Of course, Cousins will be playing the Vikings coming off his worst performance of the year against the Chargers.
The much-anticipated return of Kirk Cousins to the land of Vikings and Skol chants will be the talk of the town this week. The Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings will face off on Sunday, but before they do that we want to look back on how Kirk Cousins has faired in Atlanta this season.
Of course, Cousins will be playing the Vikings coming off his worst performance of the year against the Chargers.
Cousins kicked off the month of December with a four-interception performance against the Chargers on Sunday. One of those interceptions was a pick-six that fans enjoyed inside U.S. Bank Stadium while the Vikings were trailing.
In his last three games, Cousins has 10 turnovers, no touchdowns, and just 724 passing yards.
Brian Flores and the Vikings defense should be primed and ready to welcome him back home. Perhaps he may throw a pick-six and help the Vikings get the score they never got on that fourth checkdown.
The Broncos have to make a decision on WR Josh Reynolds this week.
The Denver Broncos will have to make a roster decision soon.
After activating linebacker Drew Sanders (Achilles) from the physically unable to perform list last week, the Broncos now need to make a decision on wide receiver Josh Reynolds (finger).
If Reynolds is not activated from injured reserve by Wednesday, he will remain on IR for the rest of the season.
Elsewhere on the IR front, running back Tyler Badie (back) is yet to return to practice. Once he returns to practice, Badie will have a 21-day window to return to the 53-man roster.
Here’s a look at the team’s IR/PUP players eligible to return going into Week 14.
Broncos eligible to return from IR/PUP
WR Josh Reynolds: Deadline to return is Dec. 4
RB Tyler Badie: Eligible to return to practice
The Broncos also have two players — linebacker Alex Singleton (ACL) and offensive lineman Quinn Bailey (ankle) — who are on season-ending IR.
Broncos on season-ending injured reserve
LB Alex Singleton: Out for season
OL Quinn Bailey: Out for season
If Denver activates Reynolds, the team will have to make a corresponding move to create a spot for Reynolds on the active roster.
The Chargers defense carried the team to victory in Week 13, which included four interceptions off Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins.
The Chargers improved to 3-0 against the NFC South on Sunday with a narrow win over the Falcons. Los Angeles’ defense finished with four interceptions, a major difference in the comeback win.
Here were the team’s biggest standouts in the massive Week 13 victory that vaulted the Chargers to an 8-4 record:
CB Tarheeb Still
What a game for the rookie fifth-rounder. Still had the play of the game in the third quarter with a 61-yard pick six. It completely flipped the momentum in the game and gave the Chargers a 17-10 lead. Earlier in the game, he had another interception. Still was impressive in coverage throughout the day and has earned even more playing time moving forward.
S Derwin James
This was one of the best performances of the season from the star safety. He was all over the field in this contest with several timely plays. The three-time Pro Bowler finished with 10 total tackles, which included a huge tackle for loss on a 3rd-and-1. James clinched the win with a game-sealing interception, his first of the season and ninth of his career.
WR Ladd McConkey
McConkey is quite clearly the Chargers’ best weapon, and he proved that again on Sunday. The rookie caught a career-high nine passes, eight of them in the first half, for 117 yards. Perhaps even more impressively, McConkey continues to play through injuries. He’s quitely become one of the most valuable players on the team, as no other Charger finished with more than two catches.
Daiyan Henley
Henley has been an underrated part of this year’s stellar defense, and that continued on Sunday. He was all over the field and finished the day with 10 total tackles. The Chargers held the talented Falcons offense to just 13 points, and Henley was a huge part of that.
Cameron Dicker
Fans often don’t fully appreciate the advantage of having a reliable kicker. Sunday illustrated just how valuable it is, as it was a primary difference in the result of the game. Dicker went 3-for-3 on his field goal tries, while Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo missed a chip shot in the first half. Ultimately, these two were the difference in the Chargers leaving Atlanta with a win.
Where do the Falcons stand in the NFC South after Sunday’s loss to the Chargers?
In a way, the Atlanta Falcons lost twice on Sunday. First, they turned the ball over four times in a 17-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers The other loss was right down the road in Charlotte, where the Panthers fumbled their chance at upsetting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in overtime.
The Buccaneers have now tied the Falcons in the NFC South standings at 6-6. Atlanta is still technically on top due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. The New Orleans Saints lost to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 13, dropping to 4-8 on the season.
