After two years of spinning their wheels in the dirt, the Atlanta Falcons invested heavily in the quarterback position during the 2024 NFL offseason. The team signed Kirk Cousins signed a four-year, $180 million contract in free agency before drafting Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick.
With players like Drake London, Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson playing on their rookie contracts, it made sense for the Falcons to get aggressive at the game’s most important position. However, the offense struggled in Week 1 as Atlanta scored just 10 points.
Cousins passed for 155 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while playing primarily out of the pistol formation. The Falcons did not run a single play-action pass, which makes little sense considering Cousins’ skill set and playing style.
NFL analysts Mina Kimes and Domonique Foxworth were puzzled by the Falcons’ offensive play-calling and use of Cousins in Week 1.
“I mean the entire premise of him going to Atlanta was, he’s this great under-center, play-action quarterback,” said Kimes. “He can’t run under center play action right now. So the whole thing falls apart, It’s super siloed. The run game suffers for it.”
Kimes did raise some valid points, and it’s hard to envision a game plan centered around Kirk Cousins and Bijan Robinson where play action isn’t utilized. “Why did they think this would work?” Kimes asked Foxworth.
"The entire premise of him going to Atlanta was, he's this great under center play action QB. He can't run under center play action right now."
On the pod, @Foxworth24 and I discussed ATL and Kirk Cousins' limitations…
🎧: https://t.co/lOszPjfOsP
📺: https://t.co/nJinINo3dR pic.twitter.com/OUsBiFIJHI
— Mina Kimes (@minakimes) September 11, 2024
Cousins is coming off a season-ending Achilles injury, which is one possible explanation for Sunday’s play-calling decisions, but Atlanta is maintaining it was more rust than anything else.
While head coach Raheem Morris was critical of Cousins after the team’s Week 1 loss, he expressed confidence that his quarterback will get back on track at Thursday’s practice.
“I just know what he’s going to go do today — he’s gonna bring the urgency,” said Morris. “He’s gonna bring everything he has to do in order to play better to find a way to get that thing to the results that we want.”
The Falcons are 5.5-point underdogs entering their prime-time matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2.
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