Falcon Report

Atlanta Falcons have New 'Prime Time' in Kirk Cousins

Colin Cowherd discusses Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback Kirk Cousins broken the ‘Choker’ moniker and has now become the new ‘Prime Time’ in Atlanta.

CJ Errickson

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins has ended the myth that he struggles in prime time games.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins has ended the myth that he struggles in prime time games. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images
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For the Atlanta Falcons, starting quarterback Kirk Cousins has been worth every penny of his four-year $180 million contract through five games in the 2024 NFL season. After his late-game heroics in the fourth quarter and overtime in the team’s victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Thursday night, it got FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd talking about the Falcon's new signal-caller.

“He has 15 game-winning drives in the last four years, not only is that most in the NFL, including (Patrick) Mahomes, that's four more than any other quarterback. He also has the greatest comeback in league history for a quarterback: 33 points. He's also the first quarterback in NFL history after last night to have 450-yard passing games for three different franchises. Early in his career, Kirk had a reputation in stand-alone or primetime games, he would get a little tight and a little anxious. By the way, that was Peyton Manning's reputation for years in the NFL. ” Cowherd said on his show Friday. 

"Payton Manning eventually broke out of it and was beating Brady at the end, and Kirk Cousins the last several years has broken out of that."

In the last four years, Cousins has been one of the best players in the NFL when the team needed him most. From throwing to wide receivers Adam Thielen, Jordan Addison, and Justin Jefferson, he had plenty of quality options to lead his team to victory in his waning years as a Minnesota Viking.

Now that he is a Falcon, he has been putting the team on his back, and opponents do not have an answer for him when he runs the two-minute offense. With comeback drives in all three of the teams’ wins, he is establishing chemistry with receivers Darnell Mooney and Drake London. 

Part of what makes ‘Kirko’ lethal is that he is 10 for 16 on the season with five touchdowns when he enters the opposition's 19-yard line or beyond. Cowherd continued to elaborate on his most recent performance.

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“If they lose the game, that wasn't on Captain Kirk," said Cowherd. Falcons would of lost the game on Thursday night, it wouldn’t of been on him. Thursday night, if they lost the game, it wouldn’t have been his fault because his teammates let him down. With a minute and fourteen seconds and no timeouts, driving down, spiking the ball, was a master's class. 75% of the guys in the NFL, can't do that.

Now in his thirteenth NFL season, the heart and soul of Atlanta resides in a quarterback who, at 36 years of age, is enjoying himself and playing highly efficient football. 

Self-admittedly, he says that he had some ‘rust’ to knock off after not playing live reps since last year. Furthermore, his chemistry with his teammates and ability to anticipate passes could not be duplicated until the regular season.

Moving forward, the sky is the limit for him and the Falcons offense for the remainder of the season after one of the more challenging first five weeks in the league. 

Cowherd sums up ‘Captain Kirk’s’’ career progression best.

“He has officially graduated to clutch quarterback class in this league. We know Mahomes is in it. We still don't know if Lamar Jackson is in it. We know Brady was in it. We know Brady was good in the clutch. It took him a few years, but he graduated.”

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CJ Errickson
CJ ERRICKSON

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