- 11 minutes ago
Zinno discusses the connection and correlation between Michael Penix’s play and the quality of the coaching and coaching staff. They are both tied in together, so if you’re blaming Michael Penix, you’re also blaming the coaching. But we don’t hear many people screaming about the coaching at this point.
Zinno also invites Falcons color analyst Dave Archer on the show to break down what he's seen from Penix so far and what he needs to improve on. They both discussed game preparation and coaching as well.
Zinno also invites Falcons color analyst Dave Archer on the show to break down what he's seen from Penix so far and what he needs to improve on. They both discussed game preparation and coaching as well.
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SportsTranscript
00:01Good morning. Welcome to A to Z here on Sports Radio 989 The Game where today I tell you maybe
00:06it's time we start to look in another direction.
00:09Welcome in. Once again here as we get you guys set for another week of the NFL and college football.
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00:33comes out twice a week as we get you guys set for the Falcons and 49ers.
00:38We got Falcons to get to. Dave Archer is going to join us here as we'll talk more in depth
00:44about Michael Penix and where his learning curve is.
00:48So he will join us. We get shovels of wisdom to hand out and of course a whole lot more.
00:51Make sure you guys stay locked right here. We're going to get into what the Falcons new direction and the
00:56new focus needs to be right after this.
00:58My calculations are correct. When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious.
01:08It's time for A to Z with Mark Zeno.
01:12It's elite sports knowledge.
01:14I am the smartest man alive.
01:17It's in your face opinions.
01:20In the face. In the face.
01:22We got some good times.
01:24We hate to.
01:25I have.
01:27And some good information.
01:29Get f***ed in.
01:30When Atlanta talks sports, there's only one place to turn.
01:35You want me on that wall.
01:37You need me on that wall.
01:40A to Z starts now.
01:47All right.
01:48As we get set for the Falcons and 49ers, you know, I went out to Flowery Branch on Wednesday to
01:54meet with Kevin Stefanski and do the normal media rounds that I do once a week.
01:59And, you know, I can't help but start to think about and I saw some interesting stuff this week on
02:09the Falcons game plan going up against the Bears.
02:14And we touched on this earlier in the week on A to Z.
02:17But the point simply is, is that, like, you know, at what point in time do we start to hold
02:23the coaching staff accountable?
02:25At what point in time do we stop putting everything on Michael Penix and start putting things on the coaching
02:33staff and their ability to do their jobs?
02:35Right?
02:36Like, both of these things work hand in hand.
02:40If Penix is successful, that means the coaching staff is successful.
02:43If the coaching staff is successful, that means Penix will be successful.
02:47But yet, somehow, we don't blame them the same.
02:49By we, I don't mean me.
02:51I mean everybody else who thinks Penix is the problem.
02:54You don't blame the coaching staff, right?
02:58You just blame the quarterback.
03:00You don't blame the game plan.
03:01You blame the quarterback's inability to execute the game plan.
03:04And I think, look, in certain cases, that's fair, where the game plan looks good and you look at the
03:10quarterback and go, oh, he didn't execute it.
03:11Well, okay.
03:12Well, I mean, that's certainly part of it.
03:16That's one way to look at it.
03:18But I am somebody who looks at this from the standpoint of you can't blame one without the other and
03:24you can't have success with one without the other.
03:26I think those other things are rare instances.
03:28They're rare cases where you see that that's the case.
03:32And, again, I am not down on Kevin Stefanski.
03:35I am not down on his coaching staff.
03:36I think it's a good coaching staff.
03:37I'll say it again.
03:38You can go check the receipts on Twitter.
03:40I advocated for Stefanski to be here.
03:42I thought he was the best candidate for the job.
03:44I thought he was the most qualified guy for the job.
03:46I didn't want anybody else here.
03:48John Harbaugh wasn't coming here.
03:49We knew that.
03:49But he was the guy that I wanted the most.
03:52So I stand behind him.
03:53But, again, I can't get past when I looked at some of the analytics and the numbers.
