Kirk Cousins has had a rough transition to his life with the Falcons and it did not get too much better in his Week 2 matchup against the Eagles after flaming out spectacularly during their loss in Week 1 against the Steelers. Atlanta went into half-time just a point behind, trailing 7-6, but it could have been much better.
During the two-minute warning, they had a first-and-goal that they should have converted. They also had the option of a run play, which they wasted in their first attempt because they had a timeout to spare. On the second try, Kirk Cousins failed to connect on a screen play. On third down, the miss was the most egregious.
There were three receivers open in the endzone when Kirk Cousins chose to throw it out of the back of the endzone. It was something that was not characteristic of the quarterback from his time in Minnesota. It just revived doubts about whether he still has it in him to remain a franchise quarterback.
Fans took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to slam the quarterback. Here are some of the reactions.
Some blamed the Achilles injury that he had last season still occupying his mind, which was causing Cousins to miss open receivers. Here are some of the responses.
"Snapping that Achilles is top of mind for Kirk every drop back... Penix by week 6-7
"Is Kirk Cousins washed?"
"Confidence is cooked"
Kirk Cousins improves in a couple of aspect for the Falcons vs Eagles
Kirk Cousins could be blamed for missing open wide receivers, but there were a couple of factors to consider. He knew time was running down and he could not risk an interception and chose to throw it away to give the kicker a chip shot.
Also, he threw two interceptions in the loss to the Steelers in Week 1 and that might have been playing on his mind. He did not throw a single interception in the first half and in the second half, he threw a touchdown pass that put the Falcons ahead 15-10 over the Eagles.
He also improved another aspect of his game as he lined up under center a few times. It was noticeably absent in the game against Pittsburgh and that is what led many observers to conclude that he was not fully confident in how his injured right Achilles had healed. The Falcons will be hoping the gradual improvement becomes permanent going forward.
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