For most NFL teams, the 2024 season starts on Sunday, but for Kirk Cousins it is almost the finish line.
It’s been a long 10 months for the veteran quarterback. His season with the Vikings ended in October with a torn Achilles tendon, then he joined the Falcons as a free agent and Atlanta used its first-round pick on quarterback Michael Penix Jr., and he didn’t play a single snap in the preseason.
For Cousins, the wait is over Sunday when the Steelers come to Atlanta (1 p.m. ET on FOX) and the Falcons begin an optimistic season with a quarterback they have sorely lacked in recent years.
“The process of finding his identity with the new quarterback has been a lot of fun,” new Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Wednesday. “From the beginning — from the OTA days to now to training camp, to getting ready for our first game. Now we’re here and I can’t wait to go out there and play.”
The Falcons have finished 7-10 for three straight years, but the signing of Cousins and Morris has raised expectations even higher. Atlanta is the clear favorite with the bookies to win the NFC South, even though the Bucs are three-time defending champions. Cousins has been warmly welcomed by his new team and city, and now he’s looking to return the favor with a win for his new fans.
“It’s a privilege,” Cousins said Wednesday. “The Southern hospitality is real. I mean, we’ve been so well received since March and every time, whether it’s the grocery store, the hair salon, the airport, everyone has been so positive and welcoming. I look at (my wife) Julie as they walk away and say, ‘Thank you for being here. We’re rooting for you.’ I say, ‘I better play well. We’ve got to win because they’re doing their part.'”
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How much better can the Falcons be with Cousins at quarterback? His injury limited him to 10 games last season, and although he missed seven games, he finished the season with 18 touchdown passes, one more than the Falcons managed as a team in 2023. Season openers? Over the past three years, Falcons quarterbacks have averaged 165 passing yards and thrown a total of one touchdown pass; Cousins has averaged twice as many yards — 331 per game — with two touchdown passes in each of his past three openers.
The Falcons haven’t been to the playoffs since 2017, and Cousins hasn’t had any success in the postseason either. He ranks 24th all-time with 39,471 passing yards, but has only one postseason win in his career. Of the 23 quarterbacks with more passing yards, all but two have at least three playoff wins: Vinny Testaverde has two, Carson Palmer has one.
In Minnesota, Cousins threw to Justin Jefferson, arguably the NFL’s best receiver. In Atlanta, he has a chance to make a star out of Drake London, a former top-10 pick who has caught just six touchdowns in two seasons. He also has two other top-10 picks at his disposal: second-year running back Bijan Robinson and fourth-year tight end Kyle Pitts.
Of course, it’s another top-10 pick that has complicated Cousins’ arrival in Atlanta. Although the Falcons gave the four-time Pro Bowler a four-year, $180 million contract with $100 million guaranteed, they surprised many by selecting Penix with the No. 8 pick in the draft. The team then did its best to make it clear that Penix is Atlanta’s quarterback of the future and poses no threat to Cousins’ status as the quarterback of the present.
“We don’t want anyone else leading our team,” said new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson, who at 38 is just two years older than his quarterback. “Kirk is who he is every day. He’s an incredible leader for the guys in the locker room, which is great for a rookie, and his experience, his leadership principles, all the things he stands for. … And obviously we know the player. So we’re very confident in Kirk.”
Can the Falcons actually finish as number 1 in the NFC?
Cousins can upstage Penix by playing well and winning consistently, though that will be a challenge from the start. Atlanta’s first five opponents – Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Kansas City, New Orleans and Tampa Bay – all had a win last season, as did nine of the Falcons’ first 10 games. They will have played five of their six divisional games by Week 10, so a strong performance could give them a chance to finish the season against weaker opponents. As it stands, the final five quarterbacks they will face are Sam Darnold of the Vikings, Gardner Minshew of the Raiders, Daniel Jones of the Giants, Jayden Daniels of the Commanders and Bryce Young of the Panthers.
Because Cousins didn’t play in the preseason, Sunday will be his first game since being injured last year, against a Steelers defense that includes edge rusher TJ Watt, who led the NFL with 19 sacks last season. Cousins is oddly looking forward to that first hit, a welcome moment of sorts as he returns to the field and the sport he loves.
“There’s something inside of you that’s kind of sick that you want to get beat a little bit because there’s just a part of you that loves to compete,” Cousins said. “When you’re watching from the outside, it’s tough. My guys are at an age now where they can watch me play and remember it and be a part of it. When they watched other guys play, they thought, ‘Oh man, I hope I can come back and play because I want my guys to watch this game with me.’
“So it will also be a privilege to go out there on Sunday and know that they can watch and really take it in.”
Greg Auman is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously covered the Buccaneer for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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