Falcons Build First True Left-Handed NFL Offense in Decades — SkimNews
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- Atlanta Falcons carry two left-handed quarterbacks in Michael Penix Jr. and Tua Tagovailoa, making them potentially just the third team since 1991 — after the 1997 Jacksonville Jaguars (Mark Brunell and Steve Matthews) and 1991 Cincinnati Bengals (Boomer Esiason and Erik Wilhelm) — to start more than one lefty QB in a season.
- Michael Penix Jr. is set to start Thursday night's primetime game against the Green Bay Packers (8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video), with right-handed Cooper Rush having started Atlanta's first two games while both lefties dealt with injuries.
- Steve Young told ESPN that only 33 left-handed quarterbacks have ever appeared in an NFL game, that only he and Ken Stabler are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and that he was moved from QB to defense at BYU in 1980 because offensive coordinator Doug Scovil "hated coaching lefties" and refused to work with him.
- Falcons OC Tommy Rees has had staff flip play drawings left-handed-friendly and directed QB coach Alex Van Pelt to rework footwork teaching and receiver routes, with coaching fellow Mike Bearden tasked with reformatting the playbook for southpaw passers.
- Falcons center Ryan Neuzil is also left-handed — a coincidence that solves the snap-laces problem Young described, in which a right-handed center would snap the ball laces-down, exposing them to mud and water on wet fields.
- Jahan Dotson and other new Falcons receivers trained on Jugs machines reconfigured to mimic lefty spin, with Dotson describing a Tagovailoa pass as moving "in slow motion" midair, "turning the complete opposite way" from what he was used to.
- Right tackle Jawaan Taylor takes on the added responsibility of protecting Penix's blind side, which falls on the right (rather than left) side for left-handed quarterbacks.
Why it matters: The Falcons are attempting something the NFL has not seen in 29 years — building an offense with two left-handed starting quarterbacks simultaneously. With only 33 lefty QBs in league history and just two in the Hall of Fame, Thursday's game offers the first extended look at whether coaches can systematically neutralize the long-standing disadvantages that have historically kept southpaw passers out of the league.
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