It's not time to move on from Kirk Cousins.
Finding a starting quarterback in the NFL is probably the hardest job for any franchise to accomplish. It's hard enough to find one via the draft, much less in free agency. For the Atlanta Falcons, they hedged their bets and are attempting both this season by signing veteran Kirk Cousins and drafting Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 overall pick.
No team has quite attempted such a maneuver. And the thing is, no one knows when or how the results will be measured. Twelve games into the 2024 season, the Falcons are 6-6, which is not exactly where they expected to be at this stage. With a flurry of offseason moves, most notably Cousins’ signing, this was a team expected, at the very least, to be winning the NFC South.
Just a few weeks ago, Atlanta had been running a full sweep over their division, beating the Saints, Buccaneers, and Panthers three straight, then beating Tampa Bay for a second time on the road. However, an upset on the road to New Orleans has turned into a three-game skid, with the Falcons’ starting quarterback becoming the brunt of the issues. To no surprise, that in turn has made many like ESPN's Mina Kimes and Dan Orlovsky ask when coach Raheem Morris will make the call to bench Cousins and start Penix.
“Watching Kirk, I felt like his physical limitations are holding this offense back,” Kimes said. “It just doesn’t look right. They drafted Michael Penix Jr. at No. 8 overall. I criticized the decision and I will criticize it even more if they don’t give Penix a shot this season if this continues.”
Orlovsky added, “On the Penix front, I think it's at least a conversation in Atlanta right now. As for the offense, let me be very clear: you can't run the offense you want to run (play-action) in the pistol. It doesn't work. Make a decision, Zac.”
Morris, however, is against the idea, per the team's website.
“We've got no issues with that man,” Morris said of Cousins in the postgame press conference. “I don’t think that’s gonna be the issue around here. That guy’s carried us. That guy’s got us to the point. We’re 6-6 and first place in the division. We've still got everything in front of us.
“We're still sticking with our plan. Kirk is here to develop and then grow and to make us go and find a way to get wins, and that's his job. He will continue to do that for us.”
The NFC South is now tied after the Buccaneers pulled off an overtime win over the Panthers in Week 13. The Falcons now have five games left to take hold of the division. And Cousins should remain the quarterback, and here's why.
Trust the veteran in Kirk Cousins, not the rookie Michael Penix Jr.
Cousins’ season has no doubt been a mixed bag. He's had some typical Kirk Cousins moments, leading the team to three game-winning drives this year. But then he's performed quarterback malpractice in others. The best example being this past Sunday's performance in the loss to the Chargers, where Cousins threw four interceptions and no touchdowns. And over his last three games, where the Falcons have scored just three offensive touchdowns, he's thrown six interceptions and has four fumbles. He now leads the NFL in turnovers with 15.
While that's far from acceptable, he is still the best option Morris and Atlanta have at the moment. When you're this deep into the season, it's hardly time to make such an impulsive decision.
Remember, the division is still in grasp for the Falcons, and they currently have the tiebreaker over Tampa Bay as well, beating them twice. Even in Cousins’ struggles, you know what you do have with him if and when he puts it together off experience alone, which is what matters the most toward the playoffs.
Penix has barely touched an NFL field up to this point. He did come to the league with tons of experience from college, but the transition takes time. Just ask all the other rookie quarterbacks who have been starting this season, whether it’s Caleb Williams, Bo Nix, or Jayden Daniels.
Starting Penix is a fun idea and one that Falcons fans surely want to see, to watch the fruits of the No. 8 pick come to life. But it's just not the time for the rookie—not yet. And probably not this season, unless Cousins is dealing with injury.
Oddly enough, Cousins actually could still be dealing with a shoulder issue that landed him on the injury report a few weeks back, even though he's denied such. That would definitely explain his lack of zip on the ball and cause for interceptions. In the NFL NextGenStats era, Cousins became the first quarterback to not throw a pass over 36 mph in a game with a minimum of 20 attempts in the matchup against the Chargers, per Hayden Winks.
