Falcons' Morris 'fired up' for Kirk Cousins bounce back game against Vikings

Cousins threw four interceptions against the Chargers on Sunday.

Dec 1, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) throws a pass against the Los Angeles Chargers in the fourth quarter at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

After departing Minnesota in March, former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins will make his return to U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday. While his former team has been flying high this season, Cousins' current squad is battling at 6-6, narrowly leading the NFC South. Cousins, individually, is coming off arguably the worst performance of his career.

Last Sunday, in a 17-13 loss to the Chargers, Cousins threw four interceptions, including a pick-six, as his Falcons dropped back to .500 ahead of the highly-anticipated Week 14 game against the Vikings.

“It's kind of hard to say hard on himself," Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said when asked where Cousins is at after a four-interception performance. "He's just accountable. He's really accountable. And when things go wrong and he feels like it's something that he should have done better, he'll be the first one to tell you.

"He usually bounces back at all times and is able to come back and do things the right way and do it how he wants to do it. So I really feel fired up and I love the challenge to be able to get him to bounce back because that's just something that we're going to do. He's been carrying us all year."

Cousins has not found the immediate success many expected when he joined a Falcons roster that, on paper, appeared to be just a QB away from Super Bowl contention. After Sunday's performance, he leads the league in interceptions, having thrown 13 picks this season. Cousins has thrown for 3,052 yards and 17 touchdowns while completing 67% of his passes, but his 90.8 passer rating ranks 19th among qualified QBs.

With just five games remaining this season, the Falcons are locked in a battle with the 6-6 Bucs for the NFC South. The tight race for the playoffs, paired with the fact the Falcons haven't lived up to preseason expectations, has led to increased pressure on Kirk. Following Sunday's disastrous performance, there have been questions asked about whether it may be time to hand the keys over to rookie QB Michael Penix Jr., who the Falcons selected with the No. 8 pick in the NFL draft this April.

"We've got no issues with (Cousins). I don't think that's going to be an issue around here. That guy's carried us," Morris said Sunday when asked about the potential for a QB change. "That guy's got us to the point where we're 6-6, first place in the division, still got everything in front of us."

Cousins, 36, now has the unenviable task of trying to pry a win away from a 10-2 Vikings team with one of the top defenses in the league — a defense that leads the league in interceptions and has plenty of familiarity with going against him in practice. As he attempts to bounce back from Sunday's difficult game, Cousins will be looking to throw his first touchdown pass since the third quarter of Atlanta's Week 9 win over the Cowboys.

“I don't know. That is a Kirk question for sure," Morris responded Monday when asked about Kirk's mindset heading into the Week 14 matchup. "But I will say the last time we were in a (similar) situation, we played pretty good. It was Dallas and going against (Mike) Zimmer, his old head coach. We kind of had some of the same deals and some of the thoughts and now he's going to Minnesota.

"That place is hard to play anyway. But particularly hard to play probably for Kirk when we go out that way. So we'll go out there and we gotta go do what we're supposed to do first and worry about that first and foremost, which I know he will do. And I really feel good about that and who he is and what he is as a player and being (able to) bounce back."

Asked how he's preparing his team for one of the toughest road environments in the league, Morris admitted it's a hard thing to simulate.

“You always do something, but you cannot simulate that place, man. Unless you’ve got a horn that you can blow for me every day during practice. That is a tough place to play — a lot of fun," Morris said of U.S. Bank Stadium. "A lot of fun to play, but it's a tough place. It’s a great atmosphere to play.”

After Cousins departed for Atlanta, the Vikings didn't wait long to find his replacement, signing Sam Darnold to a one-year, $10 million deal days after Kirk made his decision to join the Falcons. Darnold has been electric for the Vikings this season, throwing for 2,952 yards, 23 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing 67.6% of his passes. His 102.5 passer rating is seventh in the league.

Morris praised Darnold's play, calling him an "operator" and saying he played well against the Falcons late in the 2023 season as a 49ers quarterback.

"He got a chance to go be around Kyle Shanahan and really get some confidence, some growth and some development... Now he's with Kevin O'Connell. There's some similarities in those things and it doesn't shock me that he's playing well," Morris said. "You know, he's a talented football player that was drafted number three or whatever it was for a reason, drafted very high for a reason. When those things happen, man, sometimes you need some time in this league to develop.”

Morris admitted the Falcons have their "hands full" trying to slow down the plethora of weapons the Vikings have on offense. It doesn't get any easier on the other side of the ball, where Morris praised the work of Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, saying, "He has a way, he has a system. It’s devised with smart football players, being able to go out there and have total understanding."