Benching Cousins with three weeks to go in the 2024 season could be a sign that Atlanta plans to hand the keys to Penix, the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, long-term. If Penix acquits himself well as the team’s starter, the Falcons could part ways with Cousins in the offseason, making the 36-year-old a free agent for the second consecutive year.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if the 49ers kicked the tires on Cousins as a backup in that scenario.
Cousins isn’t the same player he was when head coach Kyle Shanahan had him lined up to be a high-priced free agent signing in 2018. The four-time Pro Bowler is in the midst of his worst season as a pro after signing a four-year, $180 million contract with the Falcons in the offseason. He may still get a starter-level contract in free agency, but his numbers and play this season have shown his best years are likely behind him.
If his season is over he’ll have thrown 18 touchdowns with 16 interceptions, and averaged 7.7 yards per attempt with an 88.6 QB rating – his worst mark since becoming a full-time starter. While those numbers aren’t good, it’s not likely we see Cousins out of the league in 2025 even if the Falcons do let him go.
San Francisco appears to be all-in on Brock Purdy as a franchise QB which is why Cousins wouldn’t likely be on the table as a starter even if he was a free agent coming off a good year. However, both 49ers backup QBs, Brandon Allen and Josh Dobbs, are set to hit free agency after the season and San Francisco will need to find a No. 2 behind Purdy.
If head coach Kyle Shanahan believes Cousins is still capable of operating an NFL offense, it would make sense to see if Cousins is available for backup QB money. Having a viable veteran backup who can step in and potentially win a game if Purdy is unavailable would be a valuable piece for a team that should be looking to revamp its depth in the offseason.
Another prime-time game for Jayden Daniels and the Commanders.
The Washington Commanders will face an old friend in Week 17 in a game with potentially massive playoff implications. The Commanders (9-5) host the Atlanta Falcons (7-7) and quarterback Kirk Cousins, which the NFL has flexed to Sunday Night Football.
The Commanders-Falcons matchup was one of five games the NFL considered moving to Saturday as part of a tripleheader or flexing to Sunday Night Football. With a potential playoff spot on the line, quarterback Jayden Daniels and the Commanders hosting the Falcons proved to be the most enticing option for prime time on Sunday night.
The Falcons began the season 6-3. After four consecutive losses, Atlanta barely held on to defeat the Raiders on Monday Night Football. Cousins, who was with Washington for the first six seasons of his NFL career, has struggled in his first year with the Falcons after a promising start to the season.
Kirk Cousins’s Achilles injury aged him in dog years and the Falcons don’t trust him to throw on first down.
The Atlanta Falcons snapped a four-game losing streak on Monday night. Kirk Cousins, not coincidentally, snapped a four-game touchdown-less streak.
In the process, both the team and quarterback fixed nothing.
Atlanta’s 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders was only sealed after a pair of Hail Marys caromed off the fingertips of Raider wideouts in the final seconds. This saved the ignominy of losing a game to Desmond Ridder, the former Falcon starter turned Las Vegas third-string quarterback who was forced into action in Week 15 thanks to injuries. It also showcased how poorly Atlanta’s Plan A has gone behind center.
Cousins is 36 years old but has seemingly aged a decade in the past 13 months. He was in the midst of one of his finest seasons in 2023 when a torn Achilles sealed his fate with the Minnesota Vikings. The Falcons happily signed him last March at the start of free agency, inking the veteran to a four year, $180 million deal with $90 million guaranteed.
It was a curious sign, then, when Atlanta used the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft to pick up Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr.. Penix wasn’t a young, low-floor developmental pick. He was the fourth quarterback off the board; a college veteran who’d be 24 years old before his rookie season began. It seemed like your run of the mill baffling Falcons decision at the time. Now it seems like the earliest warning sign Cousins’s new team didn’t trust his rehab process.
Indeed, that’s been the case. Cousins has been a statue in the pocket. Atlanta doesn’t trust him with long dropbacks. The play-action fakes that should be an absolute cheat code with Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier in the backfield have been an afterthought. His play-action rate has dropped from 31 percent in his final season as a Viking to 14 percent this fall.
Monday night gave us a good reason why the Falcons aren’t turning to basic trickery in the pass game. Cousins is struggling to execute even basic run-pass option handoffs.
Mobility was never a hallmark of Cousins’s game, but it was an unsung ingredient that extended plays and allowed him to roll with pressure and find open receivers. That hasn’t been the case in 2024. He’s a statute in the pocket; after averaging 0.09 expected points added (EPA) per scramble between 2021 and 2023 that number is down to a brutal -0.41 EPA each time he’s forced to tuck and run in Atlanta.
