Can Kirk Cousins showcase himself and save the Falcons offense at the same time? – The Athletic

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The current state of the Atlanta Falcons — five straight losses and their starting quarterback out for the season — makes it easy to forget this team and this offense were on a roll not that long ago.

Kirk Cousins remembers, though, and now much of the responsibility for finding that stride again falls to Cousins, who is once again the starting quarterback after Michael Penix Jr. suffered a season-ending knee injury last week.

Cousins quarterbacked the best stretch of offense the Falcons have had under head coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson in the last two years. In the first nine games of the 2024 season, Atlanta was seventh in the league in offensive EPA (36.47) and 12th in scoring (24.56 ppg), compiling a 6-3 record and building a two-game lead in the NFC South.

Cousins takes over now as Atlanta (3-7) returns to the place where all that fell apart — the New Orleans Superdome. The Falcons fell 20-17 to the Saints in Week 10 last year as Younghoe Koo missed three field goals and Cousins was sacked three times. One of those sacks resulted in shoulder and elbow injuries that hampered Cousins the rest of the season, the quarterback said.

Everything for the Falcons basically fell apart from there. Cousins was benched in favor of Penix six weeks later after throwing nine interceptions in a five-game stretch. Koo’s form never recovered, and he was released this year after missing another key kick. The Falcons and their offense have not been the same since.

Atlanta is 5-13 since that day and is 19th in offensive EPA (minus-5.22) and 27th in scoring (20.17) in that time.

“I was asking myself from about Week 10 or 11 on last year how we get back to that,” Cousins said this week. “I think that’s the challenge. I think the fact that it was there shows (we can do it). Let’s go do it again.”

For Cousins, the game provides a personal opportunity. He is unlikely to be retained by the Falcons following this season and was adamant last year after being benched that he hadn’t “forgotten how to play quarterback.” His tone is less strident now, but it’s clear he understands these seven games could be an audition to earn him a 15th year in the league somewhere.

“Every time you go out, there is an opportunity,” he said. “You have to continue to go out there and show you belong and play at your best. I never really took it for granted before, but certainly when you’re out for a while and you get a chance to come back, you understand that it’s a privilege to play.”

Robinson pointed out this week that Cousins was the NFC player of the week twice in the first nine weeks last season.

“He played a lot of great football for us last year,” the coordinator said. “We know what Kirk can do. We know what he can do with this offense. I’m excited to see him just go play. There are still things out in front of us. We know our backs are against the wall, but the message for him and the guys is to just cut loose, let yourself play free and let the results take care of themselves.”

Meshing the coordinator’s desire to “play free” and Cousins’ devotion to details may be the key to the offense’s success in the final seven games.

“To the degree that we were playing well last year, it was because we were maniacal in our preparation and our effort and every detail we had to be on,” Cousins said. “It was never easy in those moments, either.”

The differences in the play styles of Cousins and Penix — Cousins being more comfortable taking the snap under center and Penix being able to access more parts of the field because of his arm strength, for instance — mean the offense will look different than it did the first 10 games this year, Morris said.

“The things that Kirk did well for us when he started, that’s what we’ll try to do,” Morris said.

Cousins’ only start this season came in Week 8, when the Falcons were held to 213 yards of offense and lost 34-10 to the Dolphins. But Atlanta’s coaches believe Cousins having a full week of preparation, unlike before the Week 8 game, will lead to better results this week.

“I expect him to play really well,” Robinson said. “We’re excited to get Kirk out there.”

Cousins will not have the luxury of Drake London in the starting lineup. London, who also missed the Week 8 game, is out at least this week due to a PCL strain in his left knee. London has 60 catches for 810 yards and is fourth in the league in receiving yards per game (90).

“You are definitely going to miss Drake,” Morris said. “He’s been outstanding for us all year. He’s an emotional leader for us.”

The wide receivers available for Atlanta on Sunday have combined for 35 catches for 447 yards this season, which is 25 fewer catches and 363 fewer yards than London has produced himself.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in David Sills being able to step up for us and do some really good things,” Morris said. “We have to get (Darnell) Mooney to bounce back. Kyle Pitts plays a part in that receiver room. Bijan (Robinson) plays a part in that receiver room. We have a bunch of people who need some opportunities, and they’ll get them. We’ll find out a lot about our guys this week.”