Shortly after the Atlanta Falcons improved to 7-7 on the season through a nervy 15-9 win over the lowly Las Vegas Raiders (2-12) on Monday night time, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris instantly mentioned that Kirk Cousins has “received to play higher.”
Cousins did not disagree with Morris’ evaluation following one more shaky outing from the veteran quarterback.
“Yeah, I believe I do must play higher,” Cousins mentioned throughout his postgame feedback, as shared by Grant Gordon of the NFL’s web site. “I do not assume that is a thriller. I believe the previous few weeks I’d say I must play higher. Raheem says it, but it surely’s stating the plain, and each week you type of undergo your course of and you intend to go on the market and play the easiest you’ll be able to, and so this week will likely be no completely different.”
Cousins tossed eight interceptions and nil landing passes over 4 consecutive defeats earlier than he produced one other dud at Allegiant Stadium. Versus the Raiders, the 36-year-old completed simply 11-of-17 go makes an attempt for 112 yards with a landing and a decide.
Per ESPN stats, Cousins has now thrown a league-worst 16 interceptions on the season. He ended Week 15 of the marketing campaign ranked twenty second within the NFL amongst certified gamers with a 52.7 adjusted QBR and tied for 14th with 18 landing passes.
Evidently, the Falcons possible anticipated extra from Cousins when they signed him to a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M assured this previous offseason.
Cousins added that he feels he should enhance his “decision-making” and keep away from “attempting to be too aggressive” in sure situations. In the meantime, Morris teased for the primary time amid Cousins’ struggles that the membership might flip to rookie signal-caller Michael Penix Jr. for Atlanta’s upcoming residence recreation towards a woeful New York Giants (2-12) facet that might be one loss away from blowing issues up.
” we have got everyone on our roster for a purpose,” Morris apparently mentioned after the win over Las Vegas. “We have a lot to get higher at, and people issues will at all times be mentioned. That is simply the character of the beast in soccer. It is simply so closely talked about on the quarterback place as a result of there’s just one man on the market. So for us, man, our mentality is to discover a solution to win the subsequent recreation. That is simply the mentality that we’ll have.”
The Falcons path solely the 8-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers within the NFC South standings, and Atlanta beat Tampa Bay twice earlier within the season. As of Tuesday morning, the NFL’s website gave the Falcons a 36 % likelihood to make the playoffs.
Additionally on Tuesday, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Atlanta as an 8.5-point favourite over the Giants. It will likely be attention-grabbing to see if that line strikes every time Morris confirms his beginning quarterback for the matchup versus Massive Blue.