This means less time to throw and fewer opportunities for a skilled young receiving corps to roll with him and create openings like Justin Jefferson and company did in the Twin Cities. This feeds into a vicious cycle.
Opponents know they can pressure Cousins with minimal manpower because he has little recourse but to step up in the pocket. So he’s left not just throwing early in his wideouts’ routes, but also against defenses happy to drop seven guys into coverage. As a result, his tight window throw rate — i.e. the amount of times he throws to covered targets — has spiked from 13.8 percent to a career-worst 19.6 in 2024.
That’s how you end up with something like this:
via habitatring.com
The Falcons had 24 first down plays Monday night. 23 of them were runs. Cousins’s lone first down pass — out of shotgun, with a three-step drop and slightly underthrown thanks to modest pressure right in his face — was also the QB’s lone interception on the night.
Atlanta won regardless, because it was playing a two-win Raiders team with a below average run defense. But the Falcons aren’t happy with the effort. See if you can sense a theme in head coach Raheem Morris’s postgame remarks.
“He’s got to play better,” said Morris. “He wants to play better. He’s got to play better. We’ve got to find a way to get him to play better. Obviously, we’ll get to work tomorrow and that’s a part of our process, right? You go and look at the tape, you review with the people it needs to be reviewed with. We’ll get all the coordinators in the room. We’ll talk with everybody and we’ve got to play better at the quarterback position.”
The problem with Week 15’s tape is it confirms what opponents already knew. Cousins can’t move like he used to.
It’s taking pages out of the playbook, forcing Atlanta to drastically reduce its plays under center and operate heavily out of pistol and shotgun snaps. That buys him space, but not necessarily time. With little to worry about when it comes to extending plays, opponents can opt to double the Falcons’ high profile playmakers and force an aging quarterback to zip throws into tight coverage — throws he can’t make as easily as he once did because he’s working on a freshly repaired Achilles and is 36 years old.
Atlanta is a game back of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for first place in the NFC South. Both teams have soft schedules. It’s not difficult to envision a nine- or even 10-win season in Cousins’s debut.
It will not be a success, however. The Falcons made a pricy gamble on Cousins and a pricy hedge months later by drafting Penix. Neither bet looks like it will pay out in 2024.
Can the Falcons move on from Kirk Cousins in the offseason? Yes, here’s how.
The Atlanta Falcons might have to make a big move at quarterback yet again in the 2025 offseason.
While acquiring a starting quarterback won’t be necessary after the team drafted Michael Penix Jr. this past April, parting ways with quarterback Kirk Cousins could be in the team’s future.
If the Falcons want to move on from Cousins this offseason and give Penix the starting job, they could either trade Cousins to another team or release him outright into free agency.
Releasing Cousins would be a major hit to Atlanta’s 2025 salary cap, as he would count for $65 million in dead cap, per Over the Cap. It is very unlikely the Falcons would be willing to take that big of a loss in an outright cut after only having Cousins for just a season.
Trading him would be the best financial option, as a trade could net the Falcons a draft pick in return to along with $2.5 million in cap savings. The dead cap hit would still be pretty lofty at $37.5 million, but that’s clearly not as bad as a release.
Note that Cousins has a no-trade clause in his contract, so he’d have to give any trade his approval before it happened. However, the Falcons could probably find a suitor looking for a bridge starter at quarterback this spring.
It’s very possible that Cousins finishes the year on a high note and runs it back with the Falcons in 2025. However, if his downward trajectory continues, Atlanta might have to make some tough decisions this offseason.
Kirk Cousins on his performance in Falcons’ win over Raiders: “You know, it’s not where I want to be”
The Atlanta Falcons got a much-needed win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night to end a four-game losing streak. Despite a fourth-quarter surge led by Desmond Ridder, the Falcons did just enough to escape with a 15-9 victory.
Kirk Cousins ended his four-game touchdown drought in the first quarter but did little else for the rest of the game. He finished with 112 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception.
Cousins shared his thoughts on the win during a postgame interview with ESPN.
“It just takes one to get the ball rolling,” said Cousins. “It was hard fought. It’s always tough to go on the road in this league and win. The Raiders difference did a nice job against us. Patrick Graham did a nice job changing up the looks all game long, but just found a way to win, somehow some way.”
When asked to assess his performance in Monday’s win, Cousins didn’t seem overly pleased.
“You know, it’s not where I want to be. So, there’s a lot of room for improvement and we’d like to finish a lot stronger here these last three weeks.”
Falcons fans are getting antsy to see rookie Michael Penix Jr. but it seems unlikely to happen this week. Head coach Raheem Morris.
