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Despite Kirk Cousins' hot mess of a Week 13 performance against the Los Angeles Chargers, Atlanta Falcons rookie backup Michael Penix Jr. didn't have a word of negativity to direct at him, per ESPN's Marc Raimondi.
“He's a vet,” Penix said of Cousins. “He's been in a lot of different situations, so I have no doubt that he's going to bounce back from this and he's going to be great this weekend and for the rest of the season.”
Cousins, who tossed four interceptions in the 17-13 loss, was the difference in Atlanta's disappointing result. The Falcons outgained the Chargers 350 to 187 and dominated time of possession, 35:55 to 24:05. They ran 77 total plays compared to Los Angeles' 46. In four trips to the red zone, the Falcons scored just one touchdown.
Meanwhile, the Chargers had no touchdowns in their two red zone visits and were held to just 56 yards rushing.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris didn't even entertain the idea when asked about benching Cousins.
“That's not going to be the issue around here,” Morris said of a quarterback controversy. “That guy has carried us. That guy has got us to the point where we are 6-6 and in first place in the division. We've got everything in front of us despite what happened today. It's up to us to bounce back and find a way to win football games. There isn't a better man than [Cousins] to go do that for us.”
Falcons spiraling before our eyes
After dropping three straight, the Falcons need to look in the mirror. Cousins did everything possible wrong to lose that game for Atlanta. While football is a team sport, Cousins single-handedly lost that game.
In Mike Johrendt's latest NFL Power Rankings, he kept the Falcons slotted at No. 18.
“It has been quite the concerning first season in Atlanta for Cousins, who threw four interceptions in the team's loss to the Chargers to increase his total to nine this year. It was quite the forgettable performance from Cousins and the rest of the Falcons offense, which only mustered a Bijan Robinson TD and two Younghoe Koo field goals in their 17-13 defeat.”
Please keep in mind, Atlanta is the No. 4 seed in the NFC.
When speaking to the press, Cousins denied playing through an injury to diffuse the speculation around his poor play, per The Athletic's Josh Kendall.
“Kirk Cousins says he feels ‘good' physically,” Kendall wrote on his X, formerly Twitter, account. “‘I would love to tell you I’m fighting through something, but that’s not the case,' he said.
“I have to look at myself, and I know I have to play better. [I need to] look back and figure out how to make sure I never do that again.”
The Falcons travel to Minneapolis to face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 14 on Sunday, December 18 at 1:00 p.m. EST.
