Thursday, the Atlanta Falcons entered historic Lambeau Field as underdogs and took down the Green Bay Packers in a convincing 35-14 win.
The Falcons, now 1-2, were previously winless as their offense struggled through the first two weeks without quarterback Michael Penix Jr., who made his first appearance since tearing his ACL.
Those were a long two weeks under third-string quarterback Cooper Rush, as Atlanta's total of 16 points entered Week 3 as the lowest in the league. It's wild how quickly the narrative changes in the NFL, as the Falcons suddenly look like they have one of the league's most explosive offenses.
Some of that can be attributed to playing against a depleted Green Bay defense, still without superstar edge rusher Micah Parsons, out with an ACL injury of his own. But it also shows how important the quarterback position is in unlocking the entire offense.
The upgrade from Rush to Penix gave the Falcons a far more balanced attack and kept the Packers' defense honest. Drake London torched them through the air as much as Bijan Robinson did on the ground, with 194 yards both receiving and rushing.
Penix turned out to be the key to Atlanta unlocking its offensive weapons, which is a blueprint the Arizona Cardinals are hoping to follow in their rebuild.
Cardinals need a quarterback upgrade to unlock playmakers
There are striking similarities in the roster construction between Atlanta and Arizona.
The Falcons invested heavily in the offensive playmaking trio of Drake London, Bijan Robinson, and Kyle Pitts. Pitts was the No. 4 overall selection in 2021, London the No. 8 selection in 2022, and Robinson the No. 8 selection in 2023.
They arguably "reached" for Penix in the draft the following year, taking the Washington quarterback No. 8 in 2024. But it's hard to blame them considering how desperately the Falcons needed a signal caller to unlock all those prior draft investments.
Even with a league-average quarterback, the Falcons look like a top-10 offense. That's significant for the Cardinals as it's a very similar path in terms of their offensive roster construction. Arizona's version of London, Robinson, and Pitts is Marvin Harrison Jr., Trey McBride, and Jeremiyah Love.
Harrison has struggled early, but Falcons fans and fantasy football managers are still waiting for the anticipated Kyle Pitts breakout that never comes. Fortunately for the Cardinals, this formula still works because McBride is proving he's still the best tight end in the league this year.
Ultimately, the vision is for recent No. 3 overall selection Love to become more of that three-down back like Robinson. The overlap goes even further, as former Falcons running back Tyler Allgeier is preserving Love as he previously did with Robinson in Atlanta.
After investing heavily in their skill positions in the draft, the Cardinals are well positioned to hit the ground running as a strong offense once they find their quarterback of the future. Atlanta's success with Penix proves it doesn't even have to be an elite one, just good enough to get the ball in the hands of their elite weapons in space.
Jacoby Brissett hasn't been able to do that consistently for Arizona, recently failing to reach even 100 yards passing in Week 2 against the Seattle Seahawks. They may have reworked his contract to pay Brissett more like a starter, but this is nothing more than a replacement-level quarterback for Arizona.
Hopefully they use this Falcons blueprint as even more of a reason to spend their likely top-10 pick in the 2027 NFL Draft on a quarterback. If they can find their version of Penix, the Cardinals could raise the ceiling of this entire offense overnight by unlocking those playmakers.
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