Kirk Cousins ​​discusses Falcons’ QB change, mindset moving forward

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — When the questions first began after the Falcons’ loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13, the judgment of Kirk Cousins ​​didn’t waver.

“That guy has carried us,” head coach Raheem Morris said at the time. “That guy has gotten us to the point where we’re 6-6 and we’re in first place in the division. We still have everything ahead of us, despite what happened today. It’s up to us to bounce back and find a way to win football games and there’s no better man than (No.) 18 to do that for us.”

Two games later, Cousins’ play had become detrimental to the team’s mission to reach the postseason for the first time since 2017. His role as Atlanta’s starting quarterback was untenable.

On Tuesday night, after a 15-9 win against the Las Vegas Raiders that shouldn’t have been as close as the final score reflected, the Falcons made the decision to name rookie Michael Penix Jr. to their starting quarterback.

“We wanted to play better at quarterback and we felt like we got a chance to play a little bit better,” Morris said Wednesday afternoon. “And if we can go out there and play better at quarterback, who knows what can happen?”

It was a move that just a few weeks earlier felt like a distant possibility. But as the offense continued to struggle, especially through the air, it became a necessity.

In the month of October, Cousins ​​was red hot. He threw for 1,242 yards with 10 touchdown passes, the second-most and third-most, respectively, among all NFL quarterbacks. His passer rating of 109 was the eighth-highest in a single month with at least three starts of Cousins’ 10 seasons as a full-time starter.

He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week shortly after closing out October with a four-touchdown performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — his second that month.

In the seven weeks that followed, Cousins ​​went from throwing four touchdowns against the Bucs to throwing four interceptions against the Chargers, becoming a microcosm of his decline. After the team dropped four of its last five games in the last month, the Falcons fell one game behind the Buccaneers in the NFC South standings.

“There’s a standard that I have for myself, that the team has for me. Unfortunately, I didn’t play up to that standard consistently enough,” Cousins ​​said during his press conference Wednesday.

Poor performances against the Chargers, Broncos and Vikings — three of the NFL’s best defenses — could be understood, if not forgiven. His performance against the Raiders could not, and ultimately led to the current situation.