Kirk Cousins got the team to 7-7, but now it falls to rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. to see if he can get the Falcons to the playoffs.
Kirk Cousins initially gave the Minnesota Vikings reason to wonder if they made the right call in moving on from the quarterback. However, as Christmas approaches, the Vikings now have every reason to believe they made the right choice.
As the Vikings pat themselves on the back, the Atlanta Falcons are wondering if they were too slow to pull the plug on Kirk Cousins. As analysts like former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan openly called for the quarterback to take a seat on the bench, Cousins slipped into a one-touchdown, nine-interception slump.
Of course, it might have been understandably difficult to bench the quarterback in the same season that Cousins set the franchise record for passing yards in a game, but that’s the brutal nature of the NFL.
Ryan Fitzpatrick’s two cents
As a quarterback who’s been benched and played for more teams than most would care to count, Ryan Fitzpatrick has a unique standpoint. Speaking on a December 19 edition of the “Rich Eisen Show,” Fitzpatrick claimed that Cousins was “accepting.”
“He hasn’t looked like himself the last four weeks…. From reports of what we’ve been hearing with Penix in practice and, you know, his arm and the way that he’s played, the way that it looks like he’s come in in the huddle, they’ve got so much skill on that team on offense.
“So for them not to be able to produce and unfortunately for Kirk to not play very well, he hasn’t lived up to a standard. I’m sure that he’s accepting of it because of the way he’s played the last four games,” he said.
Of course, as many fans may know, benching a quarterback on a big-time, multi-year deal is often a signal of the end. With that comes a paycut and usually the need to move to find a new job.
Thinking that Cousins would be accepting of that because of a four-game slump after setting the franchise record for passing yards in a game would be quite the leap to some fans.
Kirk Cousins snaps touchdown drought in potential final performance
The Falcons quarterback threw for three touchdowns and one interception in a win over the Dallas Cowboys. By that point, few would have guessed it would be the final multi-touchdown game of his season.
Since the final snap of that game on November 3, Cousins failed to throw a single touchdown in four straight games, racking up eight interceptions in the process. Then, on December 16 against the Las Vegas Raiders, Cousins finally broke the drought, but it was too little, too late. Where does Cousins go from here?