03:57And when you start to dive into the EPA per play and the success rate and things of that nature,
04:02how you didn't just forcefully give the ball to Bajon Moore and, like, on the ground.
04:08And I asked Stefanski about it this week.
04:10And, guys, it's one thing I've learned through, you know, training camp and six-plus weeks of doing Kevin Stefanski
04:16press conferences.
04:17The guy gives you nothing.
04:18And he's not ever going to give you anything.
04:20He's not ever going to sit there and tell you he's not going to be an interesting press conference quote
04:24ever.
04:25Just what it is.
04:26He's never actually going to answer the question directly unless it's a yes or no that he knows or wants
04:33to answer.
04:34You know, like, hey, like I said, hey, perfect example.
04:39During training camp, I asked him, if Michael Penix isn't cleared, he's not playing in the preseason game, correct?
04:44And he said, yes, that's correct.
04:45Like, that, you know, simple answer, simple yes.
04:49And so other ones he just gets a little bit more vague on.
04:52But the point is that we're not going to get anything from him.
04:55He's never going to justify why he made a decision or why he didn't do something or whatever.
04:59It's we'll look at this.
05:00We'll look at that.
05:00We'll tie it into this.
05:01We'll tie it.
05:01Like, that's just always where he's going to be.
05:04And that's where he is, is very comfortable being with the media.
05:11And so I'm not looking to blame Stefanski, but I am looking to at least contextually keep the blame for
05:21Michael Penix in a different spot.
05:24That contextually, whatever blame you're assigning to him for certain things, inability to, you know, process things at the line
05:33of scrimmage, inability to get through reads and progressions.
05:36Coaching can eliminate some of those things.
05:39Yeah.
05:41Coaching can absolutely eliminate some of those things.
05:43But nobody is sitting there going, well, the coaches aren't getting them ready.
05:46They're just saying, well, Penix can't do it.
05:49So clearly it's a Penix thing and we need to move on.
05:51I think that's ridiculous.
05:53I think when you look at what we have here with the Falcons, again, I'll reiterate it and I'll talk
06:02to Dave Archer about this week to week.
06:04We're trying to win as many games as we can over Archer the season.
06:06What do we have with Penix?
06:08Now, you can do both of those things at the same time and you can get a yes to both
06:13of those things at the same time.
06:14It's not easy, but you can do both at the same time.
06:17And the point simply is, is that when you do them at the same time, you end up making the
06:22playoffs and things are fun and successful.
06:24When you don't, one usually begets the other.
06:26And the one that usually is, is that we have to let the quarterback grow and lose in the timeframe
06:31until they get there.
06:34So I understand everybody's frustration.
06:36I understand why people are bothered by it.
06:38I will tell you succinctly that I'm going to start looking a lot closer at the coaching staff and how
06:46they are doing things and what they are doing and how they are working to make this team successful and
06:50put them in positions to win football games and put their young quarterback in positions to be successful.
06:56That's what I'm going to look at.
06:59You can go back to that game against the Ravens again.
07:02No reason to throw that ball in third down in the fourth quarter.
07:05None.
07:05Don't care if Penix is supposed to get it.
07:07Run the damn ball.
07:08Force him to use the timeout.
07:10That's coaching.
07:12Should Penix have completed the pass?
07:14Sure.
07:14Let's say, we said it last week.
07:16Sure.
07:16But the coaching staff needs to be held accountable for it.
07:20All right.
07:20We're going to talk to Dave Archer coming up here in a little bit, dive a little bit more into
07:25the struggles of what we're seeing with Michael Penix.
07:28But first, we are going to get to his shovel of wisdom.
07:31Brace yourself.
07:32Because it's time for the shovel of wisdom.
07:44And today, my shovel goes to Ennis Cantor Freedom.
07:49Okay.
07:51Hey, listen, bro.
07:52We get it.
07:53We get it.
07:55We get it.
07:56You want to make a big deal of this whole thing with the WNBA.
08:02We get it.
08:03You did your thing once.
08:05You got your point across.
08:06Everybody knows where you stand.
