In return to Minnesota, Cousins ​​squanders the Falcons’ chances and possibly their season

Once again Kirk Cousins ​​thrilled the home crowd in Minnesota. Unfortunately for Cousins, however, he was wearing the road team uniform.

Cousins ​​and the Atlanta Falcons, fresh off a losing streak and on the verge of losing their division lead, came to Minnesota hoping to reverse the late-season spiral. Instead, the spiral only got steeper as the Vikings beat Atlanta 42-21.

Cousins ​​was completely outplayed by his replacement, Sam Darnold, and the Falcons’ season is now in serious trouble as a result. Minnesota, on the other hand, has no regrets and appears to be well on its way to securing a playoff spot with Darnold at the helm.

Cousins ​​and the Vikings, a longtime starter in Minnesota, parted ways amicably last year after it became clear that Minnesota would not offer Cousins ​​the contract length he wanted. After recovering from a season-ending Achilles tendon injury, Cousins ​​signed with Atlanta, who wanted to shed his long-standing reputation for lack of production.

Cousins ​​has had his moments this season, including a career-high 500 yards passing game, but Atlanta’s inertia is strong indeed. Slowly and inexorably, Cousins ​​has evolved from a competent, sometimes exceptional pocket passer into a twitchy turnover machine who dishes out interceptions like Halloween candy.

Sunday wasn’t Cousins’ worst game of the season; He threw four interceptions in a debacle against the Chargers last week that prompted calls to replace Michael Penix Jr. But Cousins ​​delivered two more devastating interceptions and a third, probably should have, on the afternoon, twice leading the Falcons to the Minnesota 5 and failing to hit the ball into the end zone.

And this is where the Falcons’ second problem of the afternoon emerged: terrible penalties. Atlanta committed an astonishing 12 penalties for 127 yards on the afternoon, the most against a team in the NFL all season. Sloppy play stymied offensive drives and, most notably, gave Minnesota four additional points when a penalty on a Minnesota field goal attempt gave the Vikings new life. Minnesota responded with Justin Jefferson’s first touchdown after a six-game losing streak.

Atlanta struck first on Sunday with its best weapon in the red zone: a sledgehammer running game, in this case Tyler Allgeier. But Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold troubled Atlanta’s secondary, starting with a 49-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Addison and ending with a brilliant third-quarter play in which he dodged an Atlanta rush and left one wide open found Jefferson 50 yards downfield for Jefferson’s second touchdown:

Atlanta’s running game kept the Falcons in the hunt, and Atlanta tied the game with a 13-yard run by Bijan Robinson with less than a minute left in the third. And for a moment, it looked like the Falcons were going to at least make a fight out of it.

But Darnold continued to show why he is a revelation in Minnesota. He led the Vikings back down the field in just over two minutes and hit Addison for the receiver’s second touchdown, Darnold’s fourth of the afternoon, to take a 28-21 lead.

Immediately afterward, Atlanta’s Ray-Ray McCloud compounded Atlanta’s problems when he fumbled on the kickoff runback, and moments later Darnold found Addison again for a touchdown and the lead grew to 35-21 with just over eight minutes to play. Cousins ​​then led Atlanta on a promising drive… but dashed any Falcon hopes when he threw another interception, his eighth fourth-quarter interception of the year. Seven plays later, Aaron Jones stormed into the end zone for the Vikings’ third touchdown of the fourth quarter.

Atlanta’s final drive fittingly ended with a turnover on downs as Cousins’ final pass fell into the hands of Kyle Pitts. Cousins ​​finished the game with 344 yards passing but no touchdowns and two picks. Robinson and Allgeier ran for 92 and 63 yards, respectively, and a touchdown.

The recent Falcon loss has both short- and long-term consequences. Atlanta gave up first place in the NFC South to Tampa Bay despite beating the Bucs in both games this year. Atlanta still has a few winnable games left this year – the Raiders, Giants, Commanders and Panthers await – but so does Tampa Bay. For the first time in months, Atlanta no longer controls its playoff fate.

On a larger scale, however, this will increase calls for Atlanta to draft Penix, the highly touted and heavily drafted rookie. After the game, Falcons head coach Raheem Morris remained resolute, saying, “Kirk Cousins ​​is our quarterback.” But how long can he stick with a quarterback who is clearly struggling?

Atlanta has made a large financial investment in Cousins ​​— who, it should be noted, doesn’t play defense — but the Falcons also have a number of offensive weapons that can’t be used if the quarterback continues to pass the ball to him throws to other team.