FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The submissions this week for The Mailbox were, um, well they were interesting.

The tenor of the fan base is what I expected it to be after four straight losses, and a lot of you used the submission as a place to vent your frustrations, which I actually appreciated, surprisingly. I want to hear your thoughts on the team you root for — the good and the not-so-good. If you need the space to write out your thoughts, feelings and frustrations, The Mailbox is the place for it.

If I am being honest, there were not a lot of usable questions for me to answer this Tuesday. Meaning anything outside of the many, 'What the heck is going on with Kirk Cousins?' and 'Are we going to see Michael Penix Jr. at all this season?' which Raheem Morris has answered previously by saying Cousins is the Falcons quarterback moving forward.

So, I am changing The Mailbox up a little bit. I am going to publish your — the fans — musings. I will comment here and there but consider this your outlet for comment and concern.

Which is a good reminder! If you would like to submit questions, comments, concerns about the Atlanta Falcons 2024 play, you may do so here. In fact, I encourage it.

Frank W. from Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

I live in the Philly suburbs. I am a Falcon fan because I am from Atlanta. The rest of my family are Eagle fans. We have a Christmas tradition for which ornament goes on the front of the tree. If we play each other, the winner goes in the front and the loser in the rear. If we don't play each other, the best record goes on the front.

I should have my Falcons ornament on the front of the tree, but I feel this is not deserving the way the team has looked the last couple of weeks.

Man, Frank. This one hurts my dude. But I don't blame you one bit. I stand with your decision to withhold the space at the front of the tree until the team starts playing like a group worthy of that front-of-the-tree spot!

Heck, the Eagles are playing that way right now. They've been on an absolute tear after losing to the Bucs at the end of September. Honestly, the Falcons should feel fortunate to have faced the Eagles so early in the season instead of the Eagles of the last few weeks. If these two teams were to meet up at this point in the season, your family may think the back of the tree is too generous a spot for your ornament. But hey! At least that didn't happen, you know? We can look on the bright side: The Falcons did beat the Eagles this year, in pretty spectacular fashion. So, whenever your family threatens to move the ornament, just pull up the video I have attached below of the Falcons final, game-winning drive up in Philly this year.

Even when things aren't going well, we'll always have that, Frank.

Paula B. from Mankato, Minnesota

Just a comment. A lot of media and fans are still gonna be calling for Kirk to be benched, It would be great to see the Falcons media not join in on that.

This is Kirk's first season. There were bound to be growing pains. Plus, the team and the coach still support Kirk. It's easy to blame the quarterback but quarterback play is the least of the problems for the Falcons' losses. The sacks were great but the defense also didn't cause any turnovers. Remember, if a quarterback makes aggressive throws, there are gonna be INTs. Josh Allen had 18 of those in one season. And I would have thought the Falcons would get INTs as Sam Darnold has had issues with that his entire career while Kirk is usually very deliberate and precise. Thank you!

Paula, you are correct in your analysis that the issues of the Falcons go beyond just that of Cousins. I'd add Cousins hasn't necessarily helped much by racking up the interceptions that he has in the last month — and I would argue many of them are and should be preventable with a veteran quarterback of Cousins' caliber. But I digress...

The defense not forcing turnovers has been an issue of late. It's the other side of the turnover coin. Morris was actually asked about this on Monday. Here is what he had to say:

"No doubt that was a part of our game plan yesterday: try to go for some turnovers, get the ball back. And we had some opportunities. We missed some big-time track opportunities yesterday by big-time players, whether it was Justin Simmons or whether it was Jessie (Bates). This is not me calling those guys out because they've got high expectations for themselves to be able to make some of those plays. We did not make them yesterday, and those are the ones you want to be able to do.

"At the end of the game when we gave up the rushing yards, we got carried away in the four-minute drive trying to punch the ball out instead of tackling. They were able to tack some extra rushing yards on and it just wasn't a move of time to do it. And I don't want to take credit away from the Vikings and what they were able to do and the execution that they were able to make. They did a nice job doing those things. We did rush the passer well. The other time you get turnovers is on sack fumbles. We've got to be able to get the ball off of him a couple of times when you're able to get to the quarterback four times."

I put this entire quote in here to show that you are right on track in your thinking, Paula. The Falcons need more from Cousins, yes, but they also need more from their defense, too. Pass rush has seen an impressive uptick in production these last two weeks, but even in that, the Falcons were giving up too much to the Vikings Sunday. For this team to stay in lock step with some of the best teams in the league, the turnover margin can't be as great of a divide as it was Sunday. And that's on the offense, the defense and special teams.

Johnny B. from Atlanta, Georgia

Look, things are going from bad to worse. We have somehow lost our grip on a division we should have about wrapped up by now, we've lost four straight, we have to go 4-1 to possibly save the season, etc. And while I hate to be that guy, I have to ask. Is it time to think about pushing the big red button and bringing Penix in? I know Coach Morris has already said Kirk is the guy, but Captain Kirk is liable to drag the entire Enterprise down with him if he keeps playing like this. Perhaps Penix could bring enough of a jolt to the offense to save us from the eighth straight year of playoff oblivion.

Johnny, the reason I put your comment in immediately after Paula's is to showcase the juxtaposition of the fan base at this point in time. A large contingency is vocal in their displeasure of Cousins' play. Another part of the fan base wants to see what happens with Penix in the pocket — to answer the question of what do the Falcons have to look forward to in the future. (Honestly, both of those groups are definitely together at this point). And then there are people like Paula, who aren't ready to throw in the towel of the Cousins Experience just yet.

If I am being honest, all these feelings are valid. When a team is on a four-game losing streak and have lost out on a divisional lead they held firmly in place a month ago, everything is on the table for comment, discourse, evaluation and concern.

And that's kind of what I was hoping this installment of The Mailbox would be this week.

Thanks for reading, y'all! Oh, and one final note: Thank you to Jeff C. from Greensboro for the kind words about the coverage of late. I greatly appreciate it.