Michael Penix Jr. is NFL’s Most ‘Clutch’ Quarterback, According to this Stat

Albeit it is a small sample size, just three games, Penix led the NFL in EPA per attempt during the final four minutes of the half. He also led the league in EPA per play last season when trailing.

EPA is short for “Expected Points Added”.  Essentially, the stat gives a quantifiable value to how much a play impacts a team’s chances of scoring points. This means that of all the quarterbacks in the NFL, each play that Penix ran with four or fewer minutes left in the half was more likely to add points for the Falcons than any other quarterback’s plays were for their team. 

Penix has been elite at putting points on the board in the final minutes of each half. In Penix’s first start against the Giants, he led a scoring drive with 1:43 left on the clock before the half. Atlanta’s defense then forced a fumble, and Penix was about to lead Atlanta to another score before Kyle Pitts gave the ball back to the Giants on a pass that hit him in the hands. 

Against the Commanders, in Penix’s second NFL game, he led Atlanta on a scoring drive just before the half, in which the Falcons scored a field goal. In the second half, he led a clutch touchdown drive, where he converted two 4th downs, including the game-tying touchdown to Kyle Pitts with just 1:19 left on the clock. 

Getting the ball back with 40 seconds, he led Atlanta on a 43-yard drive to put them in field goal range. However, a blunder by his coach, not calling a timeout, and a bad kick by Riley Patterson caused the Falcons to lose the game, despite Penix’s clutch arm.

In Penix’s third and final start of the 2024 NFL season, he led the Falcons to back-to-back scoring drives against the Panthers in the final four minutes of the first half. The second scoring drive had Atlanta marching 81 yards in just 37 seconds, capped off with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Drake London. 

In the second half, Penix got the ball down seven at Atlanta’s own 30 with 4:01 left on the clock. He marched Atlanta down the field, and Robinson scored the game-tying touchdown with 46 seconds left. The Falcons got the ball back with 17 seconds left; however, Raheem Morris ran the clock out and sent the ball to overtime, where the Falcons ultimately lost. 

Penix has been elite at driving Atlanta down the field and scoring points in the final few minutes before each half. A small sample size, and the Falcons hope to be killing the clock at the end of more games, but during the final three weeks of the season, he was the most clutch quarterback in the NFL.