NFC South standings: Week 14
Pos
Team
Record
Divisional Record
Next Opponent
1
Falcons
6-6
4-1
@ Vikings
2
Buccaneers
6-6
2-2
vs Raiders
3
Saints
4-8
2-3
@ Giants
4
Panthers
3-9
1-3
@ Eagles
All four teams have gone 2-3 over their last five games so it’s tough to imagine any of them running the table over the final five games. The Bucs have an easier schedule, but given the Falcons beat them twice, everything is up in the air.
The Falcons will travel to Minnesota to play the 10-2 Vikings in Week 14 while the Buccaneers host the Las Vegas Raiders at home. Carolina and New Orleans are essentially out of contention.
Justin Herbert had one of his worst games of 2024 and it didn’t matter because he was facing Kirk Cousins.
Kirk Cousins threw four interceptions and tossed the Atlanta Falcons’ playoff plans into disarray. Brock Purdy couldn’t handle the snow or the Buffalo Bills’ defense on Sunday night. Justin Herbert funneled nearly 80 percent of his passing offense through a single player.
Those were all bad performances. Were any bad enough to make them the most disappointing quarterback of Week 13?
Fortunately, we’ve got a metric that can help figure that out.
Using the advanced stat expected points added (EPA) can gauge how much a quarterback brings to the table compared to a typical player. By comparing each passer’s Week 13 EPA against their 2024 average to date we get a better picture of just how frustrating their performances were. And we can find both of those thanks to The Athletic’s Ben Baldwin and his incredibly useful stats sites RBSDM.com and HabitatRing.com.
This is a metric that gauges disappointment based on what we’d typically expect. Drew Lock was a disaster on Thanksgiving, but he was filling in for Tommy DeVito and, let’s be honest, who really expected much from a guy who couldn’t beat Tommy Cutlets for a starting job?
So who was actually the worst? There were several candidates but only one man can truly call himself the grossest quarterback of Week 13.
Please bear with me for any Twitter embed issues. Our editing software has become a whole problem on that front the past few weeks. Rest assured, if there’s a play alluded to in the text it’s worth clicking through to see if it didn’t make it into the article itself.
6. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
[Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: -1.8
Week 13 EPA: -4.5
Difference: 2.7 points worse
Lawrence gets a special dispensation to the gross quarterback list thanks to his ability to be very, very bad in a limited amount of time. A late, post-scramble hit from Azeez Al-Shaiir took him out of Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans in the second quarter. That was still enough time to account for nearly a touchdown’s worth of negative value.
That may still be gilding the lily. Lawrence had an open Brian Thomas Jr. for what could have been a walk-in Jacksonville touchdown. Instead, it gifted the Texans the field position that would turn into three points in a 23-20 win.
Lawrence lobbed five deep balls in 10 attempts and completed as many to his wideouts as he did to Houston defenders. He completed just four of 10 passes for 41 yards and was soundly outplayed by Mac Jones Sunday, which is a very sad statement to write.
5. Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: 1.3
Week 13 EPA: -4.4
Difference: 5.7 points worse
EPA hasn’t been kind to Herbert, greatly underselling his prowess in the pocket for an undermanned Chargers team. He’s spent the bulk of 2024 elevating a Ladd McConkey/Quentin Johnston/Joshua Palmer offense into an 8-4 record and the inside track to a playoff berth.
In Week 13, however, he was mostly forgettable. His victory over the Atlanta Falcons was more a product of the No. 3 quarterback on this list failing more than anything Herbert did in particular. Between passes, sacks and scrambles Herbert dropped back with the ball 33 times and gained 129 yards — fewer than four yards per play.
Somehow, McConkey was responsible for 117 of Herbert’s 147 passing yards (almost 80 percent) and it still wasn’t enough for the Falcons to earn a home victory because of this guy:
4. Kirk Cousins, Atlanta Falcons
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: 1.7
Week 13 EPA: -7
Difference: 8.7 points worse
The bloom has slowly been receding from Cousins’s onion as his tenure in Atlanta has worn . Week 13 may have lacked the embarrassment of getting swapped out for Michael Penix in a blowout loss, but it likely felt just as bad for the Falcons.
The onus is on Cousins to make something happen here, but he’s only down four points with more than nine minutes to play. There’s no great shame in settling for a field goal. Instead, Cousins steps up and lobs the ball to a space where three different Chargers defenders can get to it. They fail to Three Stooges their way to a drop, and Atlanta remains stuck in its hole.
