The Atlanta Falcons took a tough 34-17 loss in Week 9 to the Cincinnati Bengals in Madrid. The Falcons came into this game after losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where they weren't able to put any points on the board, and Michael Penix Jr. finished that game with four interceptions. He said that he would be better moving forward, and though he was, it still wasn't good enough to keep up with the Bengals.

As far as the Falcons' defense, they had a tall task going up against a red-hot Bengals' offense, and Joe Burrow had himself a day, as well as Ja'Marr Chase.

There are a few reasons why the Falcons fell in this one, and here they are.

Falcons' secondary couldn't keep up with the Bengals' receivers

It was the Burrow and Chase show for the Bengals in the first half, and the Falcons didn't have an answer for anything they threw at them. If the Falcons played man, AJ Terrell didn't have the speed or elusiveness to keep up with Chase, which is how he got beat for the Bengals' first touchdown of the game. If they went zone, Chase just found the sweet spot and made a play there.

If it wasn't Chase, it was Tee Higgins who was catching almost any pass that Burrow threw. Terrell and CJ Henderson had a long day as the outside cornerbacks, and it felt like there wasn't much they could do to stop them.

No discipline on offense

The Falcons had a clean drive to start the game, but after that, it was hard for them to score the rest of their points because of undisciplined play. There were too many times throughout the game when the Falcons were getting called for penalties such as false starts and holding. That would take them out of position to pick up a first down, or even take them out of scoring position.

The Falcons finished the game with 12 penalties, compared to just six by the Bengals.

Michael Penix Jr. bounces back, but it still wasn't good

Penix didn't lie when he said he would be better than in his last game against the Buccaneers, but it's really hard to do worse than throw four interceptions. He finished this game with 162 yards for one touchdown and one interception, but that wasn't good enough for the Falcons. He still missed some key throws, and he looked rattled in the pocket when the Bengals put pressure on him.

If Penix continues to perform at this level, it'll be interesting to see if they make a change.