The Atlanta Falcons fell to 6-6 on the season through a 17-13 home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday afternoon that featured Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins throwing 4 interceptions and nil landing passes.
Falcons head coach Raheem Morris insisted after that defeat he will not substitute Cousins within the lineup with rookie Michael Penix Jr. anytime quickly, and a number of teammates got here to Cousins’ protection regardless of his latest struggles.
“I love Kirk,” large receiver Drake London stated, as shared by the D. Orlando Ledbetter of The Atlanta Journal-Structure. “He’s the last word chief. He’s the last word quarterback. The most effective quarterback that I’ve performed with. So, I’m going to preserve my religion in him 110 p.c each week, week-in, week-out that he’s enjoying. I’m simply going to belief him. That’s what all of us do. That’s what we’ll proceed to do. As a result of should you take these 4 (interceptions) away, he actually was having a lights-out recreation.”
The Falcons signed Cousins to a four-year, $180M contract that included $100M assured this previous offseason, and he guided the membership to a 6-3 file earlier than it suffered three consecutive defeats. Cousins tossed six interceptions with no touchdowns over these losses, and it was suggested earlier than the Los Angeles recreation that Atlanta may transfer on from the 36-year-old this coming offseason if he fails to steer the group to a playoff berth.
“Everybody who’s performed soccer and particularly at this stage has had video games like that,” London added, per Marc Raimondi of ESPN. “…So, it is not all on Kirk. It will probably by no means be all on Kirk. Now we have to run the best routes. Now we have to be detailed, and we’ve got to execute our performs.”
In accordance with ESPN stats, Cousins started Monday ranked twentieth within the NFL with a 54.7 adjusted QBR for the marketing campaign. No participant has thrown extra interceptions than Cousins (13) this season.
Whereas it is hardly a stretch to say these operating the Falcons in all probability anticipated higher play from Cousins throughout the second half of his first season with the group, guard Chris Lindstrom made it recognized that he nonetheless believes within the veteran signal-caller.
“Okayirk is improbable,” Lindstrom stated. “We love him and he’s the chief of this group. He drives us each single day. He’s the man who brings power each single day. He’s there for us. He’s an enormous cause why we’re right here on this spot, first within the division. We hit a bump in a highway, however it’s not going to cease us from going ahead.”
First-place Atlanta subsequent performs on the 10-2 Minnesota Vikings, Cousins’ former group, on Sunday. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Falcons as five-point underdogs for that matchup.
