Michael Penix Jr. just struck a nerve by calling out injured Bills star
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. is nothing if not confident. Following the best start of Penix's young career, the Falcons will host the 4-1 Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football in their most revealing test yet.
It won't come easy for the Dirty Birds on either side of the ball, but QB1 is feeling confident. Bills star defensive tackle Ed Oliver has missed the last four games with an ankle injury, and is expected to return in Week 6—but Penix said he wants Oliver to play to make things that much more challenging.
Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. on Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver: "I hope he's healthy. If he plays, we're still going to play our football."
— Terrin Waack (@TerrinWaack) October 9, 2025
The Bills' defense is one of the best units in the NFL, especially against young quarterbacks, but the second-year quarterback remains unfazed. He's not one from a challenge, which is how he took Kirk Cousins' job last season to begin with.
Michael Penix Jr. isn't worried about Ed Oliver's return
In Week 1 against the Ravens, Oliver recorded a sack, six tackles, three tackles for loss, and a game-saving forced fumble against Baltimore's Derrick Henry, which helped Buffalo come back and win 41-40.
According to ESPN analytics, the Bills rank 20th in the NFL with a 30% run stop win rate, and much of that decline traces back to life without their disruptive interior anchor.
For a Falcons team whose identity hinges on activity in the trenches, that matchup will be pivotal. Atlanta ranks sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game as both Bijan Robinson have gotten off to a sizzling start in 2025—while Robinson is poised to make his second straight Pro Bowl this season.
Unfortunately, the offensive line hasn't held up as well against the run compared to the pass, as the team is 28th in run block win rate compared to seventh in pass block win rate.
The Bills are fresh off of a heartbreaking Week 5 loss to the Patriots on Sunday Night Football where their defensive implosion saw Drake Maye and New England hand them their first loss of the year.
However, Buffalo still boasts one of the NFL's most potent offenses, so fans will need to see more of the Penix they saw in Week 4 against the Commanders.
The rookie has quickly become the heartbeat of Raheem Morris’ vision in Atlanta — poised, unbothered, and ready for the moment. And come Monday night, under the bright lights, he’ll get his wish: a chance to prove that his confidence is authentic.
Phillies had no answer as Dodgers managed their biggest weakness perfectly
The Philadelphia Phillies had a path to win the National League Division Series before it began. The Los Angeles Dodgers came in as the defending World Series champions, but they had holes in their roster as much as anyone else. They had a leaky bullpen going into the playoffs, but you wouldn't know it with how well the Dodgers managed their bullpen throughout the four games.
The Dodgers' bullpen was the part of the roster the Phillies' offense had to get to in order to succeed. As long as the Phillies could hang in against the Dodgers' starting pitching, they'd have a chance in the later innings. The Dodgers made adjustments with a shortened playoff series and outlasted the Phillies to win the series.
Dodgers managed their bullpen to perfection in NLDS to shut down Phillies
The top of the lineup had to apply pressure for the Phillies to have a chance in the series, but they instead made the eight runs they scored in Game 3 look more like a fluke. In Game 4, the top three hitters of Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper sang a familiar tune, going a combined 1-for-14. As a team, they only scratched across four hits total. The Dodgers' bullpen came out on top in the end.
In the regular season, the Dodgers' bullpen ranked 21st with a bullpen ERA of 4.27. Ironically enough, they finished tied with the Phillies. They also had a 10.38 ERA over the two Wild Card games against a Cincinnati Reds offense that didn't impose any substantial threat. The Dodgers learned from that and approached things differently once they played the Phillies.
The Dodgers barely used traditional relievers for the entire four-game NLDS. They leaned heavily on extra starters to get the job done, and unfortunately, it worked to perfection. The one thing that few teams in MLB can go toe-to-toe with the Dodgers on is the depth of their starting rotation.
Roki Sasaki, a rookie who sported a 4.46 ERA across 10 games (eight starts) this season, was moved to the bullpen for the playoffs. He proceeded to throw 4 1/3 shutout innings against the Phillies, including three perfect innings in the clinching Game 4.
The Dodgers also deployed Tyler Glasnow and Emmet Sheehan out of the bullpen, limiting any threat the Phillies thought they could muster late in games. The only real success the Phillies had against the Dodgers' bullpen was facing 37-year-old Clayton Kershaw when he was hung out to dry in Game 3 and against Blake Treinen, who they scored twice against in Game 2 but ultimately fell one run short of a comeback.
The beauty and agony of a short playoff series is that every moment is amplified. Every game means more, and as a result, teams manipulate their pitching staffs to minimize any weakness. The Dodgers did it well and showed the Phillies the door in another early playoff exit.
