PHILADELPHIA – After a three-season hiatus, the Atlanta Falcons make their return to “Monday Night Football” when they face the Eagles at 8:15 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field.
With the culmination of some savvy (and tampering) moves this offseason, the Falcons were clearly viewed by the league office as one of teams worthy of multiple national appearances in 2024.
The Falcons have not played on “Monday Night Football” since Week 4 of the 2020 season. They were beaten 30-16 by the Packers to drop to 0-4. After another loss the following week, the Falcons fired coach Dan Quinn.
But heading into the 2024 season, the Falcons, despite six consecutive losing seasons, were picked for four nationally televised games.
The Falcons were considered attractive after key moves including the hiring of head coach Raheem Morris and the addition of quarterback Kirk Cousins. While the Falcons were found guilty of tampering in signing Cousins, wide receiver Darnell Mooney and tight end Charlie Woerner, they were projected by many to win the NFC South.
Cousins, after a shaky debut, is looking to rebound, in front of a nationally televised audience. ESPN had 20.5 million viewers for the season opener between the Jets and 49ers. It was the second most-watched Week 1 game since the network started televising MNF in 2006.
Cousins, who came over from the Vikings, is in his 13th year in the league. He also previously played in Washington. He has 3-10 record in MNF games.
“I mean, I’d love to go out and be undefeated on Monday night,” Cousins said. “I would love to have that be a different record, but I feel like I’ve always played pretty consistent, whether we won or lost.”
Cousins led the Vikings to victory over the 49ers in his last MNF appearance on Oct. 23, 2023.
“Okay, there’s things that happen that can affect the results, but I think if my play was dramatically different on Monday night, I’d go, ‘Hey, I got to go look at this,’” Cousins said. “But when I look at it, I go, not really playing any different. I’m still the same quarterback I am in other days and nights and mornings.”
Cousins has actually won three of his last four MNF games after losing his first nine.
“So, I think when you feel like your play is consistent, then you say, yeah, I mean, the results are what they are,” Cousins said. “Many times, we were roughly .500 on Monday night. We were playing teams that were winning their divisions and finished in 13-3 and going to the NFC championship game or the Super Bowl.”
Cousins pointed out that they were heavy underdogs in most of those losses. The Falcons are 6.5 point underdogs to the Eagles. The Falcons remained 6.5 underdogs by DraftKings even after A.J. Brown was declared out on Sunday.
“You’re playing good football teams on Monday night and you got to face those challenges,” Cousins said.
Falcons offensive coordinator Zac Robinson and Cousins are hoping the offense can make some major strides against an Eagles defense that gave up 414 yards over 58 plays to the Packers in their season opener.
“So, whether it’s a prime-time game or a day game, I think it’ll feel the exact same once the ball is snapped,” Robinson said. “Obviously, the anticipation for some of these prime-time games leading up to it feels a little bit different. But once the ball is snapped, it’s football. It’s going to be fun to see these guys on Monday night because I know they’re excited to play.”
Robinson and Cousins are working through how they want to attack defenses.
“That was the first time in a real game, real setting,” Robinson said of the season-opening, 10-point outing against the Steelers. “So, those things naturally are going to start coming up. But our conversations have always been open and honest.”
It’s a work in progress.
“We’re continuing to gel and find the right spot there,” Robinson said. “I think it’ll just continue to grow throughout the season.”
Both must figure out how to get wide receiver Drake London more involved. Running back Bijan Robinson, tight end Kyle Pitts and London should be pillars of the offense.
“We just got to execute well on first and second down and third down, and kind of give ourselves the chance to be in advantageous situations,” Cousins said. “Which then gives you the ability to kind of put the wind at your back and involve everybody that you want to involve.”
The Falcons are hoping that Robinson can develop into the player like the Eagle’s Saquon Barkley, a strong runner and solid pass catcher.
“He’s one of the guys we want our guy to be like and to be very similar to and have the kind of production that Saquon has had in this league,” Morris said. “He’s one of the best that’s been able to play since he’s been on the scene.”
Former Eagles center Jason Kelce, who was named All-Pro six times, retired over the offseason. Cam Jurgens, who in his third season, is attempting to replace Kelce, who was considered the long-time anchor of the Eagles’ stout line.
“He’s got command over the line,” Falcons defensive tackle Ta’Quon Graham told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about Jurgens. “He’s making all of the checks to the run game. I think he played pretty solid last game. We are going to go out there, prepare and give everybody the same respect and go attack them like Kelce was out there.”
Over the years, Cousins has tried to simply his approach to avoid the hoopla of events like MNF.
“If you ride this roller coaster in this league, you’ll be riding quite a ride,” Cousins said. “So, you got to find a way to just kind of stay steady. It’s not easy, but it’s what you (must) do. It’s something that every player and coach is faced with.”
Series history: This will be the 38th meeting. The Eagles lead, 21-15-1 (18-14-1 regular season, 3-1 postseason). The last time the Falcons won in Philadelphia was 30-17 on Oct. 28, 2012 as Matt Ryan tossed three touchdown passes.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
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