The New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons play a must-win game on Monday Night Football to close out Week 4 of the 202 NFL season. However, the quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is not going to be featured.
Tua Tagovailoa is not starting because Michael Penix Jr. has returned from injury to take the starting quarterback job for the Atlanta Falcons. Hence, Tua is now relegated to a backup role. The starting and backup QBs on Saints vs Falcons matchup are defined.
Tagovailoa was, at one point, scheduled to be the starter for Week 1. However, the former Miami Dolphins QB suffered a back injury. Now, he has been relegated to being a backup for another leftie signal-caller. As for the running backs, both the Saints and Falcons have their depth charts defined for this MNF game.
The first Falcons QB in 2026 was complicated
With Tagovailoa’s back injury and Penix still recovering from a knee injury, the Falcons used veteran Cooper Rush. He was just underwhelming throughout the first two weeks, even getting benched in Week 2 for 4th-stringer Jack Strand, who got intercepted immediately after entering the game.
Cooper Rush #13 of the Atlanta Falcons
Rush completed just 22 of 39 passes for 56.4% completion, 229 yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions. Hence, the Falcons were grateful to see Penix coming back. Now, Tua is back, but he is QB2.
Penix shined in his 2026 debut
In his first game, Penix delivered on primetime against the Green Bay Packers. Penix completed 18/25 passes for a 72% completion. With that, Penix racked up 256 yards, and one touchdown. Penix threw an interception in his first drive, but he overcame the obstacles and delivered a very good perfomance.
His final tally saw him get a 101.4 passer rating. Now, Penix should be more settled and the offense should look even better. However, with Penix under center, wideout Drake London looked phenomenal with 194 yards, while running back Bijan Robinson had the same yards rushing.
Key takeaways
- Tua Tagovailoa is serving as the backup quarterback after Michael Penix Jr. returned from injury.
- Cooper Rush threw four interceptions and 229 yards across the first two weeks.
- Penix completed 18 of 25 passes for 256 yards in his season debut.
