MINNEAPOLIS — For the time being, the Atlanta Falcons are sticking with Kirk Cousins at quarterback despite a decline in play over the team's last four losses — including a double-interception day in Atlanta's 42-21 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Head coach Raheem Morris did say the team would continue to evaluate everything, though.
Cousins has not thrown a touchdown pass in four games. He has also thrown eight interceptions during that same span. However, when asked about the plan at quarterback moving forward — with rookie Michael Penix Jr. waiting in the wings — Morris said that "everything is always discussed" while reviewing the tape, but Cousins is still the guy the Falcons want to lead them at the position.
"Kirk played significantly better than he did the week before and we have the chance to go out there and focus on us and go out there and work on what we do and what we do well," Morris said. "We will do whatever is best to go win football games, but Kirk is definitely a part of that."
Cousins' final stat line in the loss was 23 of 37 (62.2%) through the air with 344 passing yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. Which, yes, was better than his last outing, but is it enough? That is the question the Falcons have to weigh going into Week 15 below .500 and now in second place in the NFC South.
"I would love to be playing with a lot more production," Cousins said following the loss. "It's been disappointing over the last four weeks to not have a touchdown pass."
Cousins has not had a completion percentage above 66% in any of the Falcons' last four losses. And though Morris did say the Falcons planned to use the run game of Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier extensively against the Vikings, Atlanta just hasn't been productive or clean enough offensively to win games during this stretch.
In fact, the Falcons' run game did all it could do in the loss, producing at a clip of just under five yards per run with 158 rushing yards on 32 carries split between Robinson and Allgeier. They scored two touchdowns, too, including a two-point conversion that put the score at 21-all heading into the final quarter.
When asked what it would take for Morris to consider giving Penix the reins of the offense, Morris pointed to inefficiencies in the red zone.
"We have to execute better in the red zone," Morris said. "A lot of the things you have to do you have to go out there and do at practice and they have to come to life in the games, and that hasn't happened the last couple of weeks. That's something that we have to get better.
"Kirk threw for 300-and-whatever amount of yards and we were able to run the ball to get in the end zone. The goal today was to run it into the end zone."
The goal Sunday was also to win, though, and that goal was not reached.
But for all intents and purposes, the Falcons' coaching staff is sticking with Cousins. The Falcons locker room supports that decision, according to players like Bijan Robinson, Darnell Mooney and Jake Matthews postgame.
"He's a guy I respect the hell out of. A guy I want to play really well for," Matthews said of Cousins. "We are all frustrated to have dropped the last four but there's still a little bit left of this year and we have to get on a roll and get hot again."
Many of them also pointed to the Falcons' lack of execution in the red zone as the key reason for the loss, not Cousins.
"I want to go out there and play for my guy all the time, get some touchdowns for him," Mooney said. "If we're losing, everything's all on him. If we're winning, everything's all on him."
Such is life as an NFL quarterback. The Falcons are now 1-7 when Cousins has a passer rating below 90. He was at 70.1 Sunday, after hanging at a rating of 40 a week ago. Cousins leads the league in interceptions in 2024 with 15 — his most ever in a single season in his 13-year career.
Consistent offensive production and points are at a premium for Atlanta in 2024, but the Falcons believe Cousins is still the guy to lead the unit despite questions about his performance lingering from the viewpoint of the fan base and national media.
"Kirk Cousins is our quarterback," Morris concluded.
Get an inside look at the matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium during Week 14, presented by Grady.