'We All Believe in Him': Falcons Sticking with Kirk Cousins After Vikings Blowout

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins leads the NFL with 15 interceptions, but his starting job appears safe.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins will remain the team's starter despite Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins will remain the team's starter despite Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Vikings. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images
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MINNEAPOLIS -- Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said he never considered benching starting quarterback Kirk Cousins for backup Michael Penix Jr. in Sunday's 42-21 loss to the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

And the Falcons have no intentions of making a change moving forward.

"Everything is always discussed when you go watch the tape and do all those type of things, but Kirk Cousins is our quarterback," Morris said postgame. "We'll have the ability go watch this tape just like we do every single week. Kirk played significantly better than he did the week before.

"We got a chance to go out there and focus on us and really work on what we do and what we do well. We'll do whatever is best to go win football games, and Kirk's definitely a part of that."

Morris noted Cousins, who returned to Minnesota for the first time since leaving the Vikings in free agency this spring, threw for 344 yards, a number he reached on 23-for-37 passing but was accompanied by no touchdowns and two interceptions.

Cousins hasn't thrown a touchdown in four games, dating back to Atlanta's win over the Dallas Cowboys on Nov. 3. He's tossed eight interceptions in that same timeframe. He now leads the NFL with 15 interceptions.

The 36-year-old Cousins acknowledged postgame he needs to be better.

"Would love to be playing with a lot more production, and it's been disappointing the last four weeks to not have a touchdown pass," Cousins said. "So, would like that to be different and hope we can, in the last stretch here of the season, turn that around."

Progress starts in the redzone. When Morris was asked about what he'd need to see to bench Cousins for Penix, he pivoted instead to a broader takeaway on Atlanta's offense.

The Falcons made five trips to the redzone Sunday. They scored touchdowns on only two of them. Two others ended in field goals of 20 and 28 yards by kicker Younghoe Koo.

Morris said the Falcons need to be able to translate what they've done on the practice field to the games, but it hasn't happened the past several weeks. Minnesota played a significant part in doing that.

The Vikings played combination coverages in the redzone, which makes it difficult to throw touchdowns against. Atlanta's plan was to run the ball in the red area, and running backs Tyler Allgeier and Bijan Robinson both scored touchdowns Sunday.

Yet while the Falcons know they need to be better inside the 20-yard line, Morris thinks they also need to play at a higher level around Cousins.

"Kirk came out and really did a nice job of trying to get us a win, and we did not support him enough around him today," Morris said. "We've got to find ways to do that better."

[RELATED: Falcons Stock Report: Kirk Cousins, Raheem Morris Free-Fall Continues at Vikings]

Falcons receiver Darnell Mooney, who caught six passes for a career-high 142 yards Sunday, compared Cousins' struggles to a wideout dropping a pass. The next step is to "love him up (and) make him feel better," Mooney said.

This should prove important for the Falcons, who appear poised to stick with Cousins moving forward despite his recent rough patch, which was perhaps highlighted by a four-interception performance against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13 and continued again Sunday in Minnesota.

Naturally, critics of Cousins have emerged. Some, from fans to analysts across the league, are clamoring for Penix. The Falcons are tuning it out.

"I don't really listen to outside noise," left guard Matthew Bergeron said postgame. "Obviously, I love Kirk. He's a great person, he's a great leader, he's a great player. We all believe in him, so we're all behind him. We're not listening to outside noise.

"We're going to keep blocking and busting our ass for him because he's doing the same for us."

Cousins didn't get the storybook ending he would've hoped for in his return to Minnesota. The Falcons didn't get the win they needed to help stop their slide.

The result?

A question-filled flight home -- but there's already one that's been answered.


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Daniel Flick
DANIEL FLICK

Daniel Flick is an accredited NFL writer for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Daniel has provided boots-on-ground coverage at the NFL Combine and from the Atlanta Falcons' headquarters, among other destinations, and contributed to the annual Lindy's Sports Magazine ahead of the 2023 offseason. Daniel is a co-host on the 404TheFalcon podcast and previously wrote for the Around the Block Network and Georgia Sports Hospitality Media.