08:10Ennis Cantor Freedom tried to get into Game 3 of the WNBA Finals between the Dream and the Valkyries here
08:14at State Farm Arena.
08:17And he refused.
08:19He wasn't allowed to go to his seats that he paid for.
08:23He refused to sit in a private suite arranged for him by the Dream in response to concerns about his
08:30personal safety.
08:32And so, I guess they wouldn't let him get in the game.
08:39And I guess all of this is more of this sideshow freak thing that, you know, is going on.
08:47And you guys know my stance on the WNBA.
08:51But Ennis Cantor Freedom, you can sit down, man.
08:53We got your point.
08:54We got it.
08:55We got it.
08:56You don't need to keep making it because it's not going to get any better.
09:00You're not going to make the point any clearer.
09:02People are still going to disagree with you.
09:04And that's the reality of it.
09:06But you being just disruptive turns you kind of into an a-hole.
09:10And nobody likes that guy.
09:11And nobody is going to like that guy.
09:13So, I think the point simply is that you need to go take a lap on this one.
09:19Okay.
09:20Time for our second guest ever here on A to Z.
09:24Diving us deep into what is Michael Penix and the struggles that he is going through.
09:31And joining us here now on A to Z, former Falcons quarterback,
09:35part of the Falcons radio broadcast on 92.9 The Game.
09:38He is Dave Archer joining us here on A to Z.
09:41Arch, welcome.
09:41Great to be here with you.
09:42Thank you so much for your time.
09:43I know you're very busy today, so I really do genuinely appreciate you joining.
09:46No, I appreciate it, Mark.
09:47I just got through talking to the guys out in San Francisco, talking 49ers.
09:52So, glad to lean in with you, man.
09:54Did we talk to Ra?
09:55Did anybody have any conversation?
09:57I did not talk to Ra.
09:58I'll talk to him on Sunday.
10:00But I definitely will talk to him Sunday.
10:01All right.
10:02Listen, I want you here because I want to talk Penix with you and, you know, so much consternation about
10:08everyone's trying to figure out what he is and this, that, and the other.
10:11And so much of, you know, everybody wanting to accelerate this process.
10:15And what came out of Sunday, I think there are some fair criticisms, but I also think they need to
10:20be in the right context.
10:21Right.
10:22We've heard things, his processing of information at the line, his accuracy, his reads or getting through progressions, and even
10:30his mobility to a certain extent.
10:33Let's just take all these kind of things one at a time.
10:36You know, when it comes to processing your information at the line, some of that is not only repetition in
10:41games, right, but it's just experience and understanding certain things over the course of time.
10:47And a lot of it, too, is more of just whatever play call you're in, knowing what your options are,
10:53right, and where to go with the football.
10:55Talk me through learning the idea of processing things at the line and what Michael is facing.
11:02Yeah, first of all, you know, they're discounting what he did in college.
11:06So the guy was a dual-threat quarterback when he was at Indiana.
11:11And a dog getting ready to bark here.
11:13That's all right.
11:14But he was a dual-threat guy at Indiana, so he's probably asked to make one read and take off.
11:21Okay.
11:21And so he ended up getting beat up a little bit when he was at Indiana.
11:24And when he transitioned to Washington under Ryan Grubb and what they did offensively there, Kalen DeBoer, he became a
11:32guy that would stand in the pocket and throw it.
11:35And I think that his ability to understand what they were doing from an offensive standpoint, they were a vertical
11:41threat team.
11:42They would take shots down the field.
11:44He sprinkled it underneath.
11:45But more often than not, highlights you saw of him were throwing the ball downfield to guys like Roma Dunze
11:50and those guys, right?
11:51Deep shots down the field.
11:52They created those opportunities.
11:54So college is different because you're not going to get the variety of coverages that you're going to get at
12:00this level.
12:01So the ability to see a guy open and throw it is something that you see a lot in college.
12:10The guys that I think that the NFL scouts are looking for as they begin to try to find those
12:16guys that might be that franchise quarterback is they're looking for guys.
12:21Where are the guys that throw guys open, that anticipate and throw guys open?