In deference to Cousins, two of his four interceptions came in fourth down situations that would have been a turnover on downs anyway. That doesn’t excuse this Tarheeb Still pick-six that generated 47 percent of Los Angeles’s total points, however.
Cousins has zero touchdown passes and six interceptions in his last three games. All three were Falcons losses.
3. Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
Mark Smith-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: -2.4
Week 13 EPA: -11.8
Difference: 9.4 points worse
Rodgers’s awful Week 11 can be summed up in back to back plays. First, this brutal miss of a wide open Garrett Wilson on what should have been a touchdown to make the score 28-7.
There were several Jets chasing down Leonard Williams on that play. Rodgers was not one of them. There was little chance he’d be able to get to the absolutely motoring defensive tackle in the first place, but as a metaphor the whole play feels a bit too on the nose for the Jets’ 2024 season.
2. Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
2024 expected points added (EPA) per game: 4.0
Week 13 EPA: -7.3
Difference: 11.3 points worse
Mayfield did the work when it mattered most. With the game on the line, he marched each of the Bucs’ final five offensive drives into scoring position. This turned a 16-10 Carolina Panthers fourth quarter lead into a 23-20 Tampa Bay victory.
For a large chunk between the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the fourth, however, he looked a lot like the quarterback who’d been the NFL’s least efficient passer in 2022.
Mayfield spent 41 touchdown-less minutes letting his former team build a lead before snapping back to life late. In that stretch he threw two interceptions and had one drive (out of seven) that lasted more than five offensive plays. He was 0-for-5 with a sack and a pick in third down situations while the Panthers rallied.
When he came back online, he thrashed the intermediate range (six completions on eight throws between 10 and 19 yards downfield for 118 yards) and led Tampa Bay into a tie with the Atlanta Falcons atop the NFC South at 6-6. But for a while it looked like he might blow it in Charlotte. That was enough for him to nearly top Week 13’s disappointment ranks.
Josh Allen found a way to throw a touchdown pass to himself and the Niners’ quarterback couldn’t even hold on to the ball. Ah well, it was a snow game where pretty much everyone on the San Francisco roster stunk. He’s got five games left to rally the 49ers and try to make good on what could be a rapidly closing championship window.
Ladd McConkey, the NFL’s second-leading rookie receiver behind Brock Bowers, shredded the Falcons in his return to Georgia
Former Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Ladd McConkey returned home for the Los Angeles Chargers’ game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. McConkey is having an outstanding rookie season with the Chargers. The 2024 second round NFL draft pick has a team-high 58 receptions for 815 yards and four touchdowns this season.
McConkey, who has the 11th-most receiving yards of any player in the NFL, recorded a game-high nine receptions for 117 yards in the Chargers’ 17-13 win over the Falcons. McConkey battled through a shoulder and knee injury in his homecoming.
“We’ll regroup tomorrow, try to get back out there next week,” said McConkey in an interview with CBS after the game.
The Chatsworth, Georgia, product played high school football at North Murray. McConkey has the second-most receiving yardage of any rookie behind his former UGA teammate Brock Bowers (NFL-best 84 receptions for 884 receiving yards and four touchdowns).
“It’s cool coming back home,” said McConkey in a postgame interview. “Cool experience. Just so proud of my guys.”
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was asked about potentially benching Kirk Cousins after four-interception game
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris is in no hurry to bench Kirk Cousins after the quarterback’s four-interception performance in Sunday’s 17-13 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Morris was asked if he would consider a quarterback change but didn’t sound eager about making a move. It’s hard to ignore the possibility though, considering Cousins has thrown six interceptions over the last three weeks without a touchdown.
“We’ve got no issues with that,” Morris said after the game. “I don’t think that’s going to be an issue around here… there’s no better man than 18 to (play quarterback) for us.”
Morris credited Cousins for what he’s done to get the team in playoff position with a realistic chance at hosting a postseason game. And even on a three-game losing streak, the Falcons still sit atop the NFC South with everything in front of them.
“That guy has been carrying us all season,” said Morris. “He’s done a marvelous job and it’s hard to throw the guy under the bus… we’ll bounce back, we’ll bring him back and we will be ready to go.”
