Sorting the Sunday Pile, NFL Week 16: Michael Penix Jr. has sneaky sparkling debut; Lions munch on moldy bread

The individual stats won't blow you away, but Michael Penix Jr.'s starting debut for the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday was pretty darn impressive. The rookie, controversially taken No. 8 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft and even more controversially inserted into the starting lineup after Atlanta benched Kirk Cousins this week, more than held his own in a late-season effort in a tough spot for a rookie. 

Yes, the opponent was easy -- the New York Giants are a very bad football team right now. Yes, the circumstances were ideal -- starting at home against a two-win team is the perfect place to begin your career. And yes, he did minimal damage from a stat standpoint -- Penix passed for just 202 yards, no touchdowns and a pick in the 34-7 beatdown of New York. 

But the stats don't tell the whole story, not by a lot. On the interception, Penix "made the mistake" of trying to target tight end Kyle Pitts, who he hit on the numbers, only to have the ball pop up in the air where it was snagged by Giants corner Cor'Dale Flott. 

Dropped balls were a theme for the Falcons wideouts, with a couple really bad drops on the first drive by Ray-Ray McCloud and Drake London that helped lead to an Atlanta punt. I wondered before the game if catching a ball from a lefty -- and switching from a righty to a lefty midseason might be problematic -- and it's possible those early looks with the different spin disrupted things for some of the receivers. 

London later had a touchdown pass thrown his way that was a borderline "should catch" but it got dropped. The Falcons would feed Bijan Robinson for his second short touchdown of the day on the play immediately following the short pass attempt. It wouldn't have been unreasonable for Penix to finish with a pair of touchdowns minimum. 

Penix's stats were "hurt" by Atlanta's defense as well, with the Falcons uncharacteristically exploding on defense for a pair of scores, picking off Drew Lock twice and taking it to the end zone, reducing the need to be aggressive in the passing game and/or to even really throw. 

But all throughout the day, Penix looked comfortable in the pocket, moved well and showed exceptional ball placement to almost every area of the field. He used his legs when he needed to and didn't force any unnecessary mistakes. He did NOT look like a rookie quarterback being thrust into the middle of a season. Next Gen Stats gives Penix a positive completion rate over expectation and noted he was pressured on almost 50 percent of his dropbacks, yet didn't take a single sack in the game. He didn't try to really stretch the field vertically, but the Falcons weren't in a position where they needed to fire off a bunch of deep shots at any point in this game. When he did throw the ball down the field, Penix was extremely accurate. 

He has the weapons at his disposal to be a very dangerous quarterback and plays behind a stout offensive line. There's no reason he can't take off out of the gate. 

Which is precisely why the Falcons made this move. At 7-7, they were in serious danger of missing the postseason with Kirk Cousins struggling, throwing just one touchdown and nine picks over a five-game stretch that pushed Atlanta out of the division lead and into the maw that is the wild card. They woke up Monday back in first place, thanks to the Buccaneers loss in Dallas. Talk about a surprising Sunday night plot twist in the Falcons' favor. 

The Falcons, at least based on the play-calling near the goal line, probably preferred Penix's career to start with a little bigger splash than it did. But they want to him to win football games and they did just that on Sunday. Given the easy W and a spot atop the division, they're far from disappointed. 

Let them eat moldy bread 

The Lions suffered another slew of injuries in Week 15, leading to an epic, expletive-laden rant from Dan Campbell about eating "moldy bread" after a loss and moving forward with the healthy guys on their roster. Man, Detroit did just that Sunday against the Bears, thumping Chicago 34-17 on the road to strengthen its hold on the No. 1 seed in the NFC. 

Campbell's interview felt like a message the Lions might lean into needing to win in shootouts, and that appeared to be exactly the case early on against Chicago. Jared Goff was slinging it early and finished with an outstanding outing, going 23 for 32 for 336 yards, three touchdowns and no picks. That included a bomb to speedster Jameson Williams and a ridiculous fake-fumble (!), play-action touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta. 

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is a literal psychopath for drawing that up. He's not crazy, however, for feeding Jahymr Gibbs, who looks like he's going to be a fantasy league winner for a lot of people given his usage with David Montgomery out. The Lions coaching staff didn't flinch when it came to Gibbs, giving him exactly the kind of full workload you'd expect with Montgomery missing.

Gibbs was as advertised, too, running between the tackles in a physical fashion while carrying the ball 23 times for 109 yards and a score on the ground. 

No one wrote the Lions off before this week, but it felt like the injuries might be too much to overcome in terms of their pursuing a Super Bowl. Given how explosive the offense remains, I'm not sure anyone should count them out. 

Jayden Daniels is HIM

Washington moved to 10-5 with its 36-33 win over the Eagles. The Commanders look like they're headed to the playoffs, but even if they weren't, Washington should feel incredible about what it has at quarterback. We've seen this story before this season with Daniels, which makes it even more impressive. 

Daniels is now the first rookie quarterback in NFL history with multiple go-ahead passing touchdowns with 30 seconds or less in a single season.

Even before his laser touchdown pass, Daniels made some monster plays, including a clutch scramble on 4th-and-11 to keep the Commanders alive. 

The touchdown pass itself, coming with just a few seconds remaining and the Commanders looking to upend the Eagles -- and oh by the way, keep their division hopes alive -- was an absolute laser to the back of the end zone. 

It was Daniels' fifth of the day, and the second passing touchdown to Jamison Crowder, which doesn't feel like a real sentence that should take place in 2024. 

Jalen Hurts left this game concussed and that certainly mattered. But Philly had Saquon Barkley rolling behind the offensive line and had a pretty substantial lead that looked like it put this game away. 

Daniels just has the ability to keep his team in games because of the combination of his athleticism and his live arm. Even though Philly was forced to trot out Kenny Pickett (who actually looked decent early) it should have held on to win this game. Daniels said no, firmly, and the Commanders surged into good playoff position with a long shot to steal the division. 

If they miss the playoffs or simply get booted in the first round, it won't really matter. The Commanders have their franchise quarterback. Daniels has left no doubt about it.