Blogging The Boys
We are on to Atlanta.
Atlanta defeated their division foe to take control of their division.
TAMPA, Fla. — Kirk Cousins asked Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris if he could speak to the entire team last Tuesday. Morris gave him time Friday and Cousins talked to the players coming off a lackluster loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7.
“This league beats you up and it tests you every day and it just kicks you down and you’ve got to get back up,” Cousins said Sunday in his postgame news conference. “And sometimes I need to encourage myself. And when I was encouraging myself, I thought, ‘You know what? Maybe somebody else could use this, too.’”
The Falcons responded with a 31-26 win over the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday here at Raymond James Stadium. Safety Jessie Bates III said afterward Cousins’ words, which were kept private, were particularly influential. Atlanta is now 4-0 in the NFC South with two victories over the Bucs, their main competitor for division supremacy.
Cousins, in particular, had a big day. The veteran quarterback was 23-of-29 passing for 276 yards and four touchdowns. He continued his mastery over Tampa, following a Falcons-record 509-yard performance against the Bucs in Week 5. Cousins is just the fourth quarterback in NFL history with 750 passing yards and eight passing touchdowns against a single opponent in a season, joining Dan Marino, Joe Montana and Y.A. Tittle.
Cousins found tight end Kyle Pitts for two touchdowns and wide receiver Darnell Mooney and running back Bijan Robinson for one apiece. He was the first Falcons quarterback to throw for three touchdown passes in a first half since Matt Ryan in 2020.
It seems signing free agent Kirk Cousins is paying off to Atlanta.
PROGRESSING THROUGH THE PROCESS — Before we talk about the Falcons’ win against the Buccaneers this Sunday, let’s first rewind back to February, when Raheem Morris held his introductory press conference as the team’s newest head coach.
In said presser, he was asked what traits he values most in a quarterback. At the time, the Falcons were in the market for one.
Morris was straightforward in his answer, claiming he wanted an “elite processor” to lead the offense in 2024. We should have known then that his (and general manager Terry Fontenot’s) vision was actually Kirk Cousins in a Falcons’ uniform.
We talked a lot about Cousins’ performance against the Buccaneers in 2024 after the Falcons’ Sunday win. On the field, he is putting up top-10 marks in passing yards per game (4th), completions per game (7th) and completion percentage in tight-window throws per game (4th). The Falcons’ offense has the lowest three-and-out rate in...
