Falcons’ Kirk Cousins under scrutiny after uninspiring victory
The questions surrounding Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons offense were loud entering Monday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders. However, after an uninspiring 15-9 victory, Falcons fans are leaving the casinos frustrated. It’s not because they didn’t bet on Black at the roulette tables.
Cousins finished the night 11-of-17 for 112 passing yards. He had a touchdown pass to Drake London in the first quarter. But, he also threw an interception. In the post game press conference, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was mum regarding calls to bench Cousins.
“He’s got to play better. Obviously, you have to go back and look at everything. He wants to play better. He’s got to play better. We got to find a way to get him to play better,” Morris said of Cousins. “We’ll get to work (Tuesday) and that’s part of our process. You go and you look at the tape and review it with the people that it needs to be reviewed with. We’ll get all the coordinators in the room. We’ll talk with everybody. We got to play better at the quarterback position.”
At this point, the Falcons must run the table and hope for the NFC South division leaders, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to lose one of their remaining three games. Atlanta finishes with the Giants, visits the Commanders, and finishes with the Panthers at home. Tampa visits the Cowboys, has home games against the Panthers and Saints.
Six weeks ago, the idea of the Falcons being on the outside of the playoff picture was unconscionable. The Falcons were 6-3 on November 3rd after defeating the Dallas Cowboys. The Dirty Birds were flying high and heading into New Orleans, the fans hosted a second-line through the French Quarter the day before playing the hapless Saints.
Falcons currently reside in the House of Pain
The Falcons would go on to lose four straight games and look gunshy against a Raiders team that’s focused on 2025. During that stretch, Kirk Cousins has thrown nine interceptions and only one touchdown. Kirk Cousins was Swag Surfing in October. In December, Kirk Cousins is Tweaking. The Falcons’ performance after the bye week is like this Rod Wave quote: Before it gets better, it’s gone get worse.
The calls for Michael Penix Jr. are growing in Atlanta. Let’s face it. Bo Nix, a rookie quarterback who has started four combined years at Auburn and Oregon, has the Denver Broncos on the cusp of making the playoffs. Jayden Daniels, a rookie quarterback who has started four combined years at Arizona State and LSU, has the Commanders on the cusp of making the playoffs.
However, the Falcons have a quarterback that is making $100,000,000 guaranteed over this season and next year. The calls for Michael Penix Jr. to play make great fodder for social media, talk radio, and podcasts. Yes, the Falcons drafted Penix to be the future of the franchise. But, the real solution resides with Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson. It’s up to them to get Cousins’s season turned around quickly.
In Atlanta’s case, they have fumbled the bag. Can the give Arthur Blank what he asked for when he hired Raheem Morris: a division title and playoff game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in January?
