's put himself through, the extra workouts in the weight room, the extra treatments in the training room, all those times that he's out in the field running when no one was watching."

Penix finished 18 of 25 for 256 yards. Austin Hooper scored a touchdown. And Penix gave the credit to the backfield. "With Bijan and B-Rob, them boys running the ball, that helped everything in the pass game as well," he said.

"Good for him," Rich said. "Talk about your teammates, come up with the win."

The timing is perfect for Atlanta. It was a massive road win and the first of three straight national windows: Thursday, Monday, Sunday. Next up is a Monday nighter in New Orleans against a Saints team the Falcons do not like. Win that one, and they go home at 2-2 for a Sunday nighter against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.

"That's going to be a heck of an environment," Rich said.

For the Falcons, it's a fresh start. For Packers fans, Rich offered some sympathy. "Season's not over. It just feels that way."