A typical Kirk Cousins football game took place at the Superdome on Sunday. He passed for 300 yards, a solid completion percentage, and an additional liter. The Falcons, currently 6-4, look vulnerable at the top of the chaotic and awful NFC South, but it's becoming abundantly clear that this plan isn't going to work, regardless of whether Atlanta can win the division or not. The Falcons aren't built to win the Super Bowl and they don't have the attitude on the field. And best of all, Kirk Cousins is still a Costco hot dog.
This is something I explored in January 2023, when the Vikings were eliminated from the playoffs after a great regular season. It's been almost two years since we've been apart, but the reality still remains when it comes to Cousins.
“Cousins will forever be who he is. He's going to continue to do well enough to make you think he has the talent to throw for 4,000 yards every season, go to the Pro Bowl every year, and win a Super Bowl.” It's not in his DNA as a player. There's something that's forever missing from Cousins' game, a truly great quarterback, a ring-winner. There are QBs who hold Rudy high and he lacks it. Cousins is the Scottie Pippen of NFL quarterbacks. He's great when the pressure is on, when the big game is on the line. , he'll never be the player you need. But he'll bring you closer to dancing, almost like a consolation prize.”
For reference, Cousins gained 4,397 yards on pace. He will make the Pro Bowl because of his incredible raw yards and completion percentage. Cousins' team will either struggle to make the playoffs again or falter in the opening round.
This is the specialty of Costco's hot dogs. You can trust it. It's practical. When you need nourishment, it will be there for you. No problem at all love Costco hot dogs are no different, but no one would confuse that with a life-changing dining experience. No one is going to run to their friends and tell them. have I decided to try a Costco hot dog.
Sunday's loss to the Falcons and Saints encapsulated everything about Cousins as a quarterback. He really didn't do anything wrong. Even his only interception didn't really impact the game. The Saints' terrible offensive management on the ensuing drive saw them attempt three consecutive passes within the two-minute warning, rather than trying to pass to Alvin Kamara and run. out of the clock.
But the difference between Cousins and Derek Carr was explosive play. These are players who don't record on the stat sheet, but actually win games. It's becoming very clear that Cousins can't make these game-changing, explosive plays without receivers to help him develop — and without Justin Jefferson, Cousins' It's just…flat. Even without a player of Jefferson's caliber, there's no excuse to get such average production from Drake Rondon, Darnell Mooney, and Kyle Pitts. Sure, the three combined for 248 yards, but it took 28 targets to get there, and yet Atlanta's longest reception of the day was a failed 33-yard coverage pass to Mooney. It was.
If this game was a distillation of Cousins, this play was an even smaller version of his fundamentals.
Even though I know he will, even though the game is on the line. have Throwing a touchdown to win the game — Cousins seemed content to throw a checkdown and lose. See, here's the problem, and why Cousins never He could mirror Tom Brady of the Buccaneers or Matthew Stafford of the Rams, playing the role of a heroic veteran and winning near-championships. That's exactly why the near-champion Minnesota player was relatively open to leaving in free agency without much trepidation.
There are some basic tenets in football. If they outscore the team by 103 yards on offense, they should win. If they can get nearly twice as many rushing yards as their opponents, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, they should win. When you play a 2-7 opponent that has a better offensive line, better receivers and just traded their best defensive back, you should win.
Certainly, there are mitigating factors that can be used to make excuses against Kirk Cousins. Younghoe Koo missing three field goals was awful and cost the Falcons the game in a very real sense. But the game also rested on Koo's increasingly shaky feet, as the offense only completed 5-for-14 on third downs, including 3-for-11 on third-down plays where Cousins attempted a pass.
Over and over and over and over again (over and over again), plays were dialed up to Cousins on critical downs and distance that the Falcons needed plays, and almost every time, he let them down. . This is a bad trait when his main selling point in coming to Atlanta was that he could make plays that Desmond Ridder couldn't.
