Kirk Cousins might be stepping in for an injured Michael Penix Jr., but he’s not distancing himself from Raheem Morris.
After the Atlanta Falcons’ brutal 30-27 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers dropped them to 3-7 and extended their skid to five games, Cousins gave his head coach a clear public backing, calling Morris the kind of leader players want to win for and insisting the staff is giving them what they need to succeed. For a locker room in danger of checking out, that kind of endorsement still matters.
Outside the building, though, the conversation is very different. ESPN’s Dan Graziano noted that while “hot seat” talk always has a speculative element, owner Arthur Blank expected this Falcons team to be competitive this season, and they simply are not.
That naturally raises the possibility of a coaching change, even though Morris is described as a personal favorite of Blank and is only in his second year in charge. The affection is real, but so is the pressure to show progress.
Complicating any evaluation is how ugly the injury situation has become. Michael Penix Jr. is staring at a potentially season-ending knee injury after already missing time earlier in the year, and top wideout Drake London is also sidelined.
Penix had been serviceable, if not spectacular, with over 1,900 passing yards and just three interceptions, while London was the lone true matchup nightmare in the passing game. Losing both at once has turned an already fragile offense into a weekly survival exercise and makes judging Morris strictly by wins and losses even trickier.
That does not mean the coach is blameless. Atlanta has blown late leads, struggled to finish drives, and failed to turn its supposed defensive investment into a dominant unit.
Morris himself has said there is “no such thing as a losing team, only a losing leader,” publicly taking the weight of the collapse. Over the final stretch, Blank has to decide which matters more: a respected coach players still fight for, or a record and trajectory that scream for a reset.
