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Falcons Bench Kirk Cousins, to Start Michael Penix in Week 16
SportsGrid
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12/19/2024
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00:00
They put Kirk Cousins on the bench. The Falcons now starting
00:07
Michael Pennix Jr. DRS, a ton of reaction from us. But before
00:10
we get there, let's hear from the head man in the A. That's
00:14
Raheem Morris. Yeah, Mike's been doing everything we've
00:16
asked him to do since he's been here. You know, for us, it was
00:18
just a plan with Mike that he didn't have to play right now
00:20
because we had our quarterback rolling the right direction. Our
00:22
team rolling the right direction. We're doing a lot of
00:24
really good things. We got a lot of really good stats, a lot of
00:26
little things that you guys all love and then right now, it's
00:29
time to make a change and that's what we're doing. What were the
00:31
biggest things that stood out to you just recently from like
00:34
Kirk Cousins' recent play that you felt like you needed to make
00:37
this change? The turnovers. You know, you can't turn the ball
00:40
over National Football League and expect to win and we got to
00:42
stop those things and that was a big part of it. You know, some
00:45
other things in there too, but you know, obviously, the
00:47
turnovers were a big one, the big factors. Listen, that was
00:50
blunt from Raheem Morris, DRS, but you can't really fault him.
00:53
Atlanta, of course, snapping the four-game slide on Monday night
00:57
in Las Vegas. Wasn't pretty though. Fifteen to nine, one
01:01
total touchdown for that Atlanta offense thrown by Kirk
01:04
Cousins, but just 112 yards and yet another interception in the
01:09
four-game slide plus the victory in Sin City. One
01:13
touchdown to nine INTs for Kirk Cousins. Raheem Morris spelled
01:19
out some of the thoughts behind the decision. Donnie, where do
01:21
you land? Yeah, I land on this as the absolute right move and
01:25
good on that organization and maybe Raheem Morris had a lot
01:28
more pull than we thought because the one thing you do
01:30
know is the owner is going to get upset with the general
01:32
manager and the general manager is going to offset that like,
01:34
look, you paid this guy $180 million, $100 million
01:36
guaranteed. You drafted a quarterback. This looks like a
01:39
disaster. So, it's the right move and also keep in mind, the
01:42
previous four games as we talked about Kirk Cousins never
01:44
threw a touchdown pass, which is wild to think about with all
01:47
the success that Kirk Cousins has had in the past and then I
01:50
said to myself, handicapping that game Monday night, boy,
01:53
Atlanta should go up and down the field. This is a get
01:55
right game for them to sort of hit that sprint where you're
01:57
going to knock off the Raiders. You're going to lay up against
02:00
the Giants and then you might be able to get back into that
02:02
playoff picture and win the, excuse me, win the division to
02:04
get that home playoff game and away you go and then you watch
02:07
that football game and go, something just isn't right with
02:10
Kirk Cousins because this is the worst secondary in football
02:12
that you can't take advantage of. As the game wore on, he
02:15
looked unathletic and not making the right decisions, which
02:18
means, Ben, I don't even think he was trusting himself. So, I
02:21
love this move and also keep in mind, you're not playing the
02:24
Kansas City Chiefs this week and saying, hey, Michael
02:26
Pennix, save our season. You're getting a layup against the
02:28
Giants. Get the young kid, Michael Pennix, some good
02:31
passing spots here. You should win this game going away
02:34
regardless of his performance, which is going to help the
02:36
following week when you play the Commanders. Perfect time to
02:39
make that change because also, Ben, you could have took the
02:42
easy way out. Well, Kirk won the football game. As long as you
02:44
win, that's all that matters and they would have beaten the New
02:46
York Giants with Kirk Cousins out there, no doubt about it,
02:49
but you probably aren't going to beat the Commanders when you
02:51
need elevated quarterback play and it's clear, he couldn't
02:53
give that to you.
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