It was always going to end like this. I think Falcons’ fans are more shocked it happened this quickly. The Kirk Cousins experience has been just that, a wild experience, and after yesterday’s home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta fans are calling for Cousins’ head and rightfully so.
The Atlanta Falcons lost at home to the Chargers Dec. 1, and it was one of the more embarrassing losses this season. Kirk Cousins, the QB who was supposed to come to Atlanta and finally give us the quarterback we’ve been missing, threw four interceptions in a pathetic performance, including a 61-yard pick-six by Chargers cornerback Tarheeb Still. That wasn’t even the worst one; Cousins threw an end zone interception that was picked off by Marcus Maye that pretty much ended a promising fourth-quarter drive. After arguably the worst performance of his career, Cousins had no other option but to take the blame.
“I look to myself and say, ‘I’ve got to play better,'” Cousins said. “It hurts. When you feel like your defense played winning football, feel like your special teams made big plays, felt like the run game [did] a solid job, I’ve got to play better.”
The thing is, he’s been saying that for three weeks now, which have also resulted in three straight losses. After a promising start to the season, the Falcons are now 6-6 and the season has spiraled to the point fans are calling for Cousins to be benched — and he needs to be. Over the last three weeks, Cousins hasn’t thrown a single touchdown. In the last three games he has 724 yards, six interceptions and four fumbles lost. This is what Arthur Blank paid $180 million for?
People were supportive of Cousins getting this contract because most believed he was the best quarterback available in free agency. Twelve weeks into the season, it looks like Atlanta would have been better sticking with what they had — and that’s saying something. The talk at the beginning of the season was that the Falcons were a quarterback away because of how dismal Desmond Ridder was starting last season. It turns out Cousins has been even worse; Ridder started every game for the Falcons last year and threw 12 interceptions. Kirk Cousins has thrown 13 interceptions this season and there are still five more games to go.
This season was always going to end in disappointment for the Falcons but now they are heading toward disaster. Kirk Cousins is regressing by the week, and according to head coach Raheem Morris, they are sticking with Cousins regardless of his ineptitude. Unfortunately, all this is proving is the ineptitude of the Falcons’ franchise. It proved there was no real plan when they traded for Cousins and drafted Penix. It also showed how inept the Falcons’ front office is for wasting money on a nearly 40-year-old quarterback who was still recovering from an Achilles tear. There are rumors that this will be Cousins’ first and last season with the Falcons, and rightfully so. They ended up drafting Michael Penix Jr. anyway so they might as well get him some reps and start setting him up for next season.
The end is near for Cousins, it’s just up to the Falcons if they will crash and burn with him.