“He wants to play better,” said Morris. “He has got to play better. We’ve got to find a way to get him to play better. We have to play better at the quarterback position.”
Kirk Cousins spent six seasons with the Vikings — a run that included three Pro Bowls, a postseason win and had him ranking near the top of the franchise’s statistical leaderboard. And when Cousins moved on to join the Atlanta Falcons this past offseason, he knew Week 14’s return to Minnesota was going to be emotional.
But it was clear that Vikings players and coaches still had so much respect for Cousins.
Following the Vikings’ win over the Falcons, Sam Darnold — who passed for 347 yards and five touchdowns — made a point to let Cousins know that he’s still adored in Minnesota. The Falcons shared mic’d-up footage of the exchange.
Sunday’s Week 14 matchup between the Falcons and Vikings had to be an emotional game for Kirk Cousins. The Falcons quarterback was returning to the city where he played six seasons and passed for nearly 24,000 yards. Justin Jefferson also had a lot to do with that success.
Cousins wanted him to know just that.
While the Falcons struggled on Sunday in their fourth straight loss, Cousins and Jefferson made sure to meet at midfield at U.S. Bank Stadium for the most wholesome reunion. In mic’d-up footage from NFL Films, we were able to hear exactly what the longtime Vikings duo said to each other.
Washington’s Week 17 game vs. Atlanta could be moved to Saturday.
Could a Week 17 showdown between Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders against Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons be moved to prime time?
Week 17—Christmas week—has NFL games on four different days: Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, and Monday. However, that’s the current schedule, as the league can flex multiple games to Saturday. The Commanders’ game against the Falcons is one of five games under consideration.
Washington has had two prime-time games this season: Week 3 against the Bengals on Monday Night Football and Week 11 against the Eagles on Thursday Night Football. Both games were on the road, with Washington going 1-1.
The NFL wanted to flex the Commanders’ Week 6 game against the Ravens to Sunday Night Football, but CBS blocked the move. That week’s Sunday night contest was the Bengals and Giants. Several around the NFL weren’t happy with CBS.
The Commanders did have one of their games flexed this season. In the Week 8 meeting with the Chicago Bears, the No. 1 overall pick (Caleb Williams) faced the No. 2 overall pick (Daniels), and the game was moved from 1 p.m. ET to the late afternoon 4:25 p.m. kickoff.
Here are the five games under consideration to be flexed in Week 17:
Atlanta Falcons at Washington Commanders
Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams
Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals
Indianapolis Colts at New York Giants
Los Angeles Chargers at New England Patriots
The NFL has a tripleheader scheduled for Saturday, with three games on that day. Of the above games, Washington-Atlanta seems to have the most playoff implications. The Commanders hold the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff picture, while the Falcons are one game behind the Buccaneers in the NFC South.
The Cardinals-Rams is also a meeting with playoff implications for both teams, as they are locked in a battle with the Seahawks and 49ers to win the NFC West. The Chargers, Broncos and Colts are all in the playoff mix, while the Bengals are on the outside looking in. The Giants and Patriots are two of the NFL’s worst teams.
As it stands now, it looks like the Commanders and Falcons will meet on Saturday.
Falcons QB Kirk Cousins continues unfortunate streak during Sunday’s loss to the Vikings
Things have gone from bad to worse for Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who continued a highly unfortunate streak that could reasonably affect his starting gig moving forward.
Over the past four games, Cousins has thrown eight interceptions and zero touchdowns. He finished out Sunday’s 42-21 road loss to the Minnesota Vikings with 344 passing yards without a score and a pair of interceptions.
This comes just one week after he tossed a season-high four interceptions in the team’s 17-13 home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. Cousins has struggled and it’s getting harder to defend his poor play.
With Michael Penix Jr. waiting in the wings, fans have begun to call for a quarterback change. Head coach Raheem Morris wasn’t ready to announce any changes after the game but said he would evaluate everything.
“We’ll do whatever is best to go win football games and Kirk is definitely a part of that,” said Morris.
It will be interesting to watch how the Falcons move forward at quarterback with the entire season hanging in the balance.
The Michael Penix pick makes more sense now, even if Cousins’s contract is immoveable through 2025.
Over his last four games, Kirk Cousins has thrown eight interceptions. Arguably nine, if you want to count the ball Drake London and Fabian Moreau went to the ground with equal possession of in the third quarter of Sunday’s game with the Minnesota Vikings.
In that same span, he has zero touchdowns. He’s been sacked eight times and put the ball on the turf four more, though each of those fumbles were recovered by his offense.
Not coincidentally, the Atlanta Falcons are 0-4 in that stretch. They’ve gone from a two-game lead over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South and a top three playoff seed after Week 10 to second place in the division and two games out of a Wild Card spot with only four Sundays left in the season.
