OH BOY WE GOT SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT — Let's get this straight: I thought Michael Penix Jr. was very solid in his first start. As I was watching Penix lead this Falcons offense in the team's 34-7 win over the New York Giants Sunday night I came to that conclusion pretty early on. I thought he was crisp in majority of his throws. I thought he ran a clean operation, too.

But hear me when I say this: For as good as I thought Penix was in the moment, I thought he was even better upon review of the all-22 film.

What makes film review so fun is that you learn something new every time you cut on the tape. Watching Penix's performance from the press box Sunday afternoon was one thing. But watching the all-22? With shots from the sideline and end zone to show the coverage, the timing and split-second decision making? I learned so much more, and here are three themes that I found matter greatly when breaking down Penix's first time out with this Falcons offense.

Squashing narratives: As the pre-Draft process began following the conclusion of Penix's final year at Washington, a critique of his game was his seemingly unwillingness to throw over the middle of the field. Though Penix was as good as they came in college football hitting the deep ball, his accuracy in the intermediate game left evaluators questioning.

"The bigger concern with Penix entering the draft last season was his lack of production over the middle of the field — and his general unwillingness to even test the area when routes were open there," The Athletic's Nick Baumgardner wrote. "The sword of playing for a coach like (Kalen) DeBoer cuts both ways. We see all the great throws you hit, but we also see all the would-be-great throws you never released, either because you didn't spot them or weren't ready to release the football."

Within Zac Robinson's scheme, however, the middle of the field is where someone like Drake London thrives. Receptions between the numbers, particularly those 10-15 yards from the line of scrimmage, have been a staple of London's production this season (production that is nearing 1,000 receiving yards on the season I might add). He leads all Falcons players with 41 targets in the middle third of the field, according to Next Gen Stats. It's a soft part of the defense that Kirk Cousins exploited on a few occasions. Could Penix? The answer came quickly when Penix's second pass hit none other than London over the middle.

But it wasn't a one-and-done occurrence. The Giants' middle linebackers and members of the secondary were giving that spot on the field up all night. And in the example of a second-down play with nine minutes to go in the first quarter, Penix read the defense perfectly. Micah McFadden crashed to the line of scrimmage upon the snap, leaving a vacancy filled by London. Penix easily drove the ball to his big-bodied receiver. No one will talk much about this play, but it was the first time I took note that Penix is seeing things correctly.

By my count, Penix hit a Falcons receiver on a crossing route through the middle of the field six times. Those six throws resulted in 84 passing yards. According to The 33rd Team, those numbers were even better when you look at his totals when targeting receivers inside the numbers. By that crew's count, Penix was a perfect 11-of-11 on such throws, with 143 passing yards and eight first downs.

So, perhaps we can put the narrative to bed that Penix can only hit the go-route down the sideline?

Good decision making, even in the misses: Majority of Penix's incompletions came in the first quarter, which for a first-time starter is not only expected but fair. Penix was 2-of-6 (33.3%) in the first quarter, but then went 16-of-21 (71.6%) the rest of the way. And to be honest, one could argue two of his incompletions were drops by Ray-Ray McCloud on the first pass play of the game and by London a few plays later, which was more of a toss-up (Penix would probably say he'd need to put it on him a big more, while London would say if it hit his hands he should catch it).

But here's the thing about Penix's incompletions, very few — if any — are what I would consider to be the wrong decision on his part. There was a deep shot to Darnell Mooney in the second quarter that I'll use as an example. Pressure was on Penix pretty quickly as Giants ILB Darius Muasau ran past Chris Lindstrom. Maneuvering to his left, Penix tossed a ball downfield to Mooney, who had the inside position on the defender in coverage. With Muasau's arms wrapped around Penix's legs, he couldn't set his feet properly to get enough juice on the ball to get it downfield far enough to give Mooney an easier play. If Penix gets a split second longer to drive off his back foot, that's an explosive play of 20-plus yards. It was a play I will take in the flow of a game, particularly if the quarterback is under pressure. Despite the throw not getting quite to Mooney, it wasn't the wrong decision. It was the right one.

Another example was the fade in the first quarter to London down the right side of the field and — later — a first-down toss to London at the goal line. Both were examples of Penix just not getting the ball high enough for London to do what he does best, which is high-point a 50/50 ball. Those moments was a direct reflection not of Penix making the wrong decision with the ball (no, those were the right decisions), but of Penix's growing connection with London and the other Falcons pass-catchers. Don't forget these are the first true, live game reps Penix is getting with the first-team offense. A lot of what we saw from Penix's misses — especially early — was a reflection of these being his first such reps. The intention, though, was right on the money even if it'll take a little bit of time to get those connections solidified. But if this is Day 1? It still looked pretty good.

And hey, now Penix knows to give London a jump ball.

"What you saw out there (Sunday) — a couple missed throws, stuff like that," Penix himself said postgame, "it's only going to get better as we continue to work and get more of a connection."

Cleanliness: This note is just as much a compliment to the coaching staff and offensive line as it is to Penix. From start to finish, the Falcons' offensive operation was clean. The Falcons did not have one procedural penalty on Sunday. In fact, they were only penalized as an offense three times. Once was an unnecessary roughness on London after Kyle Pitts' bobbled a Penix pass and it was picked off. The other two were offensive holding calls on Drew Dalman and Matthew Bergeron. Bergeron's penalty was declined by the Giants. But that was it, and to be honest? I will take heat-of-the-moment penalties like a couple holding calls here and there all day over false starts, illegals shifts, delay of games, etc.

Penix didn't show any signs of being a first-time signal caller of this offense. The Falcons had seemingly no issue getting the play call in and Penix not only communicating it effectively, but getting production within the play itself. So, that's one piece of the cleanliness theme. The other piece has to do with the pockets Penix was operating out of.

More often than not, Penix operated out of relatively clean pockets. I say "relatively" clean because this is the NFL. Pockets are not supposed to be too clean if a defensive front is doing their job right. According to Next Gen Stats, Penix was pressure 14 times, which was at a rate of less than 50% of his total dropbacks. Penix averaged a healthy 2.41 seconds in the pocket, which is right in line with the league-wide average.

What's important to note about Penix, though, was that even when he was pressured, he limited the damage of a pass rush. He did not take a sack Sunday and the amount of times he was truly hit was minuscule, only twice according to NFLGSIS.

All in all, Penix's first start as Falcons quarterback was a good one. He was solid in every facet the Falcons needed him to be. He wasn't perfect. No quarterback ever is — heck, no person ever is. But I have to say, when Raheem Morris said postgame that Penix played nearly flawless football, I shrugged. Sure it was good, but it wasn't that good. Right?

The all-22 begs to differ.