For the second week in a row, the Falcons’ offense came up small in a loss, this time to the Chicago Bears.

Atlanta managed next to nothing in the first half outside of one impressive touchdown drive, which let the Bears own the time of possession battle — a trend that bled into the third quarter. The Falcons entered the fourth with just seven points, and while they did mount a courageous comeback attempt in the final 11 minutes, it was ultimately too little, too late.

Naturally, most of the blame will land on Michael Penix Jr. That’s just how it works at the quarterback position in this league, and there’s no denying there are flaws in the third-year passer’s game that have to be cleaned up if he’s going to be the long-term answer in Atlanta.

But pinning the last two weeks entirely on Penix misses others areas of the offense that have vastly underachieved — mainly the offensive line, which let the Bears live in the backfield nearly every time he dropped back.

“One thing they need to do is protect Penix better. For the game, Penix was pressured on 46% of his dropbacks, and he was blitzed at the second-highest rate of his career,” Marc Raimondi writes for ESPN. “He was 1-of-4 with three sacks when pressured. That was an issue in last week’s loss to the Ravens. Penix is not a very mobile QB, so Atlanta needs to figure out a way to keep a cleaner pocket or call plays that take a shorter time to develop. But either way, they must ride with Penix. It was not pretty when he was out this season.”

Chicago got Penix to the ground five times — one of them a strip-sack that ended Atlanta’s final bid to tie it late in the fourth. A couple of those a more experienced quarterback probably avoids, but too often Penix was playing with one hand tied behind his back.

This is a unit that has to be better if the Falcons want anything resembling consistency on offense. In the run game, it’s among the best in the league at opening holes for Bijan Robinson. In pass protection, it’s a mess — and some of that comes down to the personnel.

With a left-handed quarterback, right tackle is the single most important spot on the line. Jawaan Taylor has been a serviceable stopgap, but it’s a position that needs an upgrade.

And on the left side, we may be watching the end of the road for Jake Matthews. The longest-tenured Falcon has been a fixture since Atlanta took him 6th overall in 2014 — an ironman who’ll deserve a spot in the franchise’s Ring of Honor not long after he hangs it up.

But sentiment aside, Matthews has been a liability at left tackle this season. He’s battled a couple of nagging injuries, so there’s hope he turns it around over the final 11 games. If he doesn’t, finding his replacement has to be near the top of the offseason to-do list. Matthews is about to turn 35, and Father Time doesn’t make exceptions.

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Photo: IMAGO / Icon Sportswire