We might need to start talking about Kirk Cousins as an MVP candidate

The NFL's MVP award has become a quarterback's prize over the past decade, with the last non-passer to take home the honors being Adrian Peterson for the Minnesota Vikings in 2012. Given those statistics, the conversation around the favorites to take home the 2024 MVP award have been the usual suspects as star quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are the most frequent candidates discussed by the media.

While Washington Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels has made his way into the conversation, there is another top passer who hasn't gotten enough hype for MVP yet. After today's win over the Dallas Cowboys, however, it's time to start discussing now-Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins as a serious MVP candidate.

Kirk Cousins belongs in the MVP conversation

While most of the headlines coming out of Atlanta's 27-21 victory over the Cowboys have surrounded the rising panic meter for Dallas, the big story of the day was how Cousins shredded the Cowboys' defense. Cousins delivered an outstanding performance, completing 19-of-24 passes for 222 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, as he looks more comfortable the further removed he is from last year's season-ending Achilles' injury.

Team success is often cited as a key metric for MVP consideration and Cousins has done a tremendous job setting the Falcons up for a potential NFC South title. Atlanta is 6-3 after nine games, including a 4-0 mark in the division that includes a sweep of second-place Tampa Bay, essentially putting the Falcons 2.5 games up on the Buccaneers pending Monday night's result.

Cousins' statistical performance is also strong as he has completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 2,328 yards with a 17:7 touchdown to interception ratio. Those totals rank Cousins among the league leaders in each statistical category, showing that he is delivering a performance that is among the best in the NFL at the position.

There is also a good argument to make about Cousins' value to Atlanta since the Falcons are now 6-3 with him in nine games after racking up seven wins in each of the past three seasons. The vast majority of Atlanta's skill position players and defenders have remained the same over that span, with the notable change being going to Cousins at quarterback instead of the failed Desmond Ridder/Taylor Heinicke/Marcus Mariota contingent.

The odds of Cousins actually winning MVP will remain low if the established stars rack up big numbers, but he will have a chance if he can pile up the touchdowns and wins down the stretch. Atlanta's schedule is favorable down the stretch, offering four games against bottom-dwellers for stacking counting stats and a few key showcase games to make a name for himself in the MVP race, including a return trip to Minnesota in Week 14 and a home date with Daniels and the Commanders in Week 17 that could end up getting flexed to Sunday Night Football.

Winning a few of those games would boost Atlanta's chances of challenging Detroit and Washington for home field in the NFC, which would in turn make voters take Cousins' MVP case more seriously. There is a long way for Cousins to go but he has shown he belongs in the conversation after nine games as a Falcon.