Falcons Receivers Darnell Mooney, Drake London Breaking Out with Kirk Cousins

Atlanta Falcons wide receivers Darnell Mooney and Drake London reap early rewards of veteran QB play in victory against Philadelphia Eagles.

Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Darnell Mooney is flipping over his new quarterback Kirk Cousins. / Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Falcons are slowly but surely getting their offensive passing attack going. Against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, the Falcons' new duo at wide receiver was relied upon by veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins when the team needed them most. 

On Cousins’s memorable-final drive, he went five for six on pass attempts, with four of the five completions going to either Darnell Mooney or Drake London. 

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Most importantly, London’s number was called upon to make the play that sealed the comeback against the Eagles. With a pre-snap motion, a stutter step feigning a slant against veteran Eagles cornerback Darius Slay, and a strong step to the post, the third-year Falcon had an emphatic game-winning catch in Week 2 after a quiet opening week.

KIRK FINDS DRAKE LONDON IN THE END ZONE WITH LESS THAN A MINUTE LEFT 😱

FALCONS TAKE A ONE-POINT LEAD 🔥 pic.twitter.com/47hDFw2RO1

— ESPN (@espn) September 17, 2024

Quality quarterback play has been hard to come by for him and Mooney in both players' careers, but ‘Captain Kirk ‘really liked’ the separation his third-year receiver was able to generate on the team’s game-winning drive.  

Speaking of separation, London’s counterpart accounted for a touchdown of his own. While there may not have been much separation on the initial route, plenty of space was created with the yards after the catch on a throw from Cousins late in the third quarter. 

Cousins to Mooney! @AtlantaFalcons have their first TD of the night

📺: #ATLvsPHI on ESPN
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/OYOWjShvSj

— NFL (@NFL) September 17, 2024

Through two games, Mooney has already matched his 2023 touchdown total (1) and is a quarter of the way to doing the same in yards (103 to 414).

On the final drive, he played an important role by securing two catches; after the game, he spoke out to NBC Atlanta’s Ria Martin about Atlanta’s final offensive drive.

“We knew what we had to do. We were very confident. We don’t even work on two-minute drills during practice, we did a lot during training camp, but that’s how confident we are in our two-minute drill.” Mooney said. 

Part of that confidence is that the team has a 13-year veteran at the helm who engineered his 28th game-winning comeback drive – suitable enough for second-best amongst all NFL quarterbacks since 2015.

Kirk Cousins has the 2nd most game-winning drives since 2015.

The Falcons come back to defeat the Eagles, 22-21. pic.twitter.com/GNwNRwttzs

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 17, 2024

With two wideouts with less than five years of NFL experience, offensive coordinator Zac Robinson can develop two young weapons with plenty of untapped potential this season.

With Monday’s victory, that development just got a kickstart.