LANDOVER, Md. – Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. fell to his knees with his hands on his knees while his head dropped to waist level.

Penix’s third down pass to receiver Drake London sailed high and wide to the right. His Falcons faced a four-and-goal from the 13-yard line in Sunday night’s game against the Washington Commanders and needed a touchdown to overcome a 24-17 deficit with 100 seconds left in Sunday night’s game against to balance the Washington Commanders.

The problem? Penix hadn’t thrown an NFL touchdown in his first 63 attempts. The moment? Atlanta desperately needed a win to win the NFC South for the first time in eight years and make the playoffs for the first time in seven years.

But Penix, who was making his second NFL start, was unfazed.

The 24-year-old delivered a strike over the middle to tight end Kyle Pitts, who fell into the end zone for one of the biggest catches of his 60-game professional career. The extra point was good and Atlanta tied it.

“This is what happens when we’re on the same page and we’re all playing at a high level – we make great plays,” Penix said after the game. “We have the players who can do it, we just have to be consistent and find ways to win. Find ways to win.”

But the Falcons didn’t think so on Sunday night.

After a missed field goal, a lost coin toss and a methodical winning touchdown attack by the Commanders (11-5), the Falcons (8-8) left Northwest Stadium with a 30-24 overtime loss.

Atlanta, as it has become so familiar over the last seven years, suffered heartbreak in December – but this time with a little spark in its eye.

“I had fun this year, I had a lot of fun,” London said after the game. “One more game to go and we want to have even more fun. This is a growing team. We have a young core, a young cast, and I just feel like if we continue to come together, then we’ll have it. More time together – there are no limits for us.”

London, a third-year pro, secured his first 1,000-yard season as a pro with a seven-catch, 106-yard performance. Running back Bijan Robinson scored two rushing touchdowns in his second NFL season on Sunday, the fourth time he has done so this year.

Penix finished the game completing 19-for-35 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Pitts, a fourth-year pro contracted to return in 2025, caught his first touchdown since Oct. 27.

Each of Atlanta’s four key top-10 picks delivered on Sunday night. This is where London’s optimism comes in, and it is rooted in the right mix in the long term.

But on Sunday the sky fell – at least for this year.

“I really went into this game, like all of us, expecting to win this game, win Carolina and get ready for what we’re getting ready for (in the playoffs),” safety Justin Simmons said after the game. “So it’s going to take a second and now after 24 hours I just have to regroup and focus fully on Carolina.”

The Falcons’ 17-7 halftime lead evaporated in nearly 17 minutes early in the second half, in which their offense ran just three plays while Washington had the ball for all but two minutes.

Atlanta’s ground game, which had 101 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, totaled 25 yards on just six carries in the second half. Counting overtime, when the Commanders had the ball for the entire 7:15 period, Atlanta only held the ball for nine minutes after halftime.

And while the Falcons’ offense fell by the wayside, their defense faltered – in part, Simmons said, because of their self-inflicted wounds, be they penalties or missed tackles.

Washington didn’t necessarily change anything in its offensive approach to create the extended drives, outside linebacker Arnold Ebiketie said. Instead, star rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels simply took over.

“I think Jayden Daniels kind of started fighting a little bit more,” Ebiketie said. “He kind of took the game into his own hands. So he is a good player. We expected something like that, so it was just a matter of controlling him a little more in the second half.”

Daniels surpassed 100 rushing yards for the first time in his NFL career. He managed just two carries for 24 yards in the first half, but ran 14 times for 103 yards in the second half and overtime.

Penix has since become mortal. On Atlanta’s first two drives of the second half, he fumbled twice while being sacked, something he said after the game he had never really done before. He acknowledged that he needs to do a better job of moving the ball forward.

There were a few throws that Penix seemed frustrated with during Sunday’s game, and he said he missed some passes that he normally makes. He and London chatted at halftime, during which Penix admitted he needed to give London more catchable targets.

London downplayed it, noting that the two didn’t have enough time for work. Chemistry isn’t typically an issue in Week 17 — but it’s a work in progress for the Falcons, who subbed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​for Penix after Week 15.

Growing pains were to be expected for Penix, the No. 8 overall pick in April’s draft, who had thrown just five passes in two appearances in a period full of overwhelming defeats before being named the starter.

He felt it more strongly Sunday night than he did in his first start on Dec. 22 against the New York Giants — but he also showed the grit, arm talent and leadership skills that made Falcons coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot fall in love this spring .

The tangible properties of Penix are well documented. Its intangibles, perhaps not so much. Until Sunday, when Penix showed what London called his “dog mentality.”

“He’s an absolute dog, and he stays even-keeled,” London said. “You might not see it, but he definitely has that shit in his eyes. …When he misses his opps and stuff, he’s mad at himself. He’s not mad at (anyone) else. So to have a quarterback like that. “It’s amazing to see him grow as a person and as a football player.”

But it still wasn’t enough.

Now the Falcons only have a 12% chance of making the playoffs The athlete‘s playoff prediction. Atlanta must beat the Carolina Panthers (4-12) on Sunday at 1 p.m. and hope that the New Orleans Saints (5-11) simultaneously beat the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7). Both the Falcons and Buccaneers are at home in their respective matchups.

And so the Falcons, who were 6-3 in early November and had a two-game lead – plus a tiebreaker – over the Buccaneers, are heading into their seventh straight year without a playoff appearance.

“We put ourselves in the situation,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said after the game. “We were so close to being in control of our destiny and we let it slip away. And that is the reality. We have to allow it to hurt. We have to allow it to burn.”

An hour before kick-off of Sunday’s game, it rained heavily on the pitch. A little more than four hours later, the night ended with watery eyes and broken hearts in the cramped Atlanta locker room.

But it also ended with a feeling that a star might have been born — and an uneasy but familiar confidence that next season might be different.