12:28Pennix has the ability to do that.
12:30I think that we've only seen him for, what, 15, 16 games.
12:33You talked about that.
12:34So as you look at the windows that he has to throw in, there is a degree of experience as
12:42to what you can get away with and what you can't get away with.
12:44Because it's different in the college level.
12:47It's arm strength, the ability of one particular corner on one side of the field as opposed to the guy
12:53on the other side.
12:54All these guys at this level are at this level for a reason.
12:58And so if you make a mistake, throw the ball to the inside, or you're late with the football, or
13:03something along those lines, you're going to pay for it.
13:05And so those are experiences he's still trying to garner and to gather.
13:12He hasn't played enough for it.
13:13And I know that people don't want to hear that because you hear guys, you see like, you know, Jaden
13:17Daniels go do what he did his rookie year.
13:19He went out and lit it up.
13:20But some of that had to do with he leaned into his athleticism to do that.
13:25How many times do we see him take off and roll with the football?
13:27So Mike's not doing that.
13:29And that's something that I think he has the capability of doing.
13:33You and I talked about this yesterday when we were at the facility.
13:36That sheds a light on this.
13:37Because there's a gap in everyone's mind between it's only 16 games, but it is three years in the NFL.
13:43And so people want to accelerate the learning curve.
13:46You told me yesterday that like your third year, things really clicked for you.
13:50And you didn't play much your first year.
13:51You got a handful of starts your second.
13:53But like, is it fair still to acknowledge that gap between years in the NFL and the amount of games
13:59he's played?
13:59Or should that be closer?
14:02Should he be on a faster accelerated curve because of that?
14:05I stayed in the same system for three years, Mark.
14:08I mean, he's in a different, completely different system.
14:12Completely, you know, and when I say completely, obviously, there's only so many things you can do offensively and defensively
14:18in this league.
14:19And so they'll be called different things or there'll be a mirror to a certain extent of some of the
14:26stuff you do.
14:27There is the difficulty of flushing systems out of your mind from a verbal standpoint and having it be second
14:36nature to be able to get to something or to see something that applies to what we're doing now.
14:43And so there is a little bit of cloudiness.
14:46There is a little bit of muddy water there that he's trying to negotiate and get through.
14:51Remember, he didn't play the entire season last year coming off the injury and so didn't start out this year.
14:57You know, it wasn't taking 11 on 11 snaps, which is different than taking seven on seven snaps.
15:03So I know there's an impatience.
15:05There's an impatience in this city because we haven't been to the playoffs since 2017.
15:09And so, you know, let's get it right.
15:11Let's go.
15:12Let's do it.
15:12You know, and Matt Ryan took this team to the playoffs his first year in the National Football League.
15:18And so you've got that guy back in the building that's trying to build that kind of chemistry, that kind
15:23of feel of inclusiveness and everybody one for all, all for one, all that kind of stuff.
15:29And it's kind of grudgingly working that direction.
15:33But there's plays being, or I think we're leaning so much on Mike to make all the right plays that
15:40there's a bunch of things that aren't going on around him that are contributing to Atlanta not winning the last
15:47couple of games.
15:48Like I said, I mean, I said this earlier in the week on ABC that on the list of things
15:52that went wrong against Chicago, Penix was like fourth and fifth on the list.
15:57He was nowhere near the top three reasons why they lost the game.
16:00But it was just lazy to dump it on him, which, again, I get a lot of fans and media
16:04do, but those people are wrong.
16:06I'll ask one more question on Penix, and I want to talk some other, you know, offensive stuff.
16:10But when people talk about his mobility and not just taking off running, just mobility in the pocket, that's something
16:17that can be taught.
16:18But it's, you know, some guys are better at it.
16:19But does he need to improve in that area and working his way, stepping up the pocket, moving around and
16:24rush things of that nature?
16:26You know, you said something there, that pocket awareness thing, can it be taught to a certain extent?
16:37I think you can do certain drills maybe in practice where you pressure guys, make them slide.
16:43You know, Alex Van Pelt, you've been out there.