Don't get me wrong, it is. zero A comparison of Cousins and Ridder as quarterbacks. Except for the common characteristic that neither can play when it matters most. Derek Carr, despite being flawed and inconsistent, outplayed Cousins on Sunday. Because while he didn't complete that many passes or move the chains, what he did do was complete four passes over 30 yards downfield. That was the only reason the Saints won.
There's a lot of work to do for the Falcons right now. Sure, they still control the NFC South at 6-4, but with the Buccaneers at 4-6 and the Saints and Panthers at 3-7, the chances of someone coming along and replacing Atlanta are slim. Very expensive. .
If all the effort and money to sign Kirk Cousins ends up in Atlanta. do not have Even if we won the division, it would be a miserable failure. But that's what happens when you pay too much for a Costco hot dog.
Winner: Kyler Murray and Jonathan Gannon
There's something going on in Arizona that really can't be ignored. The Cardinals, currently in 6th and 4th place, are playing very good football and could surprise many as the season nears its end.
Beating Aaron Rodgers and the hapless Jets isn't necessarily anything to write home about, but how This team definitely deserves credit for winning. Coach Jonathan Gannon's defensive overhaul for the Cardinals is taking shape, and it starts in the secondary. Gannon's defense has turned safety Budda Baker into a focal point, and he has made a huge impact as a jack-of-all-trades safety who is comfortable guarding the defense from giving up big plays, just as he is at home in the trenches. giving. Amazing safety.
This is a team built around simply shutting down the pass, ranking 9th in the NFL in passing touchdowns allowed. This team never gives up on big plays. Arizona is still a work in progress when it comes to run defense, but this team is still built to handle the modern NFL.
Without Kyler Murray on the other side of the ball, that unbending defense would be wasted. Murray has come back in a big way this season, quietly putting up huge numbers outside of Kliff Kingsbury's Air Raid, something many thought was impossible. Murray currently ranks second in the NFL in passer rating, combining great decision-making with legitimate explosive play, and tops it all off with his running ability.
Look at Arizona. Because the cards put it all together and could be a huge shock to people come playoff time.
Losers: Everyone in Chicago responsible for Caleb Williams' development.
There's no good way to say this. Caleb Williams is the worst right now. That's not a knock on his talent, but as it stands he's firmly in the orbit of Bryce Young, whose career was destroyed by a bad coach in a bad system.
I don't understand how on earth Matt Eberflus is still in this coaching job. However, there's also the scary suggestion that sharing an agent with Bears GM Ryan Pauls could play into that. While some problems, like the offensive line, can't be solved overnight, there's also the reality that no one on the Bears' decision-making team has any ideas on how to work around the team's flaws.
So what we're left with is Williams, who gets trotted out week in and week out, barely completing 50 percent of his passes, with few explosive plays, and overall looking the worst of the Big Three's rookie QBs.
What remains is one of two scenarios.
- Like Bryce Young earlier in the season, Caleb Williams forgot how to play football.
- Absolute idiots like Bryce Young are ruining his growth.
If you've ever watched the Bears, you know what's going on.
Winner: Bryce Young
So let's cancel that out with Bryce Young's second straight win. While beating teams like the Saints and Giants isn't anything to write home about, it's still important to see Young play error-free football against a less-than-ideal receiving corps.
Something is slowly building in Carolina. I won't make any bold predictions for now, but it looks like this team is starting to put it together.
Winner: Dennis Allen fired
Today Saints fans should give Panthers fans a child with an open mouth, but not a tongue because that would be weird. The loss to Carolina was a springboard for Dennis Allen, and New Orleans looks like a new team.
With Darren Rizzi leading this team, the edge and competitiveness is back. I mean, I feel like the Saints players would be enjoying soccer more without Dennis Allen as their coach.
New Orleans needs some long-term commitment, especially on the roster side, but for now we're watching Rizzi make this team competitive again. That's more than we've seen in the past seven weeks.
