Kirk Cousins makes Falcons fans who wanted Michael Penix eat their words
A whole lot of Atlanta Falcons fans had seen enough of Kirk Cousins 118 minutes into the season. The last two minutes of Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles completely flipped the narrative.
The Falcons opened the door for fans to dream of the backup by drafting Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 pick despite giving Cousins a bag as a free agent.
Cousins looked out of sorts in Week 1 and most of Week 2 was no different. His recovery from a season-ending Achilles injury seemed to limit his mobility. He wasn't seeing the field. He missed open receivers.
Fans on Twitter made up their mind: The Falcons should bench Cousins for Penix.
I would bet any amount of $ Penix Jr. throws a TD here. pic.twitter.com/NWKRaH6XqA
— Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) September 17, 2024
Michael Penix Jr. watching Kirk Cousins tn: pic.twitter.com/C9GjvNmroq
— Sleeper (@SleeperHQ) September 17, 2024
Kirk is so beyond cooked can they put in Penix already
— AP 🗽🍎 (@Light_2610) September 17, 2024
But in the NFL, you're only as good or bad as your last drive. For Cousins, his last drive was magnificent.
The Eagles had the victory in hand until Saquon Barkley dropped an easy third-down conversion, stopping the clock and forcing Philadelphia to settle for a field goal.
Even so, the Falcons trailed by six with 1:45 remaining. Cousins and the offense hadn't done much of anything all game. Expecting them to find the endzone with no timeouts and time dwindling would have been foolish. Except Cousins called game.
Facing the prevent defense of the Eagles, Cousins cut through the soft zone like butter. The Falcons quickly rolled down the field inside the 10-yard line. From there, Cousins hit Drake London for a game-winning touchdown.
It was a "You like that? You like that?!" moment for Cousins and the Falcons. Twitter had to hand it to him.
NFL Twitter changes tune on Kirk Cousins after game-winning drive
Kirk Cousins vs Eagles. pic.twitter.com/ryL83oyamw
— Hoops (@HoopMixOnly) September 17, 2024
I TAKE IT ALL BACK
— Michael Penix Jr. Enthusiast (@MichaelPenixFan) September 17, 2024
Kirk Cousins was like “Michael Penix starting my ass! “ pic.twitter.com/4UUmlIBhES
— JJ (@jiggywiggyjj) September 17, 2024
Kirk Cousins spotted after the game pic.twitter.com/raPR6VRA8a
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) September 17, 2024
kirk cousins when it matters most pic.twitter.com/cDloLtcIlo
— Kaleb (@PrimeERod) September 17, 2024
Kirk Cousins the last 20 seconds in the 4th #NFL : pic.twitter.com/sn8vKFMlOw
— 🅿️ainSzn (@cjsweet567) September 17, 2024
Cousins finished with 241 yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-29 passing. Seventy of those yards came on the final drive. He was 13-of-16 in the second half.
This is the kind of win that can galvanize a team around a quarterback. Cousins needs to use this as a springboard. Then any mention of Penix will stop.
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