ATLANTA -- Falcons coach Raheem Morris was asked after his team's loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13 about what improvements he wanted to see in his quarterback, Kirk Cousins.
Morris replied that it was the turnovers, namely the four interceptions Cousins had. That had to get better, Morris said.
And it did Sunday. Just not to the level the Falcons needed in what ended up a 42-21 loss on the road against the Minnesota Vikings.
Cousins, 36, threw two interceptions against the Vikings, his former team, and now has eight interceptions over the past four games. Cousins has not thrown a touchdown pass during that stretch. Atlanta has lost all four, going from 6-3 and in pole position in the NFC South to 6-7 and in second place behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Falcons' most recent loss was not all on Cousins. They had the most penalty yards (127) in a single game this season. The defense allowed Sam Darnold to find Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison for big play after big play. And wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud's kick-return fumble in the fourth quarter turned a one-score game into a rout.
But in football, the quarterback gets most of the credit for wins and most of the blame for losses. In the instance of the Falcons, it's pretty clear to see the slide in Cousins' performance coinciding exactly with the team's losing streak.
The last time a quarterback went four straight games with no touchdown passes and eight or more interceptions in a single season was Brett Favre in 2005. But Cousins has had quite a few successful moments this year and, at one point, things were shaping up to be a very good year for him coming off a torn right Achilles in 2023. Cousins even threw for a franchise-record 509 yards against the Buccaneers in Week 5.
Over the first nine weeks of the season, Cousins had a 61 Total QBR, which ranked 10th in the NFL, per ESPN Research. Since Week 10, the wheels have fallen off. Cousins' 45 QBR is 27th in the league. He has the worst touchdown-to-interception ratio and the most turnovers in the NFL. And his completion percentage (62%) is 25th.
It's not even so much that Cousins is being pressured. He has four interceptions since Week 10 from a clean pocket after having 14 touchdown passes and no interceptions in those situations over the first nine weeks of the season, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
The Falcons have the 2024 eighth overall draft pick, Michael Penix Jr., sitting on the bench behind Cousins as the quarterback of the future. But Morris reaffirmed Monday that Atlanta will stick with Cousins.
"I just think Kirk was the guy that led us to the 6-3 record, and we've got to find a way to get out of this funk and get it back going down the end of the stretch, which we believe that we can do," Morris said. "We went out to get this [Cousins] to lead us to the playoffs and give us an opportunity to get in the playoffs and play significant football in December, and we're doing that and we got to find a way to snap out of it."
Morris also said that turnovers in the NFL "will kill you" and the Falcons "can't live with it at all." Cousins leads the league with 17 turnovers, with two lost fumbles to go along with his 15 interceptions. Cousins has 12 fumbles overall, tied for a league high with Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield.
To sum up the correlation between Cousins' turnovers and the Falcons fortunes, the team is 2-7 when he throws an interception and 4-0 when he does not.
Atlanta is a five-point favorite as it travels to the Las Vegas Raiders for "Monday Night Football" in Week 15, followed by a home game against the New York Giants. The Raiders and Giants have a combined record of 4-22. If Cousins and the Falcons are going to break out of their slump, this would be the window to do it, down a game in the division against the Bucs while still holding the head-to-head tiebreaker against them.
It has been seven years since the Falcons have had a winning record and gone to the playoffs. Five weeks ago, both of those things seemed likely. Now, Cousins has to show he can still sling it and limit mistakes to save what was once a very promising season.
"For us, it is going to be his opportunity to go out there and right the ship," Morris said, "and we've got to give him that opportunity, and he's earned it."