Slowly but surely the secret is coming out that Michael Penix Jr. has officially arrived as a franchise quarterback. The Atlanta Falcons' starter has been exceptional since returning to the lineup in Week 3, racking up nine touchdown passes to go with just one interception.

Penix is fresh off his best game of the season, totaling three scores and no turnovers against a top-five San Francisco 49ers defense.

That should have gotten Penix a huge bump in the weekly NFL.com quarterback rankings, but he only saw a modest gain of one spot, coming in at No. 12. That puts him in-between two former league MVPs, one spot below Patrick Mahomes and one above Matt Stafford.

"Michael Penix Jr. looks very comfortable and decisive in Kevin Stefanski’s offense, freely spreading the ball among his many talented targets at a rate I haven’t seen from him previously in his NFL career. Penix's contributions were especially important in a game in which Bijan Robinson fell short of breaking things open on the ground, and a reason to take the Falcons seriously going forward."

While the small gain is a little disappointing, keep in mind that Penix wasn't even listed in most quarterback rankings going into the season. Instead, it was Tua Tagovailoa representing the Falcons, usually somewhere between Nos. 30 and 32 among projected starters.

Tagovailoa never managed to secure Atlanta's QB1 job, though - so as soon as Penix was healthy he took over and right now it looks like he will never surrender it again - at least until his career cools down years from now.

Next up, Penix will face Todd Bowles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa ranks 14th against the pass and second against the run, so this may be another case where Penix has to carry the Falcons offense if the Bucs manage to slow down Bijan Robinson as the Niners did.