Monday Night Football was a tale of two halves for Kirk Cousins in Falcons improbable win

Matt Ryan on Kirk Cousins

Coming into Monday Night Football, the narrative surrounding Kirk Cousins was if he swindled the Falcons out of $180 million following a pathetic debut against the Steelers in Week 1.

Cousins threw for just 155 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in an 18-10 loss to Pittsburgh. The veteran didn’t look comfortable in the pocket or in really any facet of his game. Questions about his health arose, and they bled into last night’s game too.

Before MNF, Troy Aikman spoke in the booth to Joe Buck that Kirk Cousins told him before the game that he wasn’t 100% but felt 100% inside the pocket (whatever that means), and it showed through two quarters.

Going into the half, Cousins and the Falcons trailed, 7-6, with Cousins having completed just 7 of 13 attempts for 75 yards while missing several open receivers and underthrowing a couple too. While the Falcons were in the game on the scoreboard, it just didn’t feel like it from watching Cousins operate Atlanta’s offense.

It ended up being a tale of two halves for Kirk Cousins. The veteran signal caller completed 13 of 16 passes for 166 yards and two scores in the second half, which included the game-winning drive.

With under 2 minutes to play, Cousins took the Falcons 70 yards down the field while trailing 21-15. He was nearly perfect, completing 5 of 6 passes for all 70 yards and the game-winning score caught by Drake London. He started with an 11-yarder to Kyle Pitts, then a pair of 20+ yard connections to Darnell Mooney and finally London twice.

Cousins finished the day 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns in what was one of the best wins for the Falcons in recent memory. Hopefully, the second half, particularly that final drive, is more of what Kirk Cousins will be for the rest of the 2024 campaign.

Photographer: Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
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