16:46They do little drills where they're stepping around something or somebody's coming off his edge and slide.
16:51But there's an innate ability to do that.
16:54And it's ironic because we're not seeing it enough with Mike yet now in this new version of him off
17:02this knee injury.
17:03We saw some of it.
17:05Remember, he ran for the touchdown.
17:07Doe had a play similar to what he had in Indiana where he got hurt.
17:10Doe in the corner of the end zone two seasons ago.
17:13He's got the ability to do it.
17:17Is there a rustiness attached to it, his ability to move in the pocket?
17:22I don't know that.
17:23I think that that's only something he can answer.
17:25I do think he has – I watched him at Washington, and he had that pocket awareness.
17:30He slid and moved in the pocket and kept that throwing position so he could get it out.
17:36This weekend, I think, is – I hope is an aberration this last weekend against the Bears because of the
17:42inability for us to pick up the pressure and provide him an extra –
17:47because they weren't bringing, you know, wholesale blitzes every time.
17:51It wasn't a seven-man blitz every time.
17:53It was a simulated blitz or it was a nickel off the edge and then rushing three down linemen and
18:00dropping one of the D linemen out.
18:02So, you've got to – so, the identification both up front and from him has to be better, but they
18:10really didn't give him a lot of chances in that regard.
18:14And he's got to be willing to take some of the energy.
18:17He's such a good vertical passer.
18:18I think he leans into that maybe more than he needs to.
18:21I think there's some opportunities to get the ball out that he's got to take advantage of as well.
18:27All right.
18:27One more here.
18:29Coaching.
18:30A lot of his development is dependent on the coaching.
18:34And I'm not saying the staff is incapable of doing it, but when you're talking about the learning curve –
18:39and, again, I've acknowledged several times the lack of patience with the fan base, but I keep saying the same
18:43thing.
18:44Week to week, they're trying to win as many games as they can, right?
18:47But the overarching of the season in finding out what Michael's ceiling is or what his capabilities are
18:53and how much he can grow over the course of what will be for him a 15-game season, right?
18:59Like, that to me is equally as important.
19:02But that – a lot of that relies in the hands of the coaching and what they can do to
19:07develop him.
19:07So, look, I think it was a bad game plan in the first – like, I think it was –
19:10you were down 21-7.
19:12They abandoned the run game immediately, and that's on the coaching staff.
19:15I don't think that's on Mike at all.
19:17You had a bad run defense, and Bajon only got the ball four times in the first half.
19:21I know they didn't touch the ball that often, but by the time the second half rolled around,
19:24they were in full-on pass mode.
19:25It's just – it's not a form of success for them.
19:28But, you know, I think it's about, in general, how much can this coaching staff accelerate Mike's curve?
19:35I think they can.
19:36I just don't think anybody has the time and the willing – nobody's willing to wait for week 14
19:40to see what he looks like at this point, right?
19:42We don't – if we're not, you know, 8-4, by the time we're heading into week 14 after the
19:50bye,
19:50like, no one's happy.
19:52But the point is that you could be 4-8 at that point in time,
19:55but Pennix could be taking some real big strides here.
19:58Yeah, absolutely.
19:59I don't think that the lack of patience is attached to the organization or to the coaching.
20:07Right.
20:08I think that they're – based on what they've already had to deal with, I mean,
20:12think about Kevin Stefanski coming in here, Tommy Reese comes in here,
20:15and they're anticipating Michael Pennix being ready probably for week one.
20:21But if he's not, they sign Tua Tungvaloa, who's going to be that stopgap guy
20:26who's had success in this league.
20:28And you get to training camp, an open day at training camp,
20:31the only guy that's healthy, is a rookie free agent at a Minnesota State Moorhead.
20:36I mean, my goodness.
20:38And so then you go sign Cooper Rush, who doesn't even know the offense,
20:41and he comes in and has to learn on the move.
20:45Meanwhile, you're trying to gradually get these other two guys that are supposed to be the two guys,
20:50one and two quarterbacks, ready to play.
20:52So patience, I think, has been exemplary for them.