Morris also said that he did not consider making a change to rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. at any point in the game, and the team will roll with Cousins.
“I have no doubt he will bounce back and be ready to go, especially against his former team.”
It will be interesting to see how Cousins fares against the Minnesota Vikings in the stadium where he spent the last six seasons of his career.
While Morris is sticking by his quarterback for the time being, he has one simple request.
Former Saints safety Marcus Maye was cut by the Dolphins this week, but signed with the Chargers and had a standout performance against the Falcons:
Former New Orleans Saints safety Marcus Maye has had a whirlwind of a week. He was cut by the Miami Dolphins early in the week, and then signed by the Los Angeles Chargers to fill in for safety Alohi Gilman who went on IR.
And in his first game with the Chargers, Maye had a very strong showing, ending the game with 3 tackles, an interception in the endzone, and a pass deflection. On top of that, he also broke up a pass on the last drive to Drake London, getting his hand between London and the ball, and forcing it away.
Maye did not get an exceptional amount of playing time with the Dolphins, as despite playing in 11 games, he only had three starts, with 293 defensive snaps (43%) and 111 special teams snaps (39%). These 293 snaps were lower than his 2021 total of 362 in only six games played for reference, so he had seen the field sparingly rather than as a full-time safety.
On top of all of that, he contributed to a 17-13 Chargers win over the Atlanta Falcons, with his interception being one of four off of Kirk Cousins in the game. This pushed the Falcons down to a 6-6 record, and helped the Chargers up to a 8-4 record. He is helping the Saints from beyond the roster, and giving them a chance to get back into the race for the NFC South division lead.
Here’s our recap of the Chargers’ gritty win over the Falcons behind a four-interception performance.
The Chargers defeated the Falcons on Sunday, improving to 8-4.
Here’s our recap of the Week 13 win.
It was over when…
Derwin James intercepted Kirk Cousins with 47 seconds remaining.
Notable number
Per AP Sports’ Joe Reedy, Ladd McConkey’s 105 yards are the most receiving yards by a Chargers rookie in the first half since 1991.
3 stars of the game
WR Ladd McConkey: McConkey was the only productive player in the passing game. He finished the game with a season-high nine receptions for 117 yards.
CB Tarheeb Still: The rookie out of Maryland was a ball magnet, finishing with two interceptions, including one he took back to the house for a touchdown.
S Marcus Maye: This could’ve gone to Derwin James, who closed the game with a pick. But Maye, who was signed just this past week after being released by the Dolphins, had one in the end zone on the drive right before.
Quick hits
The Chargers’ offense was underwhelming. They failed to find the end zone the entire game, even on their two trips to the red zone.
Their only offensive points came from Cameron Dicker’s three made field goals.
The Chargers were 3-of-14 on third down. They had 187 yards of total offense.
The second-half offensive struggles continued. They only picked up two first downs on four drives.
The Falcons entered this game with one of the worst pressure rates, only having ten sacks. Atlanta flipped the switch, as they lived in the Chargers’ backfield. Justin Herbert was sacked five times.
Gus Edwards and Kimani Vidal combined for ten rushes, finishing with 5.3 and 5.0 yards per carry, respectively.
Aside from McConkey, the pass-catching group was lackluster. Quentin Johnston was the next productive receiver, with only 14 yards on two catches. Six pass catchers had just one catch.
The defense was why the Chargers came out of this game victorious. Jesse Minter’s unit combined for four interceptions, headlined by Still, who had two, one he returned for a score.
The run defense held its own, limiting a good backfield of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier to 3.5 yards per carry.
What’s next?
The Chargers are on the road again to face the Chiefs next Sunday night, Dec. 8, at 5:20 pm PT.
While Kirk Cousins has certainly elevated the Falcons into a playoff contender, the past few games have been brutal for the $180 million quarterback. And on Sunday, we saw what might have been Cousins’ worst throw of the season.
Heading into the fourth quarter of Atlanta’s Week 13 game against the Chargers, Cousins was in the middle of a touchdown drought that went back to the Falcons’ Nov. 3 win against the Cowboys. And it as clear that Cousins was forcing passes in hopes of breaking that drought.
Having already thrown a pair of interceptions (including a pick six), Cousins lobbed a third-and-goal pass to Darnell Mooney with three defenders in the area. Marcus Maye easily came down with the interception, but really, it was unclear what Cousins was even thinking with that pass.
