“The light at the end of the tunnel for us, despite how bad and poor we played on defense or anywhere is the quarterback,” Morris said. “Michael Penix is certainly outstanding. He certainly one of the guys that's going to play in this league and absolutely dominate for us as long as we allow him.”

Except for the Browns and the Cowboys, no NFL team surpassed the Falcons this season for getting less bang for its buck. Translated: The Falcons are clueless.

Michael Penix Jr. and the Atlanta Falcons entered Sunday’s home game against the Carolina Panthers on a mission. That mission was to make it into the postseason, but Atlanta was not in control of its own destiny.