Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins had a day at the office that he would like to quickly forget as fans in A-Town and across the league have been clamoring for his job.
Cousins did pass for 245 yards and completed 24 of 39 passing in the four-point loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but his carelessness with the ball is what doomed Atlanta.
That’s because the 36-year-old signal caller threw an inexcusable four interceptions that day — including a pick-six in the loss.
Perhaps his worst play came with his third interception, where he threw an emergency pass into an end zone covered with defensive backs. Cousins’ pass fell into triple coverage and Marcus Maye was able to catch it.
But even after that mistake, the Falcons were able to get the ball back, giving Cousins one last chance at redemption.
Instead, he forced a pass on 4th-and-12 and safety Derwin James jumped the route to pick off Cousins for the fourth time of the night.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins had a rough day at the office after a loss to the Chargers
Cousins threw four picks that day, including the above, and his third at noon
The performance left many fans of the now 6-6 Falcons clamoring for the team to make the move for starting quarterback Michael Penix Jr. — who Atlanta drafted last year from the University of Washington.
‘It’s time. FREE PENIX,” wrote one user on X, formerly Twitter.
Former NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert tweeted: “Man, make it stop. Give us Penix Jr. If Bo Nix can do it in Denver, Penix can do it with all these weapons in Atlanta.”
Atlanta play-by-play voice Mike Conti said, “You gotta watch Penix right now. I have no idea what Cousins is doing.”
Kevin Knight, a reporter for SB Nation’s “The Falcoholic” blog, wrote, “Kirk Cousins just played himself out of the game.” Penix deserves a chance and if he plays well, let him run the show.”
Matt Verderame of Sports Illustrated wrote, “It’s time to give Michael Penix Jr. to play. This is impossibly bad.”
The Falcons invested a lot of money in Cousins this offseason, signing him to a four-year, $180 million contract in free agency with $100 million guaranteed.
Then, Atlanta got to the point of selecting Penix with the eighth overall pick in this year’s NFL Draft.
It has led some fans to call for Cousins to be replaced by rookie signal caller Michael Penix Jr.
So far, Cousins hasn’t really lived up to his billing.
He provided great individual moments, such as the Monday Night Football overtime victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 5. But his overall stats leave more to be desired.
While his 2,807 passing yards are good for seventh in the league and he has a solid TD/INT ratio of 17-9, his QBR of 56.8 is 20th in the league and his passer rating of 96.6 is about average.
Despite this, the Falcons currently lead the NFC South at 6-6. Cousins will face his former team, the Minnesota Vikings, on the road next Sunday.