20:56I think that they've done an amazing job of being patient and understanding.
21:00And they understand that they want to win now, but they understand there's a long-term picture to this.
21:06I know the fans don't want to hear that, but that's ultimately what you get when you're building a team,
21:13which is what these guys are trying to do, Matt Ryan, Kevin Stefanski, Ian Cunningham,
21:18what they're trying to do is build a team.
21:20It's got to have a long-term feel to it, but can you find guys that are long-term answers?
21:26Bajon Robinson, Kyle Pitts, Drake London, Matthew Bergeron are guys they've re-signed.
21:32They re-upped the guy they traded for in Javon Dexter.
21:35Those are guys they're reaching to that they know can be a major part of who they are down the
21:39road.
21:40The biggest question is, do you have the right trigger guy?
21:43And that's going to be a season-long scenario where Mike's shown that he can be,
21:49and then he's shown should he be.
21:52And those are some things that they'll continue to fight through.
21:55The coaching piece of it, he's got to be willing to be coached as well.
22:00He's got to go out on the field and be willing to put it.
22:03I saw him put extra time in.
22:05I was out there on Wednesday, and he was out there putting time,
22:10and he and Hooper were working on a little wheel route,
22:12and they were working on some stuff.
22:14That's what you're looking for, that you want that,
22:16because that permeates not only your own mind and you're getting ready to go,
22:21but it also shows your teammates the investment you have in the position
22:26and the investment you have in them.
22:28And I think that that's something Mike's growing into and learning how to do.
22:32I think the staff is more than capable of getting him up to speed,
22:35but he's got to accept that coaching and dig into it.
22:40Great stuff, Arch.
22:41Appreciate the time.
22:41I know you're busy, man, so thanks for taking a couple minutes out with me,
22:44and we'll do it again real soon.
22:45We'll see you at the facility.
22:47All right, buddy.
22:47Good to see you.
22:48Take care.
22:48All right.
22:48Great stuff, as always.
22:52So great to talk to Arch, and always enlightening when he gets involved
22:58in the conversation.
22:58Really smart.
22:59Always respected Arch for a lot of years and everything that he's done,
23:02so glad he could join us today.
23:05Falcons and Niners coming up on Sunday, 1 o'clock.
23:08Falcons' 2.5-point favorite.
23:10This was at 3.
23:11Now it's down to 2.5.
23:13Really bad travel spot for the Niners.
23:15Monday night off the road, going cross-country, early 1 o'clock start.
23:19A lot of things that are bad.
23:21Niners are banged up.
23:22No Mike Evans.
23:23Trent Williams is a little bit hurt as well.
23:25They got some guys who are injured,
23:28and it reeks of a spot where the Falcons can win.
23:32Will they?
23:33I don't know.
23:34I'm not much in the prediction business from the standpoint of that,
23:38like when we're not talking about the actual number and everything else.
23:40I mean, I would never bet the Niners, for those who are wondering.
23:42I would only bet the Falcons.
23:46But, look, if they play a clean game and they play the game to the level
23:49that they're capable of, then they got a great shot.
23:53This reminds me a lot of when Buffalo came into Mercedes-Benz last year.
23:57That's what it reminds me of.
23:58I know it was a Monday night game, but it reminds very much of that.
24:01They were coasting.
24:02They were on cruise control, and they just didn't play a good, clean game,
24:05and it came up to bite them.
24:06And I think the Falcons are in a great position to be able to do that again as well.
24:10So, let's hope they put it together.
24:14We'll be back here to wrap it all up on Tuesday next week.
24:20And let's hope we're sitting here talking about a win.
24:22I know some of you just love a doom and gloom,
24:24but let's hope we're sitting here talking about a win.
24:26Because if we're not, I can guarantee we'll have a much different tenor
24:28about the Falcons season at 2-5.
24:32All right, you guys enjoy all the college football on Saturday,
24:34NFL on Sunday as well.
24:36And you guys have a great weekend.
24:37Don't get any crap from anybody.
24:38See you.
24:41See you.
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