When news broke of the Falcons’ deal with Kirk Cousins, fans reacted in a rational manner as always.
On one side of the aisle, Cousins is the second coming of our lord and savior Matt Ryan and will lead the Falcons back to the postseason, a place the club hasn’t been since 2017. On the other side, the Falcons idiotically gave a soon-to-be 36-year-old coming off a torn Achilles $180 million over four years, who falls short in the playoffs.
Like everything, it’s somewhere in the middle, and both sides have valid points.
For instance, Kirk Cousins is a clear upgrade over what Atlanta has had since Terry Fontenot took over for Thomas Dimitroff, which includes Matt Ryan’s final year in Atlanta. A ‘clear upgrade’ doesn’t even accurately describe the kind of improvement he’ll be over what the Falcons got from Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder.
Cousins is astronomically more effective than anything Atlanta had last year. The veteran had a passer rating 20 points higher than Ridder and Taylor Heincike this past season. He also averaged nearly 100 more passing yards than the Falcons pair of quarterbacks and more than doubled their touchdowns per game.
It’s not even close, but the Falcons fans who aren’t as warm to the acquisition have a point. Cousins is older, coming off a major injury, and doesn’t have a sterling playoff record.
He’s 1-3 as a starter in the postseason, has finished at or within a game of .500 in half of his seasons as a starter, and has a .300 record against teams with winning records. The concerns are warranted.
Unlike the fan base, Falcons players aren’t split on the Kirk Cousins signing. Everyone loves the acquisition, according to Cameron Wolfe.
Falcons players ecstatic to welcome Kirk Cousins a major upgrade for a team that felt they were a QB away.
Stock up for Kyle Pitts, Drake London and Bijan Robinson & as noted in my @nflnetwork report, Falcons were looking to add at WR & did so mins later in Darnell Mooney. More: pic.twitter.com/MGeyspdTGb
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) March 12, 2024
It’s easy to see why the Falcons players are fond of the Kirk Cousins acquisition. They saw how many games Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke cost the team a year ago. With even average quarterback play, the Falcons would have made the playoffs. Cousins is a lot better than average, which has this team believing they can make some noise in the NFC next season.
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Photo: Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire
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