TAMPA, Fla. — Atlanta Falcons coach Raheem Morris has been telling his team for weeks he wanted them to “Outrun the South.” Watching Kirk Cousins scoot down the field for 13 yards in the fourth quarter against Tampa Bay on Sunday is not how he imagined it happening, but he’ll take it.
“He looked like Patrick Mahomes out there,” Morris said. “It was outstanding.”
The Falcons held off the Buccaneers 31-26 at Raymond James Stadium to move to 5-3 overall and 4-0 in the division, one game and a solid tiebreaker advantage ahead of Tampa Bay (4-4). It is the first time Atlanta has been 4-0 in the division since 2014.
“Let’s not get carried away,” Cousins said of the Mahomes comparison.
The 13-year veteran did acknowledge, though, that he was happy to be able to contribute with his legs. The scramble came on second-and-14 and put Atlanta in position to convert a fourth-and-1 two plays later and take time away from a Buccaneers team that wasn’t beaten until Baker Mayfield’s Hail Mary throw into the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.
“I’ve always said to my coaches, ‘I can do some of that.’ I don’t do it enough,” Cousins said. “Thankfully in that moment, I just felt like the seas parted and I was able to take off. If I could have my way, I’d probably do more of that.”
Cousins was particularly gratified that the play came in Week 8, the same week of the season in which he tore his Achilles tendon last year.
“I went to practice this week grateful to be practicing,” he said.
Cousins continued to show off his fancy feet in the postgame locker room, Falcons safety Jessie Bates III said, dancing to Bankroll Fresh’s “Take Over Your Trap,” a song Cousins quoted during his weekly meeting with the media two weeks ago.
“He definitely knows the song,” Bates said.
Kirk Cousins’ pregame message to the #Falcons:
“We fight, no cap. We walk in your trap, take over your trap.”
📹: @bkfox5sports 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/Vm1yat4aoY
— Kelly Price (@thekellyprice) October 27, 2024
As valuable as Cousins’ scramble was, it probably ranked as his third-most important contribution to the victory. The most critical came from his arm as he finished 23-for-29 passing for 276 yards and four touchdowns. He is 65-for-87 for 785 yards, eight touchdowns and one interception in two games against the Buccaneers this season.
He became the fourth quarterback in league history with more than 750 passing yards and at least eight touchdowns against an opponent in a season, according to ESPN Stats & Info, joining Dan Marino, Joe Montana and Y.A. Tittle.
“As much as there was production, the next snap always feels tension-filled. You never felt safe,” Cousins said. “I know the production was there, but then it was, ‘Can we do it the next snap?’”
Cousins’ impact on the game started Friday when he made a speech to the team, Bates said. The quarterback approached Morris on Tuesday asking to address the team.
“He said, ‘We’ll give you the slot on Friday,’” Cousins said. “This league beats you up, and it tests you every day, it just kicks you down and you have to get back up. Sometimes I need to encourage myself and when I was encouraging myself, I thought, ‘You know what? Maybe someone else could use this, too.’”
Cousins declined to discuss the specifics of his speech, but Bates said he encouraged his teammates not to grow weary and keep their focus sharp until the team’s Week 12 bye.
“Kirk is a hell of a leader, and he did a really good job of stepping up in the team meeting,” Bates said. “Kirk’s presence alone is huge for us, and we’re right behind him.”
Bates led an up-and-down defensive effort, forcing and recovering a fumble and intercepting Mayfield, who finished 37-for-50 for 330 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions despite missing his top two wide receivers (Mike Evans and Chris Godwin). The Buccaneers finished with 432 yards, the most by any Atlanta opponent since New Orleans had 444 in last year’s season finale.
“They put up a lot of yards. They are going to move the ball,” Morris said. “Baker is a baller, and he thrives in those moments with his two guys out.”
Kyle Pitts had the first multi-touchdown game of his career, scoring from 36 and 49 yards out on his first two catches on National Tight Ends Day. He credited the tight end “gods” for helping his second score stand after Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield Jr. stripped the ball from him as he slowed down going across the goal line.
Kyle Pitts 49-yard TOUCHDOWN. #NationalTightEndsDay
📺: #ATLvsTB on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/GTk6Nm51LJ— NFL (@NFL) October 27, 2024
The review “felt like it was 20 minutes,” Pitts said. “I was like, ‘Oh, Lord, this is not looking good.’ Definitely dodged a bullet. Won’t ever let that happen again.”
Morris sat next to Pitts on the bench after the play but declined to say what he told his tight end after the game. Morris did refer to the play as “the almost lapse of his mind.”
That lapse and a defensive effort that included allowing Tampa Bay to convert nine of 14 third downs and included no sacks and no quarterback hits on 50 Buccaneers dropbacks were reminders for the Falcons that despite their perch atop the division, they are not near enough a finished product to take the position for granted.
“I think it’s a learning process as you go through the season,” Morris said. “You have to be honest with the guys about where you’re at, you have to be honest with the guys about what you want to do, have to be honest about how you want to do it. The message is clear every single week. Everybody knows what we want to do, and how we want to accomplish it. We are on to the next game, 1-0 mentality.”
The Falcons host the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“Something (Morris) has talked about is just loving and embracing the pressure,” linebacker Kaden Elliss said. “If you love that, then it doesn’t matter if you’re first in the league or last in the league. Let’s keep attacking.”
(Top photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)
