Bleacher Report Warns Kirk Cousins Impact on Falcons is Potential Overreaction

Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon called the idea that the Atlanta Falcons will go deep into the 2024-25 playoffs because of Kirk Cousins’ arrival an overreaction.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins / Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL offseason leaves just about every team optimistic. The Atlanta Falcons have reasons to be positive about their immediate and long-term future because of the moves the franchise made behind center.

But Bleacher Report’s Brad Gagnon argued the belief that the Falcons will experience more success simply because of new starting quarterback Kirk Cousins could be fool’s gold.

On a list that included one overreaction for every NFL team, Gagnon called “Cousins can take a talented Falcons offense deep into the playoffs” an overreaction.

“The Falcons are certainly paying Cousins like he can, but he's a 35-year-old zero-time All-Pro with one career playoff win under his belt,” Gagnon wrote. “He's also coming back from an Achilles tear, so expectations should be kept in check.”

The overall point of Gagnon’s Falcons overreaction is worth noting. Cousins did play half of the 2023 season before suffering his Achilles tear and led the Minnesota Vikings to an even 4-4 record.

Over the past four seasons, Cousins has posted a winning record just once. Furthermore, Cousins is just 1-3 in his postseason career.

The Falcons Podcast: Watch | Spotify | Apple Pods

But to counter Gagnon’s point, expectations do seem to be “in check” at least locally in Atlanta. While Falcons fans seem to believe Cousins could lead the team to its first NFC South title since 2016, the Falcons are not a local pick to advance to the NFC championship.

And winning two playoff games is what most would consider a “deep” playoff run.

The general feeling around Atlanta appears to be “Cousins makes the Falcons the favorite in the NFC South.” As far as the playoffs go, the fan base seems to have a “we’ll see what happens” approach. 

At least that’s my general view of how Falcons fans see the addition of Cousins ahead of 2024.

Perhaps a better overreaction from Gagnon would have been “the Falcons are the favorites in the NFC South with Cousins.” Because that’s a much more popular expectation than a deep playoff run.

Then again, it’s easy to understand why Falcons fans are excited about the potential Cousins presents for the 2024 season.

Cousins owns a 32-25 record as a starting quarterback since 2020. He completed 67% of his passes for 115 touchdowns with 39 interceptions during those 57 starts. He had more touchdown passes (18) in seven-plus games last year than the Falcons had all 17 games (17).

Since 2020, Falcons quarterbacks have completed 63.8% of their passes for 80 touchdowns and 52 interceptions. Atlanta also hasn’t won more than seven games since 2017.

Follow All Falcons on Facebook | X