Michael Penix Jr.: Win over Bills shows Falcons are 'legit' - ESPN

ATLANTA — Michael Penix Jr. made his Monday Night Football debut and the result was everything the Atlanta Falcons could have wanted.

Penix, along with incredible performances by running back Bijan Robinson and wide receiver Drake London, led the Falcons to a 24-14 win over the Buffalo Bills at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Penix was 20-of-32 for 250 yards and a touchdown. Robinson had 238 yards from scrimmage, the second highest single-game total this season, including an 81-yard touchdown run. London had 10 catches for 158 yards and a touchdown.

The Falcons are now 3-2 with three victories over teams that were in the playoffs last season: the Bills, Washington Commanders and Minnesota Vikings.

«It showed that we're one of the ones,» Penix said of the victory over the Bills. «This team is really good. This team is really legit.»

The Falcons have not made the playoffs nor had a winning record since 2017.

«There is no secret,» Falcons second-year head coach Raheem Morris said. «We want to be a playoff organization. We want to be able to go compete in those types of games and we played one tonight and there's going to be no secret. Nobody is going to shy away from those moments. We've got to go do it, but those are the moments you want. Those are the moments you strive for.

»Those are the things you dream about from a coaching standpoint, a playing standpoint, an ownership standpoint — all of those things we want to be a part of and I think that was just something that we wanted to go out there show tonight."

As good as the offense looked, the defense might have been even better. The Falcons blitzed Bills quarterback Josh Allen constantly — 71% of the time in the second half ­-- and pressured him on 47.1% of his dropbacks, per