The Atlanta Falcons are now just about a week away from the regular season , and no final decision has been made on who the starting quarterback is going to be between Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa.
Fascinatingly, the team decided to keep four on the roster when cutdown day arrived with both Jack Strand and Cooper Rush being retained, but now the Week 1 starter decision is running out of time to be made. In fact, Atlanta is the only team left in the league who has not yet made the announcement.
Things took another interesting twist this week when general manager Ian Cunningham addressed the media and stated that the choice is being made not only by new head coach Kevin Stefanski, but also by him, President of Football Matt Ryan, and owner Arthur Blank. It's not to say Stefanski does not make the final call, but it does provide an interesting glimpse into how the team is operating.
"We all talk about it," Cunningham said. "We all have been talking about it forever. So, at the end of the day, we'll make the decision, and when it's time to make the decision, we'll let you know."
Ultimately, a decision is likely to come at any moment, but regardless of whether it is Tagovailoa or Penix, Cunningham certainly is shedding some light on the way decisions will be made by this new regime. Rather than the buck stopping with one, Atlanta seems insistent on getting multiple opinions involved.
Every team does and says this to a degree, but generally speaking, the head coach is the one making all lineup decisions. The Falcons are clearly serious about trying to turn around the fortunes of this franchise, which means every decision is going to be scrutinized by the fanbase and discussed.
Clearly though, there is a nice amount of cohesion from the coaching staff all the way up the chain of command to ownership. Whether or not this works out in the long term remains to be seen, but Atlanta is committed to doing things in a new way.
The first big decision of the new regime is going to come any day now, and between Tagovailoa and Penix, both are likely eager to hear their fate. Regardless, Week 1 is coming, and it's coming faster than anyone thought it could.
