The Atlanta Falcons are in the midst of a critical time during the season. If they can muster up a few more wins in December, they can control their own destiny and solidify a playoff spot. However, a few more losses could destroy their post-season hopes.
Those scenarios became more apparent after the Falcons loss their third straight game to the visiting Los Angeles Charges 17-13. The Falcons had multiple chances to defeat the Chargers who struggled offensively. The Falcons’ defense made things hard for the Chargers star quarterback Justin Herbert by recording a season-high five sacks in the game.
However, the Falcons’ offense failed to find a rhythm again as Younghoe Koo missed a field goal and Kirk Cousins’ struggles continued. Cousins threw four interceptions, including a pick six and two costly interceptions in the fourth quarter.
Over the past three games, Cousins has thrown six interceptions without throwing a touchdown pass.
Following the game, Cousins spoke about his passing slump.
“I look to myself and say, ‘I gotta play better,'” Cousins said. “It hurts when you feel like your defense played winning football. I gotta play better, and so I take responsibility. And you kind of have to watch it with a critical eye and talk about, ‘how can I make sure this never happens again?’ And that’s the mindset so it’s disappointing right now. It hurts, that was a game we had a chance to win if I played at the standard I expect to play on.”
Although Cousins has struggled, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris is not ready to replace the veteran with first round draft pick, Michael Penix Jr. Morris pointed to Cousins’ success, including leading the team on multiple game-winning drives during the season.
“We gotta make better decisions, we can’t turn the ball over,” Morris said. “We won’t make any excuses for them. That happened today. [Cousins] carried us all season. He’s done such a marvelous job for this organization. So we’ll bounce back. We’ll bring him back, and we’ll get ready to go.”
Morris did highlight the defensive effort and six sacks.
“We were able to create some things on defense,” Morris said. “We’ll be able to watch the tape, find out what we did really well. Hopefully it’s repeatable, and maybe go out there and find a way to get those same results.”
The Falcons will travel to take on Cousins’ former team the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday.
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