This is all shocking and, somehow, expected. Cousins has spent the last seven years playing for the NFC’s most cursed franchises in exceedingly familiar ways. As a Viking, that meant doling out plates of regular season success just to starve in the playoffs. As a Falcon, it’s meant complete implosion in the face of optimism.
Cousins hasn’t fallen apart in a vacuum. He was a roller coaster unto himself to start the season. His lack of mobility coming off 2023’s torn Achilles effectively made him a non-factor in Week 1’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This was fine; he was recovering. And, indeed, a combination of better health and an offensive designed around his already diminishing mobility helped Atlanta thrive.
Between Weeks 2 and 9, the Falcons went 6-2 with only losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Seattle Seahawks to dent their grace. Cousins looked like the veteran savior he was meant to be. In two games against the Buccaneers alone he threw for nearly 800 yards and eight touchdowns. He threw three touchdowns without an interception against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Falcons were 6-3. Cousins had a passer rating of 106.1. In the eight games following his stinker of an opener, his 0.209 expected points added (EPA) per dropback were sixth-best in the NFL. He was an MVP candidate — not in line to win, but good enough to earn a few votes if he could maintain that pace.
The issues are myriad, but many stem from the combination of last year’s injury and the fact he’s now 36 years old. He’s been a sitting duck in the pocket, and while that hasn’t resulted in more sacks — his 5.7 percent sack rate is actually better than it was most years in Minnesota — it’s created an impetus to make poor decisions and rushed throws downfield.
You can see that in the clip above. With the walls crashing around him, Cousins has the veteran gravitas to move up in the pocket but rushes the throw, blanking Josh Metellus waiting underneath in the process. This isn’t new; even when Cousins is nimble enough to escape pressure he’s seemingly doing so at the cost of his own sanity.
Scrambling was never endemic to the veteran’s game, but it was a tool he could lean on in a pinch. That hasn’t been the case in 2024. Per Pro Football Reference, he’s scrambled for a gain just twice in 13 games this season. So while Atlanta’s line has done a good job protecting him he’s been unable to maximize that relative lack of pressure.
Further complicating things is his inability to work efficiently out of play action sets. Cousins used fake handoffs to start more than 31 percent of his pass plays in 2023 — a season in which he put up a Pro Bowl pace over eight games. In 2024, that’s down to 14 percent, per NFL Pro.
He’s got one of the league’s top tailback tandems in Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier, so we know it’s not an issue with shoddy runs and defenses that won’t be fooled. The Falcons are clearly concerned about Cousins’s ability to drop back in space, scan the field, step up and exploit the gaps created when a safety or linebacker crashes a split-second too early toward the line of scrimmage.
That leads us to our second problem. Cousins isn’t finding space downfield.
His on-target throw rate is roughly on par with where it had been as a Viking. His tight window rate, however, has shot up from 13.8 percent to 20.8 percent this fall. He’s traded easy throws for tough ones. The combination of increased coverage and whatever zip may be missing from his passes as a man in his late 30s overcoming a significant injury has created a vortex that’s turned him into a turnover machine.
Opponents have figured this out. They don’t need to blitz him, because if one member of a four man rush can beat his blocker that’s capable of doing enough to throw Cousins into panic mode without an easy way out. A 31 percent blitz rate in 2023 has dipped to 20.3 in 2024. Over the last four games, two teams (the Chargers and Saints) blitzed him less than 13 percent of the time despite a deluge of passing downs for a trailing offense.
That creates more defenders in the second level, more of the tight window throws that don’t have the same success they used to and, crucially, more opportunities to create turnovers against an offense punching way, way below its weight class. By those powers combined, you get plays like this.
The upside of Cousins’s struggles is their ability to make at least one of Atlanta’s offseason decisions look good. The Falcons drafted Michael Penix with the eighth pick of the first round in April, giving the franchise a potential building block for the future — albeit one who is already 24 years old.
The downside is, well, Cousins’s contract effectively leaves him on the roster through the end of 2025. Head coach Raheem Morris’s decision to stick with his struggling veteran could be a preview of things to come as Penix, who only has five NFL passes to his name despite the surrounding pestilence in the Atlanta offense, slowly works his way toward a starting job.
Morris has planned around Cousins’s limitations before. The difference making and missing the 2024 playoffs will depend on his ability to do it again. Defenses know how to bother Cousins, and it’s a blueprint almost anyone can follow. Modest pressure creates major mistakes, and that’s been all the leverage opponents have needed in a four-game losing streak.
Unless a fix is coming soon, that could spell the end of a once optimistic season in Georgia.
