Kirk Cousins entered Monday Night Football’s 15-9 win over the Las Vegas Raiders with 0 TDs and eight picks over his previous four starts and did little to ease concerns about his downgraded ability. The 13-year veteran passed for just 112 yards, a pick and a TD.
By Wednesday, Cousins had lost his job to rookie Michael Penix Jr.
Sports host and podcaster Shannon Sharpe says he understood the Atlanta Falcons’ reasoning for bringing in Cousins. They had a stable veteran to hold them over for a few years until the quarterback they intended to draft weeks later (which turned out to be Michael Penix Jr. ) was ready. Cousins looks like he’s out of gas and now Penix Jr. is thrust into the middle of a three-game playoff run,
“Bruh, we’re paying you $50M and it looks Like we’re paying you $5…you’re short-changing,” Sharpe said on “First Take.”
Shannon Sharpe Criticizes Kirk Cousins’ Abysmal Play Last Five Games: Raheem Morris Defends His QB
Cousins was cruising with a 101 passer rating over a promising 6-3 start, but since then everything has been downhill. Cousins is 1-4 with 1 TD and nine interceptions to go along with a dismal 63.8% passing rating. In the Monday night win over the Raiders, the Falcons threw the ball a total of just 17 times and ran 37 times.
At 7-7, the Falcons are just one game behind NFC South Division leaders Tampa Bay Bucs and the consensus opinion is that Penix isn’t ready to be thrust into action in the final stretch of a playoff race.
When pressed about the possibility of a switch to ignite the offense, Raheem Morris said that is not his main concern.
“He’s got to play better,” the first-year Falcons head coach conceded. “Obviously, we are going to go back and look at everything, but he wants to play better. He’s got to play better, and we’ve got to find a way to get him better”
When the Atlanta Falcons gave the 36-year-old QB a four-year, $180 million contract with $90 million fully guaranteed and a $50 million signing bonus, in the offseason, there weren’t many prognosticators who questioned the deal, even with Cousins coming off a torn Achilles in his advanced age.
Cousins joined a Falcons team with a new head coach in Raheem Morris and an offense full of elite skill players such like Drake London, dual-threat running back Bijan Robinson and tight end Kyle Pitts, just to name the core.
Cousins was supposed to be the missing piece to give them stability at the position and possibly make a deep playoff run. All he has to show for it is an offense ranked 25th in the NFL and his worst season in recent memory.
Why Not Play Rookie QB Michae Penix Jr?
Earlier in the week, Morris seemed to be against making a QB switch.
“We got so much to get better at,” Morris told reporters. “Those things will always be discussed; that’s just the nature of the beast. For us, our mentality is to find a way to win the best game. “
Sharpe went on to say that he doesn’t believe Atlanta can overtake the Bucs for the division and also believes it will be Cousins’ last season in Atlanta.
Stephen A. Smith was also against Atlanta making a move, saying on Tuesday’s episode of “First Take,” “He’s a rookie, you don’t want to throw him in and if it’s bad you have nowhere to go. You have to hope Kirk Cousins will resurrect himself over these last three weeks.”
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Cousins is just 1-3 in playoff appearances over his career, but he’s an all-time great when it comes to getting paid.
“I don’t know anybody who’s better at getting their client money than Kirk Cousins’ agent,” Smith sarcastically quipped.
Cousins is on his third team in the NFL as of 2024. After getting drafted by the Washington Redskins (now Washington Commanders) in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL draft with the 102nd pick. Cousins led Washington to a divisional title with a 9-7 record while throwing for 4,166 yards in his first official season as starter.
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He kept posting huge 4,000-yard seasons as the league became more pass-happy but coming up short in big spots and failing to lead Washington to the playoffs. After becoming a free agent in 2018, Kirk signed a whopping three-year fully guaranteed $84 million contract with Minnesota Vikings. From 2018 to 2022, Kirk only had one season with less than 4k passing yards and he threw a career-high 35 touchdowns in 2020.
Now, with his skills deteriorating right in front of Atlanta’s face, Morris has replaced the veteran with the rookie. It is truly a desperation heave and he’s just trying to hang on and try to make the playoffs, increasing his chances of keeping his job that much longer.
