Falcons' Kirk Cousins 'Keeps Slinging It' But Doesn't See Results in NFL QB Index

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins remains outside the top 10 in NFL.com's weekly QB Index.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

There are quite a few tremendous quarterback stories around the NFL this season. Washington Commanders' Jayden Daniels is a shoe-in for Offensive Rookie of the Year and could compete for the NFL's MVP award. Veteran Sam Darnold is finally playing up to his draft hype with his fourth team.

As a result, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins is having a difficult time cracking NFL.com's list of top 10 quarterbacks. On the website's latest NFL QB Index, NFL.com's Nick Shook ranked Cousins at No. 13.

Cousins was also at No. 13 on the list last week.

"Cousins keeps slinging it. For a second straight week, he converted a fourth down by lobbing a pass to a target breaking free from coverage. In Week 8, it was Kyle Pitts catching and running to pay dirt.In Week 9, it was Darnell Mooney who caught a pressured pass from Cousins for six," wrote Shook. "Cousins doesn't move in the pocket much, but clearly has the arm strength to get the job done. He seems to be playing freely and compiled a great stat line against the Cowboys, including a stretch of 13 straight completions and a total of just five incompletions on the day.

"Cousins is proving the Falcons right for investing in him in the offseason."

I don't really want to go so far as to state that Shook isn't giving Cousins enough respect. He has the difficult job of ranking all of the league's great quarterbacks every week. It's a hard thing to do.

But I believe most Falcons fans would argue Cousins is playing like a top 10 quarterback. The statistics sugguest that too.

Cousins has completed 69.2% of his passes for an average of 7.9 yards per attempt. He's top 10 in both categories and ranked fourth with 2,328 passing yards after Week 9.

He also has 17 passing touchdowns versus 7 interceptions. Only Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson have more touchdown passes this season.

Furthermore, Cousins has led the Falcons to a 6-3 record with three of their victories being fourth-quarter comebacks. Cousins leads the NFL in that category and with 3 game-winning drives.

It's hard to imagine what else Cousins has to do to crack the top 10 on Shook's list.

Young quarterbacks C.J. Stroud and Jordan Love tumbled on Shook's lastest NFL QB Index. But Stoud remained ahead of Cousins at No. 12. Love dropped below Cousins, but Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert jumped from No. 15 to 9 on the index this week.

That's why Cousins stayed at No. 13.

No. 13 is the highest Cousins has been ranked on Shook's list this season. He's held that spot on the list in three of the past four weeks.