Raheem Morris is trying to hide his failures behind Michael Penix Jr.

Thomas Dimitroff’s first-ever pick was Matt Ryan, the greatest player in franchise history. The stability and success Ryan brought to the Falcons kept Dimitroff, Mike Smith, and Dan Quinn employed longer than they should’ve been, and Michael Penix Jr. could do the same for Raheem Morris and Terry Fontenot.

Now, I’m not comparing Penix to Ryan, even if the former looks like he’s the next franchise quarterback. However, the two situations are similar, and Morris is already parading Penix around like Atlanta’s savior. All I can think is the Falcons head coach is hiding his failures behind Penix.

In the face of absolute failure, after Raheem Morris’ defense gave up 44 points, Atlanta’s head coach pointed to his quarterback as a reason to be optimistic about the future.

“The light at the end of the tunnel for us in spite of how bad we played on defense or anywhere is the quarterback,” Morris said. “If you’re a fan and you look out there at Michael Penix, you have to be excited. When you have a young guy like that at quarterback, you’re cooking with gas. That’s what gets me fired up, in spite of how angry I am or pissed off right now, when you look at No. 9 he gives us the best chance to win football games moving forward.”

That reads a lot like he’s talking to Arthur Blank.

“Hey, I’m pissed off we missed the playoffs, but look at this shiny new toy that we found!”

The Falcons seem to have found their next franchise quarterback. Michael Penix Jr. has shown enough in three games to spark that kind of confidence; however, Raheem Morris has no business leading this football team.

Instead of standing on his own merit, Morris is hiding behind Penix. The Falcons failed to finish above .500 while missing the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season despite having a commanding lead over the Buccaneers a couple of months ago and playing in the worst division in football.

The Falcons pissed down their leg, and the buck stops with Raheem Morris. There’s no reason to let Michael Penix Jr.’s promise absolve Morris of his own failures.

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Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire