FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Kirk Cousins passed for 509 yards the first time he played Tampa Bay this season, but the Falcons quarterback had his best game of the year the second time he faced the Buccaneers.
That was the assessment of head coach Raheem Morris and offensive coordinator Zac Robinson after rewatching Cousins’ 276-yard, four-touchdown effort Sunday.
“One hundred percent,” Morris said. “As far as being clean, as far as throwing the ball exactly where it needs to go, being able to exhaust his progressions, feeling really comfortable, being decisive, doing all the different things that Kirk does well, it was.”
Cousins has been named the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week after each game against Tampa Bay this season. He is fourth in the league in passing yards per game (263.25) and ninth in expected points added per dropback (.13), a measure of quarterback efficiency, according to TruMedia.
“We all knew what kind of player Kirk was. This was the vision for him to come in and distribute the ball to all these playmakers across the board,” Robinson said. “He has continued to get better. He has been everything we hoped since we got the job here.”
Robinson called Cousins’ 21-yard completion to receiver Darnell Mooney near the sideline in the second quarter of Sunday’s game “one of his top two or three throws this season.”
“You could tell early in the game, ‘He is seeing the ball really well today,’” Robinson said. “He’s a great progression passer, and that was on full display the other day.”
This week’s game will match Cousins against Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who was the head coach in Minnesota from 2014 through 2021. Cousins was the Vikings’ starting quarterback for the last four of those seasons.
“I’m sure (Zimmer) has got a little book on what he thinks, but Kirk also knows coach Zimmer really well,” Robinson said. “Those things usually get talked about more than what actually happens on the field. A lot of times, those get a little overblown in the lead-up to the game.”
Cousins was 33-29 as the Minnesota starter under Zimmer. He is 1-1 in his career going against his former coach’s defense, averaging 294.5 passing yards in two games against Minnesota while he was Washington’s starter in 2016 and 2017.
“His scheme is so sound that there’s not much you can extract there,” Cousins said. “He’s been around the league for so long and is so respected and has had a scheme that gives people problems for so long that I don’t think the fact that we have worked together would make much difference.”
Injuries on all sides
The Falcons have injury question marks throughout the lineup that could affect Sunday’s game, but the player whose status they are most focused on is Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons. The No. 12 pick in the 2021 draft, Parsons already has made two All-Pro teams, but he hasn’t played since Week 4 because of an ankle injury and did not participate in the Cowboys’ practices Wednesday or Thursday.
Parsons has faced the Falcons only once in his career, recording six tackles and a sack in a 43-3 Dallas win in 2021, but Atlanta’s offensive coaches worry he’ll have a much bigger impact if he plays Sunday.
“He’s an unbelievable player, arguably the best defensive player when he is going,” Robinson said. “The game plan is completely different when he’s in there. So we have to have contingency plans whether he’s playing or not. We’ll be ready for either one. He can absolutely wreck a game if you’re not diligent with your approach. He’s a really special player. They can move him around to different spots. We’ll have to wait and see how it goes the rest of the week.”
Dallas could also be without starting cornerbacks Trevon Diggs (calf) and Daron Bland (foot), both of whom missed both midweek practices. Bland was activated from injured reserve this week.
On the Falcons’ injury front, linebacker JD Bertrand (concussion) and defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro (ankle) did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. Offensive lineman Chris Lindstrom (knee) did not practice Wednesday but returned on a limited basis Thursday, a good sign for his availability Sunday.
Linebackers Troy Andersen (knee) and Nate Landman (rest), center Drew Dalman (ankle) and tight end Charlie Woerner (rest) were all limited at Thursday’s practice. Safety Justin Simmons, linebacker Kaden Elliss and cornerback Antonio Hamilton Sr. were all full participants Thursday.
No longer defending the rush
For several weeks, Morris has been trying to defend his team’s progress in the pass rush game. He stopped this week.
“We cannot rush the passer,” he said bluntly Wednesday. “We have to get better. We’re not doing a great job of rushing the passer individually. Nobody is giving excuses for those guys, but we have seen different practice performance than game performance, and that’s the thing we’ve got to change.”
The Falcons are last in the NFL with six sacks. That puts them on pace to finish the season with 13, which would tie for the second fewest by any team since at least the 2000 season, according to TruMedia.
“What you want to do is find a way to make it better so it doesn’t hinder you from winning enough football games that you want to win,” Morris said. “That’s the most important thing to me. How can we get it better so when we really need it, it shows up for us?”
Morris didn’t rule out the possibility of trading for another pass rusher before the league’s Tuesday deadline.
“It’s become more popular in the National Football League to talk about than it used to be. There’s a lot more sellers for the most part than there used to be,” he said. “That was kind of not in style back in the day, but it’s a lot more prevalent across the board. It’s tough, you know? At what point do you feel like you’ve become a seller, and at what point do you feel like you’re a buyer? All those things come into play.”
Dynamic duo
Wide receivers Drake London and Darnell Mooney are the only two teammates to each have more than 500 receiving yards this season. London, who has 525 yards on 48 catches, is 13th in the league in receiving. Mooney, who has 500 yards on 36 catches, is 16th.
“Both guys, first and foremost, are very smart football players, very unselfish, willing to do whatever it takes to win the game, and so that’s always fun,” Robinson said. “Their skill sets match up so well to complement each other. So whether they’re on the same side of the field, whether they’re on opposite sides of the field, whether they’re on opposite sides of the field to start and they motion to be on the same side, there’s a lot of options with those guys. Them being really smart football players and really savvy allows us to do that.”
Despite sharing the workload with Mooney, London is averaging a career-best 65.3 receiving yards per game and already has reached his season high with five touchdowns.
“We’re on a tandem bike, honestly,” he said of himself and Mooney. “Whatever we can do to make the team better, to make explosive plays, we are definitely doing that and trying to reach new heights every day.”
Home-field advantage?
Last week’s 31-26 win over Tampa Bay moved the Falcons to 3-0 on the road this season. That’s more wins than they have managed at Mercedes-Benz Stadium this season despite already playing five games at home.
Atlanta, which is 2-3 at home, has been worse on both sides of the ball at home, but the problem is most stark on offense. The Falcons are fifth in the league in scoring in road games (30.33 ppg) and 22nd in home games (20.6 ppg). Atlanta is 15th in the league in scoring defense on the road (22.3 ppg allowed) and 25th at home (25.6 ppg allowed).
“Just going into enemy territory, that feeling of everybody against us, that’s something that I definitely thrive on playing in,” defensive tackle Grady Jarrett said. “I think that’s been working for this team. We just have to find a way to curate that mindset that we are in when we’re away to bring it home so we can get these home wins running. Start fast, play with edge, play with crazy effort. We can’t get home and feel comfortable. The things we channel when we’re on the road, we have to bring to the house.”
Atlanta will have five road games and three home games remaining after facing the Cowboys.
(Top photo: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
