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.