If you’re a Falcons fan who thinks it’s worth being happy after their win over the Raiders, then I don’t know what to tell you. Atlanta gave one of its most putrid performances of the season on Monday night, fighting tooth-and-nail for a 15-9 win over one of the NFL’s worst teams in Las Vegas.
The way the Falcons have plummeted to Earth after a 6-3 start has been astounding, and a lot of that falls on Kirk Cousins. Monday was a culmination of everything wrong with the veteran quarterback, as he managed to only throw for 112 yards, one TD and an interception against a Raiders’ pass defense that ranks 27th in the NFL in passing touchdowns allowed. In the end it was on Bijan Robinson and the run game to bail out Atlanta, which they managed to do — but there was nothing inspiring about the Falcons’ passing offense.
Cousins was supposed to be the missing piece. The quarterback to lift the organization from “NFC South Contenders” to “Super Bowl Contenders,” and to be fair on paper this all looked like it was going to work. Working off the assumption that this was the same Kirk Cousins who put up monster numbers in Minnesota, paired with a dynamic running back like Robinson, and a solid receiving corps of Drake London, Darnell Moody and Kyle Pitts appeared to be a recipe for success.
Instead we have an offensive line that isn’t good enough to block for a quarterback with below-average mobility, and while London and Moody are getting their numbers (both should finish the season with over 1,000 yards), Cousins has thrown a career-high 16 interceptions to go with his 18 touchdowns this year.
This was an organization that needed steadiness and reliability at the position, and to be honest, Cousins has been neither. His 88.6 passer rating ranks 23rd among quarterbacks with over 100 passing attempts this season, putting him on par with rookies Drake Maye (88.4) and Caleb Williams (87.7).
Which brings us to the next part of this: It’s time to start Michael Penix Jr.
The Falcons need to be realistic about their goals and what’s best for the franchise. We know at this point what Kirk Cousins can bring to the table. At best Atlanta needs to hope the Buccaneers drop a game out of Cowboys, Panthers and Saints (all very winnable), while also ensuring they win out against the Giants, Commanders, and Panthers. That could allow for them to win the NFC South and find a back door into the wild card round, where they’d almost assuredly be beaten down by a better team.
Atlanta’s goal was a Super Bowl in 2024. That is not happening. So it’s time to pivot. Penix Jr. was already an old rookie when the team selected him, and he’s not getting any younger. At 24-years-old he’s already older than five starting quarterbacks in the league. Continuing to keep him on the bench means the Falcons don’t really have any idea how the offense can operate with him, and the worst case scenario is that he comes out, gets some reps, loses games — and the Falcons get a better draft pick because of it.
By losing out Atlanta has a chance of moving all the way up to No. 10 in the NFL Draft (currently sitting in 17th), where they would have a much better chance to find a difference maker at a position of need. That’s the bad end of this, and it’s still very good.
The issue is larger than Kirk Cousins, to be fair. Offensive coordinator Zac Robinson has struggled to scheme and mitigate around his lack of mobility to develop a way to consistently win, but it’s also fair to say that in 2024 a coordinator shouldn’t have to deal with a complete statue behind the line of scrimmage. This is another reason why the team should start Penix now, to evaluate the rookie and see if he can cook inside the team’s offense.
This is a franchise marred by waiting too long to pull the trigger on difficult decisions. Now it’s time to pull the Band-Aid off at the right time and get a jump on a retooling.
